Mike & Tanya – September 2009

Mike and Tanya got married at Mongena Lodge north of Pretoria.  We had time to explore the venue a bit during their engagement or pre-wedding shoot we did during August.  They are a super couple and we enjoyed spending time with them!

My husband shot Mike’s getting ready photos while I spend my time with Tanya.  It’s such a privilege to spend this quiet time with wedding couples.  Few people get to experience the excited, nervous, apprehensive, silly etc. emotions during this time.

To Mike’s (and everybody else’s) surprise, Tanya recorded a special message for him.  It was played just before she entered the church and had all of us teary eyed.  Poor Mike was totally overcome with emotion!

Both Tanya’s and Mike’s mothers could not hold back the tears.  It really was a very special message and so apt for the beautiful ceremony that followed.

The reverend conducted a stunning service filled with beautiful symbolism.  As she started, she requested Mike and Tanya to drink in their surroundings and each other’s appearance – as most wedding couples barely remember what happens during their wedding day.

After the wedding ceremony, Mike and Tanya walked through a guard of honour and was treated like rock stars.  They walked straight to their wedding cake and cut it there and then – a nice way of sharing that with all the guests and reducing the time needed for formalities during the reception.

For their wedding photo shoot we drove out to a nice open spot in the veld.  Mongena Lodge has abundant wild life and we saw various species of game as we drove.  Tanya wanted to take a photo of her with a rhinoceros in the background – luckily for our nerves, the rhino did not feel like smiling for the camera at that moment!

We arrived as the African sun was setting and had the luxury of a golden dusk to photograph the wedding party in.  It had not rained yet and the veld was covered in golden grass and leafless bushveld trees.  I mean – how can you not get stunning photographs with scenery like this!?

Mongena Lodge’s reception area is beautiful for wedding couples and their guests, but hell on earth for us photographers!  The seated area is covered by a thatch roof, whilst the food serving area and dance floor is out in the open, under the stars.  This makes providing adequate lighting extremely difficult.

We used our light stands and umbrellas to get some sort of usable light on the dance floor.  Unfortunately the wind did not play along and a stand blew over – destroying an umbrella and damaging a flash unit.  We got the shots in the end, so it was well worth it.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Mongena lodge.  The staff is great and the manager’s catered to our every whim - they even asked us where we would like to have some of the furniture face in order to help us get the photos we want.

If you want to get married there, please bear in mind that your photographer will have to use extra light sources – make sure to ask before booking someone’s service.