Wedding Photographer Ardennes Belgium: Spontaneous wedding photos at Villa Boqueteau in Spa, a unique wedding venue in the forest
The assignment for the wedding reportage of this couple came to me through a colleague photographer. He was already booked for that day and asked if I had availability, which I did. He told me about a beautiful location where he himself had gotten married. Naturally, I was thrilled about this special wedding. The wedding venue turned out to be the castle villa Boqueteau in the town of Spa in the Ardennes.
The bride and I had the initial contact through email and later over the phone. It was immediately very pleasant. She had organized her entire wedding from Australia, and by that, I mean every detail, from the ribbons on the chairs to the tea light holders in the wedding dinner tent, to the bridal bouquets, the service, and the catering.
Maria and Ed met during a backpacking trip in Australia. Groom Ed is English, and Maria is Dutch, and they decided to live in Australia.
I hadn't met Ed until the day of the wedding. I found him in one of the rooms of the castle villa with a group of friends. He, too, was super friendly, and I immediately felt that this was going to be a very enjoyable wedding day. Relaxed, everyone was having a good time, enjoying themselves, drinking beer and wine – a perfect setting for a journalistic wedding reportage.
The wedding ceremony took place on the terrace of Villa Boqueteau and was led by a study friend of Maria. She shared amusing anecdotes about their time in college and how Maria had met Ed. All the guests were standing casually under the balcony, sipping drinks and watching.
After the wedding ceremony, we took some spontaneous wedding photos around the villa and in the forest. The champagne glasses came along. Back at the villa, it was time for a series of group photos (a standard part of every wedding reportage) with all the family and friends, and here too, there was a lot of goofing around and laughter.
Around 7:00 PM, the party sat down in the garden of the villa. During the wedding dinner, I also took a moment to eat, and then I started photographing the special (cheese) wedding cake. The couple cut the cake after four very entertaining speeches from the bride's mother and some friends.
Around 10:00 PM, the party really got started, and it was time for me to bid farewell to this super fun group. By then, I had a pretty beautiful, unique, and spontaneous wedding reportage on my memory cards.
