Journal

“You’re for me” – Kyly and Ryan Rabin

We’ve been so excited to share this wedding, and yet as it always goes, life threw us a few curve balls and only moooooonths later, do we get to finally post Kyly and Ryan’s magical bush wedding at Londolozi, in the Kruger Park. We were lucky enough to meet up with Kyly again now in LA and that sparked another round of excitement in sharing this beaut of a celebration. So here goes :)

I’m going to start out with a little disclaimer and say that no words could ever do this wedding – and more specifically Kyly and Ryan – any justice. There was so much detail and thoughtfulness behind this wedding, we can’t even get close to describing it all – from the proposal at Londolozi a year before, to the long-distance romance between Kyly and Ryan, and finally the thought and sentiments that formed part of the wedding day. Luckily the team from Vogue did a lovely feature and interview with them, which had me close to tears all over again. So be sure to check out their full story here – it’s a goodie.

Kyly and Ryan, their families and all their friends were some of the best people we have ever met. These guys are such a testament to the fact that people make beautiful weddings. Sure – the fact that they were in what must be one of the most beautiful parts of South Africa, in the heart of the Kruger Park, surrounded by nature, quiet, the chirpings of cicadas, wildlife, fever trees and magical bush light – did help too.  But what we loved most about this wedding was that at the very core of it, it was a celebration about the people and the love shared between them. We couldn’t help but smile all the way through the weekend.

Kyly and Ryan and their friends made us feel a part of the whole weekend – documenting everything, from the happy arrival of the guests in the charter jets, the rehearsal dinner under the stars, the numerous early morning game drives, the lazy moments in between of hard chilling at Londolozi, and then finally the wedding – felt so natural and reminded us again of how much we love what we do. Being a part of the entire weekend and partaking in the excitement, joy and celebrating meant we were able to just do what we do best – quietly observe, partake and share and thereby tell the story of the weekend with our pictures. I did of course shed a tear during the vows, I don’t think anyone didn’t. In Kyly’s words: “I read mine out loud for the first time at the ceremony, because I couldn’t even get through them in my head without completely falling apart”. So we cried with them, and we laughed with them, and we danced with them, because the only way to photograph people dancing, is to dance with them!

A few of our favourite moments from the weekend: an early morning bush drive is the best way to start any day! Plus hot coffee and rusks served on the dash of a Land Rover, surrounded by the dead quiet of the bush, will make any one want to give up their day job. A super knowledgeable ranger means you see Hyaena pups. The “first look” between Kyly and Ryan before the ceremony was one of the most genuine and beautiful moments we have ever witnessed. We loved that Kyly walked down the aisle to the gentle guitar strumming by their closest friends. The guests all came to the party in their “Safari-chic” vibes and we loved how they formed part of the beauty of the bush. Kyly and Ryan were so easy to photograph and when clients feel like friends, you know you’re doing something right. Kyly and her dad surprised everyone with a little choreographed number as their Father-Daughter dance and their mad moves kicked off the party proper. The staff and the entire team from Londolozi, were a dream to work with and they were not shy to dance either, cigars and drinks in hand and all.

Whittling this post down to just a few hundred images from thousands of images that summed up the entire weekend, proved to be pretty tricky. But we think this about sums it up and we hope you get a bit of that “bush feeling” and are able to feel that joy that we speak of.  It truly was such a gift to have been there. Kyly and Ryan – you two are gems. Thank you for inviting us to document this weekend for you x