Cooper Wedding – Lourensford – Tegan Smith Photography

Jess & Carl planned their special day all the way from the UK. They felt such a connection to Cape Town, South Africa that when they got engaged they just knew it had to be their wedding destination! Their day was an intimate celebration attended by UK & SA guests at Lourensford Wine Estate…

Jess & Carl got ready for their special day at Erinvale Hotel, the perfect location just 2 minutes away from their wedding venue at Lourensford.

The Ceremony:

The ceremony was an intimate one, held at Laurent in Lourensford. I absolutely loved the pink bougainvillea that lined the ceremony stairs as well as the amazing views of the surrounding mountains…

Canapes:

This is when we take natural, candid photos of the guests and allow the bride and groom 30 minutes to mingle and grab a bite to eat before the couple shoot…

Family photos:

I always select an area close to the pre-reception to allow family members to come for their images and leave shortly after. No one wants to trek across a field or up a mountain for their group photos & it can be terribly time consuming to take everyone to a location slightly far from the venue. There’s always one person that forgets they’re part of the family & someone has to run back and fourth calling for them. I always have the MC or my assistant by my side calling the group names and allowing guests to go back to the nearby pre-reception to carry on with their drinks – it doesn’t have to be a time consuming activity …

I always make sure I get the formal family photos as well as a few fun ones — and my favourite time to shoot is while they’re forming their groups (you get the best candid shots in these moments!)

Bridal Party Photos:

Next comes the bridal party. I always capture some lovely details & natural moments as a group. The bridal party are always excited to get back to the party so I make sure I am prepared with the shots I need and location I want to go to. For this wedding, I was grabbed by the beautiful tree-lined road leading up to the venue and knew that this would be the perfect location for our bridal party photos.

The couples shoot:

My favourite part of the wedding day! We were blessed with the most beautiful evening at Laurent so the videographer and I opted for some golden light photos in the wide open field in front of the venue. I directed the couple to walk, hold hands, chat etc to capture the most beautiful, natural images. This is also the first time that the couple are finally alone and can take in the day that has passed so I usually allow them to chat and giggle and make sure I capture those moments through my lens…