santorini wedding crashing

ok lets rewind even further back than my tokyo shoot.

it was in october that i took a trip to santorini.

it was a blinding place. very picturesque.

so picturesque in fact that chinese people frock there to have their wedding photos done.

i don't think they actually get married on santorini, they just go there for their wedding photos.

i reckon some of them have been married for years in fact and they just go on holiday 

with their wedding dresses and suits to use the location.

you know me by now... i do like a nice wedding and there's nothing i like more

( except chips ) than watching a wedding photographer in action.

so in santorini i was on top form.

have a butchers at all these people i spotted having fake weddings

( and trust me, this is perhaps less than half of the couples i saw )

1

standard procedure.

this lad didn't even bring his whistle, he just photographed his missus.

2

then i waded in and photographed the happy couple.

3

from pretty much the same spot, a couple of seconds later,

i looked up and saw this couple.

as you can see, santorini is very picturesque.

it reminded me a little bit of newport.

4

i think this was a different couple but...

5

oi oi !

red wedding dress alert.

6

and again, another red dress.

oh... red is a lucky colour in asia isn't it ?

like the whole cardiff city thing ?

7

another happy couple taking a breather.

it was really, really hot by the way.

no way would i wear a suit to get married there.

8

ok this couple weren't doing the wedding photo thing

but i do like it when you see asian couples wearing the same clothes

or as in this case, shoes.

9

sunset on santorini could mean only one thing...

more wedding photos than at any other time of the day.

i spotted these lads from a distance ...

10

as a nice gesture the 'photographer' had an assistant holding a little light.

11

i say 'photographer' because i reckon he was perhaps a bus driver during the day.

he seemed to be having a nightmare with his camera / light / assistant

and he had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth the whole time.

12

maybe he could have done without me hanging around ?

13

following him from one side to the other shaking my head and tutting.

14

while i was keeping an eye on "smoky joe" i noticed another bride

scarpering from the same location to try her luck somewhere that didn't have

a rival wedding shoot going on... and hopefully to a location that didn't have

a miserable northerner hanging around with a camera and shaking his head.

15

smokey joe having one last try at balancing the light.

16

from the churchyard vantage point i looked down and saw three shoots going on 

below me. two were at the water's edge and one on a hotel balcony.

you can see a couple here doing the walk of shame up the hundreds of steps back 

to main santorini town.

17

this groom was just about to kick off his black shoes and slip into his white heels.

honest.

18

around any corner in santorini you could be sure to bump into a wedding.

19

i like this shot... well i like that the groom is hidden behind the bride.

20

i really wanted this bride to turn around but i don't speak chinese at all.

so...

21

"oi sweetheart"

yes, that did the trick.

22

ok, not strictly a wedding, just a couple of chinese tourists.

23

yes, i did go and ask if they'd like a photo of the two of them together.

yes they accepted.

no i didn't ask them to kiss.

24

is this a bride in blue or just a girl having some nice photos done on her holiday ?

25

who knows ?

all i know is that the light and backgrounds are so beautiful that

i'm definitely going to santorini for my next few weddings.

and they all lived happily ever after.

the end.