secret-wedding-ceremony-photography -snap-festival-boho-chic-vintage-wales-fforest-shabby-chic

In April I attended Snap, which is a photography festival in the middle of nowhere in Wales. It was only the second workshop of it’s kind so I didn’t entirely know what to expect other than for it to be absolutely AWESOME!

I was the last photographer to book onto it.. When I say ‘spontaneous’, I mean spontaneous!!! I booked and joined the group on the Friday and we left for Wales on the Sunday. All other attendees had been in a Facebook group and had mixed and chatted ever since joining - 90% were actually returning from the 2015 Festival but not once did I feel like I wasn’t part of their hilarious and fun, photography-loving bubble. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly. Now, I do plan on blogging about Snap in it’s entirety at a later date, however the sun the last week or so has really made me want to share the absolute beauty of a day that was Xeco and Rochan’s Wedding!!

So on the morning of Wednesday 20th April, we were sat in the first workshop of the day. There were some heavy eyes and bad heads from the night before but when we all got handed an envelope and were told to open them at the same time, the fatigue went straight out of the window and was replaced with complete excitement!! We had been given a wedding invitation for THAT AFTERNOON!!! Xeco and Rochan had got engaged at Snap last year and had made the incredibly exciting and romantic decision to elope and get married there this year, without any of their immediate family: instead choosing us - their creative family - to share their day with!

We all had appropriate clothing for a wedding - having been told we would be required to ‘Dress to Impress” on our itinerary! There was such a buzz all day, the surprise element was absolutely incredible and everyone was so giddy! Once we were all ready we headed down to the gorgeous little pub to find that it had all been decorated with colourful balloons and bunting - so painfully cool.. I was in my element!

Music and cheering started from somewhere in the distance, as it got closer we saw Xeco and his Best Man, Alex, and a gang of the other togs coming down the hill with rainbow ribbons, tambourines, drums, whistles and bells - the atmosphere was crazy! We were lead off to the gorge which was where the ceremony was taking place, decorated with nature’s finest greenery as well as some colourful dreamcatchers. Sitting down, we found song sheets and personalised confetti bags - the attention to detail was perfect… How they managed to keep this a secret still stuns me to this day!

Rochan floated down the aisle in a stunning lace gown with a velvet black sash and a phenomenal floral crown. There was acapella singing, some of the broadest smiles I ever seen and absolutely no shortage of tears! The ceremony was beautiful, she sun gazed down on all of us and the love radiated off the two Newlyweds.

The rest of the day whizzed by in a flurry of prosecco, canapes, photographs, hugs, laughter, dancing and love... I spent a little time alone, under the stars smiling to myself at the end of the night: I had met these people two days earlier and had shared one of the most special and memorable days of their lives with them. It was simply magical... After a bit of shooting time with the lovely new Mr and Mrs - who just swooned over each other the whole time - I put my camera away and enjoyed the remainder of day and evening with my new friends.

Thank you Xeco and Rochan for choosing to share your love with us, and of course Laura Babb... For being the brainwave behind it all! ❤︎