I was thrilled when Anne & Dejan asked me to shoot their special day: an intimate yellow wedding at Heidelberg Castle in Germany. 

The idea of hosting “just a small civil wedding”, turned into a fairytale intimate wedding day with friends and family. I loved Anne’s choice of an elegant yellow dress with summer bright flowers, thank you!!!

With the help of her parents (who actually cater to events in the area), these lovebirds had their dream wedding. Please read about their story, as told by Anne:

“We met 2014 onboard the residential ship The World where we both worked. I already worked there for 5 years and Dejan for 3 months. Our first official date was in Auckland/New Zealand where we went out together on an afternoon to explore the SkyTower.

Dejan is the bravest because while I was still finishing off my last contract onboard The World, he went on his own to Germany to introduce himself to my parents as my new boyfriend. The idea was that he would spend already some time in Germany to learn the language and assist my parents in the catering business …

Year two (August 2016) was marked by Dejan‘s proposal on the 55th floor of the Marina Bay Sand Hotel in Singapore during a delicious chocolate & cheese buffet. Another highlight of this year was our Yoga retreat in Sri Lanka for my 31st birthday. 

Given our dream to settle down in Vienna together we had to take administrative matters into hand and make the 2-year old engagement finally into an official marriage for Dejan to remain legally in the EU. After the bureaucratic hurdles were mastered we picked a date within a months time – which by coincident turned out to be an amazing date for which some others need to plan a year in advance: 28.08.2018…

After brainstorming some possible locations feasible at such short notice on a Tuesday, it ended up being the beautiful gardens and glasshouse of the Mittelburg in Neckarsteinach- which I believe deep down my mother had already designated years ago as THE location for her daughter‘s wedding as she frequently catered to weddings in this scenic and picturesque castle!

Now choosing the caterer was more difficult. My dad – a passionate cook and having had his own catering business for 25 years – was denied the right to cook himself on our wedding as we wanted him to enjoy without cooking (fact: he even cooked on his own wedding and many other family celebrations!) But we found a trustworthy, reputable alternative – who at last minute and without my prior knowledge took on some home-cooked food from my dad into the buffet selection. (He just can’t have a buffet without a roasted veal, mushroom sauce and some “Spätzle“)

While I tried on many white summer dresses in the process – one spectator in the changing rooms remarked: “white just isn’t really your color“ – and the next dress was the one I fell in love with .

Our rings we selected in Vienna in July while we tested the “livingness-factor“ of the city we wanted to move to permanently. Made by Gerstner in Pforzheim where my Granny and many relatives live. They traveled from Pforzheim, to Vienna, to Heidelberg, to our hands forever…

On the day I felt super nervous, like I usually do if I get into something new I have never done before: getting married to the man of my life. But once the formal part of the ceremony was over the anxiety fell off and I couldn’t get the smile off my face. A wonderful day amongst family and friends was ahead of us and it went over far too quickly.”