But, if you switch over to the Dutch side of this blog (by clicking “Nederlands” on the top of this page) you’ll still be able to enjoy my photos at least.

I hope I’ll have time to translate my blog posts to English again later this year, when the busy wedding season is over. In the mean time, enjoy following my Dutch blog for a while. I’ll be back!

The entire wedding day took place in Etten-Leur. Michelle, the bride got ready at her parents’ house. Michelle had invited a good friend to be there together with her. That makes this part of the day even more enjoyable I think. Having some extra fun with a girlfriend before the official part of the day begins.

Jeroen picked up Michelle in an old Fiat 500. Nice and cozy. I always really like those little cars. They just have to be featured in a couple of the photos. We did the photo shoot at several locations in Etten-Leur. Luckily the sun came out on a regular basis around that time. After we were done with the photo session, a big bunch of clouds came and blocked the sun for the rest of the day.

The wedding ceremony took place in a nice little old protestant church, which is now used by the city as an official wedding location. The building has a couple of nice details that help me, as a wedding photographer, to make the photos even more interesting.

After the ceremony everyone went to Saveur, which is a restaurant at walking distance from the wedding location. The reception, dinner and party all took place at the restaurant. Saveur was also a nice location to photograph at, because it is very nicely decorated.

Something that I also really enjoyed during this wedding, was to see the interaction between Michelle and Jeroen. They have a good chemistry… a very nice ‘click’ together. Their two families also got along very well, which gave the day a really nice atmosphere.

Here are some of my favorite photos of the day.

The day started for me in the morning with the bride getting ready at her dad’s house in Zwijndrecht. I always like to photograph the preparations of the bride. There are always all sorts of things going on to photograph. Doing the hair, doing the make-up, putting on the dress, action all around. And usually there is plenty of time too, which helps me make even better photos. Tamara had invited two of her good friends to help her in the morning. Or maybe they invited themselves, that’s also possible. Either way, the more the merrier… and the more good photos we get too.

When the bride was ready, her groom came to pick her up to go to Breda for a short lunch. After lunch everyone went to Bouvigne Castle in Breda for the wedding ceremony. The wedding hall in Bouvigne is, of course, really nice. Lots of wood was used in building and detailing of the room, which gives the photos a very nice warm color.

After the ceremony we did a photoshoot on the grounds around the castle, and in the forest next to the castle. It was too bad that the sun was behind the clouds most of the time, but we were able to make some very nice photos non the less. I especially liked taking photos in the forest. It was very quiet and peaceful there.

Our next stop was the beautifully decorated restuarant Dickens and Jones on the Grote Markt market sqaure in Breda. With all the attention to detail inside the restaurant it was lots of fun to photograph there.

The last items on the agenda were the reception and the party at night. Tamara and Vincent had a lot of practice for their opening dance, and it showed. I always think it’s really impressive to watch two people who paid good attention during their dance classes. I wouldn’t mind if that tradition would gain some more popularity again.

Here are my favorite photos of the day.

The jury had the following comment about the photo: “This is a nicely composed, peaceful feeling image. The warm tones accentuate a peaceful feeling as the sun shines through the stained-glass window. Simply nice.”

I have to say that this is also one of my favorite photos of 2012. I am happy that I’m not the only one that thinks so. It is always really nice to get recognition for my photos.

Annelies got ready in the morning at her parent’s house, with the help of her sister and mother. In the mean time Peter prepared himself for the big day at his parent’s house. When Peter was ready he got on his bicycle, together with his extended family, to go to Annelies. When all of the guests had arrived it was time for the wedding ceremony.

After the outdoor ceremony, everyone had something to eat and to drink. Next up, everyone got on their bicycles again to go to Willibrordhaeghe in Deurne where the church ceremony took place. Peter had the short end of the stick by the way. He had to ride a special bicycle, called bakfiets, with his new wife and their little boy as passengers. Another fun detail: the bride’s parents and sister were married in the Willibrordhaeghe chapel as well.

After the church service everyone went… yes, again by bicycle… to Peter’s parent’s house for the reception, dinner and the party. The reception was outside, in the very pleasant afternoon sunshine. The dinner took place on the covered patio, and the party was in a big tent in the back yard. So all in all this was a very personal day where every location had a very personal touch.

So here are a couple of photos of one of those wedding albums. This album is 30 centimeter (12 inches) high and 40 centimeters (16 inches) long. This is a size that I myself like a lot. The cover is made from faux leather and has a fairly obvious texture. The cover color is Mahogany. This specific album has 48 pages. I count pages in a photo album the same way as pages in a book. So, when an album is open in front of you, you see two pages. Not everyone does it that way, but this makes most sense to me.

Behind this link you will find more information about my wedding albums.

By the way, if you’re thinking “those photos look very green”. It just seems that way. That’s the wall that I look at all day when I’m busy editing my photos. That bright green wall makes me feel like it’s spring every day of the year. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

In addition to photographing weddings I also enjoy taking photos of kids. It’s mostly my own kids that I tend to photograph though, but if there are little children walking around during wedding I always tend to give them some extra attention over the adults. At this wedding I was pretty busy for that reason. There were a lot of cute little ones walking around. And they were ‘walking around’ too. Sitting still tends to be pretty difficult for kids, especially during a wedding ceremony it seems.

During the introductory meeting with a couple I often ask if their wedding day is a special date; the anniversary of the day they first met for example. Usually that’s not the case, but with Saskia and Erik it was. So that’s the reason that they were getting married in a month of the year where weddings are usually pretty spars.

Something that’s also nice, is that Erik and Saskia split their wedding into two days. The city hall ceremony was planned for the first day. The church ceremony, the reception and the party, were planned for the second day. Now this is not something that is totally alien in itself, its just that the two wedding days are usually two consecutive days. Not so in this case. The first day was in January… but the second day will be in June! Isn’t that cool? Part one of the wedding on a date with a special meaning. Part two a couple of months later, when the weather is likely going to be a lot better. I’m already hoping for a nice summer day.

Here are my favorite photos of the first day. The blog post of the second day… will be in a couple of months.

When all the preparations were done we went, together with the guests, to Doorwerth castle. Regretfully we didn’t have a lot of time left for the photo shoot. But, in such a beautiful surrounding that wasn’t too big of a problem. We were able to make a couple of very nice photos with the castle and the pretty fall leafs in the background.

Friends and family were an important part of Louise and Ben’s wedding day. So, there was plenty of time in the planning to welcome everyone before the ceremony started. That was especially nice since some guests came from the other side of the world to be at this wedding. When everyone had finally arrived, the wedding ceremony could commence. Something that was pretty interesting for me was that before the ceremony started, it was still very much light outside. But, after the ceremony ended it was pretty dark already. The room inside Doorwerth castele, where the ceremony was, was also fairly dark. But luckilly the nice chandeliers hanging from the ceiling gave the room a nice atmosphere.

After the wedding ceremony everyone went to the reception room, in what looked like the old stables of the castle, for a good time and an enjoyable dinner. During the reception and dinner everyone was perfectly entertained by Troubadour Lucas Florent. He is really quite the entertainer. Lucas knows exactly how to build a party.