Franziska and Philip from Thuringia got married at the end of May 2023 on my favorite island La Digue and had booked me as their wedding photographer for two days. They answered the 15 questions that I sent them after their return home (answering the questions is of course completely voluntary for all my client couples! I hope you enjoy reading Franzi and Philip’s answers!
Yes, why do you do that? Probably for the same reasons that 95% of everyone else does.
It was supposed to be our day, in a place that we thought was perfect for us.
We have seen many beaches around the world, be it in the Caribbean with its countless beautiful beaches or the Maldives with its beautiful islands and reefs. However, we chose the Seychelles because for us it is simply paradise on earth.
We had already been to the Seychelles a year earlier and fell in love with the country and the people.
Of course, getting married abroad is not everyone’s cup of tea, but for us it was always clear that if we were to get married, it would be barefoot on the beach, alone, without all the hustle and bustle, with lots of sun and sea.
Just the two of us.
Of course, we asked ourselves the same question at the beginning 😀
That was absolutely no problem. We took the wedding suit, which was actually just trousers, 2 shirts and a vest, in a small suitcase as hand luggage. After unpacking, the humidity in the Seychelles ensures that everything is nice and smooth again. We registered the wedding dress with the airline – we flew with Emirates, by the way – as hand luggage beforehand and took it on board with us. The registration was made by e-mail.
During the flight itself, the dress was hung up in the stewardess’s wardrobe so that it wouldn’t crease. We simply asked the stewardess politely when boarding the plane if this was possible. The answer always came with a broad and joyful “YES, of course!” and you were wished all the best.
On the return flight, the dress went into the suitcase for convenience and arrived back in Germany undamaged.
It was simply fantastic. This is exactly how we imagined our day would be.
We hadn’t booked any stylists or anything like that, but got up together at 6 a.m. and had a leisurely breakfast together. We then took our time getting ready and were picked up shortly before 9 o’clock. Then we headed towards L’Union, where we got married near the Old Pier Cafe on the beach at 9 o’clock sharp.
It was simply heavenly.
Torsten said that we should concentrate only on ourselves during the ceremony and completely block him out, and that was a good thing, because that was the only way to get these great pictures of the ceremony. The registrar also made the wedding ceremony an unforgettable moment for us with her warm and cheerful manner.
After the ceremony, we drank our coconut in peace and quiet and took the first pictures directly on the beach. As we got married so early in the morning, we were able to take lots of breathtaking pictures at La Digue’s hotspots in the morning without them being overrun by tourists. Until the lunch break, the fun continued with taking photos, receiving congratulations and lots of smiles and beaming faces. In the evening, we went for a sunset shoot followed by a candlelit BBQ on the beach, which rounded off the day and made it perfect for us.
In typical German fashion, we prepared ourselves for complicated bureaucracy and were unfortunately bitterly disappointed that everything was so uncomplicated and simple 😀
No joking, of course we also read your blog beforehand and got smart in other forums. It was almost frighteningly simple and uncomplicated.
Since we were in close contact with you anyway, you were able to give us all the important information in advance about what papers we needed and whether we needed help with the application.
Surprisingly, even the paperwork in Germany was relatively easy.
We were both able to apply for our extracts from the register of births in international form, i.e. in German, English and French, and the certificate of no impediment to marriage either online and have them sent to us or collect them by appointment at the residents’ registration office.
There was also a form in English, in which only information about the persons had to be provided. We should then send everything together as an attachment in an e-mail to the registrar with the desired date, place and time and that’s it.
That was all the paperwork.
It depends on how you interpret the question 😀
My wife is a planner and organizer by nature, so almost everything has to be planned and timed in advance. I, on the other hand, am more of a Seychellio, first see what happens and then it will work out somehow 🙂
And what can I say, it’s a mixture of both worlds. Of course, you should think beforehand about how you would like your wedding ceremony to be or what is essential and what is not possible, so that you can either organize this yourself or have it professionally organized in advance.
But what you can rely on is that almost every decision, planning or booking you make in advance, be it the location of the wedding, the decoration, the photo spots with you Torsten etc. are not set in stone. It doesn’t matter whether you decide everything 3 months or 3 days in advance. You can rest assured that it will work.
We had decided in advance to get married at Grand Anse at 9 a.m. and had agreed this with the registrar. Unfortunately, when we arrived on La Digue, we realized that it is very windy there in June and the sun shines full throttle in your face. This wouldn’t bother anyone on vacation, but it would have been a no-go for our wedding. Nobody wants windblown hair and closed eyes in their wedding pictures.
However, it was no problem to move the location to the other side of the island 4 days before the wedding, which also led to a new and unknown wedding location for you Torsten ;). One WhatsApp and everything was settled.
And that was just one of many things that we decided spontaneously before the wedding and which simply went perfectly and smoothly.
We became aware of you through various Facebook Seychelles groups we were still in from our last Seychelles vacation. Even back then we couldn’t part with the great Seychelles pictures of the others 😉 We then googled you and watched the WDR report about you. It was actually already clear at the time that you would be our photographer. Of course we also looked for other photographers, but your pictures convinced us right from the start. There’s just something so unique about them.
In any case. The pictures are simply amazing and exactly what we wanted.
We even had one picture printed on a 1.20m x 0.8m canvas and another one made as an acrylic painting. Both now have special places in our home and we are very proud of them.
You can’t say that in general terms, we actually liked them all. If there are two in particular, it would be the beach on Grand Soeur, the rock with the carpet of flowers at the Hotel Patatran and of course the rocks at Anse Source d’Argent. And of course our location from the wedding at the Old Pier Cafe. The little jetty with the island in the background is simply enchanting.
Cycling with the wedding dress and suit in an Ikea bag to the sunset shoot and changing in the bushes on the Grand Soeur beach was an experience in itself. True to what Torsten said, you don’t have to be completely crazy to take photos with you but it helps.
On La Digue we chose the Domain Les Rochers and were more than happy with it. Costas the owner and his wife are a warm couple and made our stay as enjoyable as possible. The accommodation was beautifully situated in the countryside and managed with great attention to detail. A very clear recommendation.
We were on La Digue and Praslin, although we had already been to Praslin and Mahe the year before. What we liked best was La Digue with its very own flair. It’s simply fun to explore the island by bike and always receive a friendly smile.
So far we can only report positive results. Whether in a guest house or a 4 or 5 star hotel in the Seychelles, we felt very welcome everywhere.
We will definitely be back. If we did anything differently, we would no longer go to a 5-star resort. For us, this is simply not part of the Seychelles. We tried it once, but we prefer the real Seychelles on the beaches and streets, such as market halls and take-aways.
This is relatively easy to answer. Torsten definitely takes the best pictures, knows the best photo spots and is always helpful and available. You are also simply a very likeable person who is a pleasure to have around.
A very clear “JUST DO IT” recommendation… Everyone we told about our wedding said afterwards that we had done everything right. Many people only dream about it, but you can also just do it.