It was an absolute honour to be Djordje & Bethan’s wedding photographer in Belgrade for their Destination wedding at Frans Restaurant. It’s always an incredible privilege to go abroad and photograph someone’s wedding and I loved experiencing a country that I’d never been to before. Serbia is beautiful and I spent some time doing street photography in Belgrade with Zac who came to assist me. The night before the wedding we went along to meet family and friends and take some photos of the welcome drinks. Onto the couple- I got to know Bethan a couple of years ago when she was Bridesmaid at Laurie & Holly’s wedding (it was so lovely to catch up with them over a drink out in Belgrade). I remember Bethan being so smiley and at ease around the camera when she was a Bridesmaid so I was excited to photograph her own wedding. Djordje was born out in Belgrade and has lots of family and friends that are based in Serbia so it was a lovely mix of people travelling over from England and Serbians at the wedding. Bethan and her family got ready at an apartment next to the Republic Square. Her Dad Paul got so emotional when he saw her ready he had to leave the room, compose himself and then come back in. It was the biggest adventure getting to the wedding car to take us to the wedding venue. There was a protest going on in Belgrade so there was riot police everywhere. We had to plead with some officers to let us through the barriers to get to the car and I kept on photographing what happened (even got a close up of the Police Officer!) At Frans Restaurant they had an outdoor garden ceremony and then Djordje & Bethan and I went to Kalemegdan for a wander and a chance for me to get some photos of both of them together. Wow- the sunset, the view over Belgrade and a very in love couple made for photos that I’m so pleased to have taken! Once we got back to Frans there was dancing and eating and drinking and the highlight for me was when the brass band came out to surprise everyone and the party well and truly kicked off! People were even moshing to the brass band like it was a rock band! As I photographed Djordje & Bethan leaving in their car I was gutted that the day had to end but I was so pleased to have been part of a wedding that I’ll never forget and both sides of the family that really welcomed Zac and I to be part of the wedding. The day after the wedding we were even invited to join the family for a meal! I loved becoming friends with Djordje & Bethan and hope to go back out to Serbia in the future! Bethan said…
“Wow! We knew the photos were going to be good after seeing the photos he took at our friends wedding but we have been blown away by how incredible they are. Olly has really captured the whole atmosphere of our wedding day. It is so lovely to see moments each of us didn’t get to see between different guests and each other getting ready for the day. Meeting Olly before the wedding we knew he was a perfect fit for our day and we felt so honoured that he and fellow photographer Zac Guy were coming all the way to Belgrade for our wedding. Spending some time with them before the wedding day we just discovered what great people they were and made us so at ease having photos taken on the day. Both Olly and Zac felt like part of the family and so many of our guests have raved about how cool our photographers were. We really feel like we have found some truly wonderful friends and we will definitely be calling on them again for any future celebrations. Thank you so much for being a part of our day!!”