Vow Renewal at The Oyster Box
It all started with a romantic getaway for their 10-year wedding anniversary. Then Irene and Toni asked Ginny from The Oysterbox Hotel (www.oysterboxhotel.com) if it would be possible to have an intimate ceremony during their stay there, preferably on the day of their anniversary. Not only was it possible, but the hotel went out of their way to make the occasion special and treated the couple like royalty.
Now before I continue writing this, let me confess my bias for this specific assignment. You see, Irene is also my baby sister and 10 years ago she married the love of her life Antonio, who I now consider my baby brother, so a lot of love went into this day. Well, significantly more love than I usually put into my work. So when Irene called me and asked if I would be willing to fly out for the day to capture this special occasion, of course there was zero hesitation. Not only did I get to witness this very intimate ceremony with my sister (it was only the couple and a pastor), I also had the opportunity to shoot at one of my bucket-list venues.
It was an early start to the day, I was on the 6 am flight from Cape Town to Durban where I was met by hotel transport, quite the luxury experience. When we arrived at the gorgeous hotel, the events manager Ginny Eslick was waiting to welcome me. Irene was already being beautified by local makeup artist Natasha Shannon. She looked flawless. Then it was time for big sis (that's me) to do her hair, styled with a beautiful comb that our mom sent along as a gift.
The ceremony took place on the balcony of their ocean-view suite, that's why you'll see the infamous lighthouse in the background of some of the images. The balcony was beautifully decorated by Sues Wedding Flowers. Pastor Wessel Wessels spoke such a beautiful blessing over the couple and it was just the perfect start to the day. A few friends and family joined in via Zoom.
I have only been to Durban a handful of times in my life, but never once experienced rainy weather. On the one hand it was a blessing, the pool area was empty and free for us to do the couple's portrait session, but it also meant rushing inside as soon as the showers hit again. Fortunately, this one of a kind hotel had the most beautiful spots to shoot at, so we were spoiled for choice and if I didn't have a return flight I would have probably kept shooting. This experience for me, was one for the books and I feel blessed.