From the archives…. Georgios and FangChi, Gavalochori and Kalyves, Crete, May 2014

I have been looking forward to publishing this blog post for a little while now... so buckle up, I am afraid it is going to be a long one.... One of my main goals for this year was to photograph a 'destination wedding'.

I came close to booking a trip to turkey earlier in the year but unfortunately I couldn't match my availability with the dates that the couple wanted covering so I had thought that was that in terms of going overseas to work. However, a few weeks later Georgios and FangChi got in touch with me asking for a little advice in terms of wedding photography. Whilst they live in Birmingham, they were planning a wedding in Crete and were looking for a photographer in Crete to cover their day and they wanted a few pointers from me in terms of what a photographer could / would do for them. After a few emails and a chat over coffee, they rather wonderfully asked me if I would like to join them as their photographer, a request that I more or less snapped up without thinking about it.

I flew over to Crete a couple of days before the wedding and got to work straight away. The night before the wedding Georgios and FangChi had a get together with family and friends at the apartments they were staying in which involved lots of dancing and some ridiculously strong Taiwanese rice wine (I like a spirit or two, but this stuff practically took my head off). The wedding itself was truly amazing. I had done a little bit of research to make sure I understood what would happen during the service, but nothing could have prepared me for the day as a whole. The preparations before the ceremony were really interesting for me ... traditional Greek and Taiwanese customs were observed with some wonderful moments happening all around me. And then there was the party..... let's just say these people know how to enjoy themselves!

I won't go on any longer... all I can say is thank you so much to Georgios and FangChi for asking me to be a part of a wonderful few days, and a massive thank you to their family and friends for making me so welcome. Whilst there was a bit of a language barrier it didn't cause a problem and I didn't for one second feel uncomfortable, and this is simply down to all the wonderful people that were present. I also must say a big thanks to the members of Georgios' family that looked after me, giving me lifts etc.... it was so very much appreciated.

So, without any more waffle, here is Georgios and Fangchi's wonderful wedding in gorgeous Crete....