My first German wedding
Cathrin contacted me last year to see if I would fly half way around the world to document her wedding with the love of her life, Alex. At first, I was a bit hesitant because I dislike traveling by plane. After a couple of weeks talking back and forth, I decided to go ahead and accept the challenge. That was more than a year ago.
As the day slowly approaching, I realized that I had a lot of things to do to make sure the trip goes smoothly. First, I needed to get my passport done and good thing that was quick and painless. Second, I was planning to carry a lot of equipment so I didn’t want to create any misunderstanding with US Customs. So I had to officially declare all the equipment that I wanted to bring with me. That process was completed about 1hr before my flight was scheduled to board. Third, I didn’t want to check in my expensive camera equipment. I’ve seen how they handle baggages at the airport and there’s no way I’d let my camera gear go through the abuse. So, I decided to purchase a Pelican 1510 case to use as a carry-on and that worked out well.
It was a long flight with one stop in Chicago, 13 hours total without counting the wait time for my connecting flight. I landed in Dusseldorf early in the morning with Cathrin and Alex waiting to take me back to their place in Koln. We did manage to do a quick tour of the city, stopping by the famous Dome and the Locks of Love wall. The next day I met Cathrin, my friends Chris and Donna, who are guests in the wedding, at Kurhaus hotel in Bad Bentheim. It’s a beautiful historic place. I managed to do a quick tour of the venue to check out a few photography spots.
The night before the wedding, I couldn’t sleep. I’m not sure if it was jet lag, nerve, or a combination of both. I had a total of probably 30 minutes of sleep before I got up and get ready. It doesn’t matter how many weddings I’ve shot, I always get nervous and excited the night before. The weather was perfect on the wedding day, sunny at around 80 degrees. We managed to step on plenty of bird droppings and got yelled at by a neighbor of a farmer for stepping on a wheat field. The wedding was perfect and absolutely beautiful! I have never seen so much love between two people and so much support from family members. I love every second of it.
Unfortunately for me, the trip ended too soon. I stayed in Germany for a total of 5 days, two of which were just getting there and back. It was a great trip overall, amazing people I met, and great hospitality. I’m hoping to be back to the country again in the near future!
Kurhaus Hotel in Bad Bentheim
For more information regarding destination weddings, feel free to contact me. My passport is current and I love to travel.
James Tang
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