This was my first Greek Orthodox wedding of 2011 and what a magnificent venue to celebrate it. The Aphrodite Hills Resort, near Paphos is one of the most exclusive venues in Cyprus and it is plain to see why. It exudes quality and opulence in every corner. After being given a buggy ride to Poly’s room (I love this kind of treatment!!), it was just myself and the videographer pondering how we were going to make this work. Her room was not small by any hotel’s standards, but we knew what was about to happen. Poly arrived with her entourage following closely behind. The room filled up VERY quickly! They began with the traditional and ceremonial proceedings which include tying a red cloth around the bride’s waist three times and burning olive leaves in a special silver vessel. This vessel is then waved around the top of the bride’s head in a circular motion three times also. I believe repeating it three times symbolises the holy trinity and brings health and fertility. All the while this was happening, there was a traditional bouzouki player and a fiddler filling the air with beautiful Cypriot music. I have to say, despite the beautiful atmosphere being created I struggled here…to find space to work, jostling for position and with the temperature. With 20-30 people in a space of 15 feet by 5 feet, it got very hot, very quickly! …but it was a wonderful experience to witness and I will never get bored of it.
The wedding itself was in the St Catherine’s Orthodox Church on the hotel site and is a lovely little church with plenty of character. During the ceremony, as usual for me in a Greek Orthodox service, I had no idea what was happening or what was being said, but having attended quite a few by now, I know the moments to press my shutter button. I managed to create some wonderful images throughout the day for Poly & Evan, some of which I am sure will make their way to my portfolio.

Paphos Wedding Photographers

With five people in attendance, the wedding of Emilia & Mika was hands down the smallest wedding I had ever been to. When I say five people attending, not including the registrar, there was the happy couple, their son Eino, Sharon from MedWeds and Myself. This made for a very interesting ceremony as we commandeered Sharon to film the wedding with Mika’s phone and I was doing my usual photography, but this is my first time as a witness. I have to say after all this time on the right side of the lens, it felt extremely surreal being in front of it while I was signing the register. It was almost like an outer body experience!
I had my worries about how the wedding photography session would pan out as it was, for the most part, just Emilia, Mika, Eino and me. The reason I say this is, my style, predominately is natural, reportage wedding photography. For this type of photography I need plenty of people to disappear amongst…but with the four of us, there was no hiding. However, this did not spoil anything as they were both very relaxed people who were very much in love. We had a great time going from place to place shooting them in different locations…..but I think we most enjoyed the running along beach, through the shallow water. Some truly wonderful memories…

Protaras Wedding Photographers

The wedding of Nicola & Lawrence was a gorgeous Northern Irish wedding which saw all the men dressed in traditional Kilts, Sporrans and Gillie shirts. There was a lovely atmosphere which is perfect for my style of wedding photography. The ceremony itself took place in a quaint Greek Orthodox Church named Ayios Constantinos (Dherynia) and certainly left me with a challenge as far as the light was concerned. With the bright sun pouring in directly behind and behind, to the couple’s right, it did not afford me the ideal conditions for producing great wedding photography. However, with a bit of fiddling with the camera settings and a little post production work on the computer afterwards, I believe, the unfavourable lighting conditions turned out to be the opposite and helped create some, lovely, dramatic imagery. It was my first time at this church and I would love to go back. It was beautiful!
The rest of the evening was spent at the Grecian Park Hotel in the Cliff Bar which overlooks the stunning Konnos Bay. The sun was setting and the light became very dim which presented a host of new challenges to overcome. I thrive on this and love working with available light and these low light conditions were fantastic! I managed to create several images just by candle light alone, which for me, have a spectacular atmosphere and a glowing warm feel to them. This is one of my specialities and something I look forward to as a wedding photographer.
The Grecian Park Hotel put on a fantastic wedding for Nicola & Lawrence, and I look froward to visiting there many more times this year and in the future.

Protaras Wedding Photographers

Here some of my best moments of the 2010 wedding season for you to enjoy….

Nicosia Wedding Photographers