Spanish Destination Wedding Hotel Marinas De Nerja

I’m delighted to share the lovely destination wedding as we head off to Spain for the wedding of captured by Photography by Tarik, a documentary and destination photographer from Essex.

About the couple

Louis and Lucy met over 12 years ago at a cricket club in the UK where Louis plays. Both Louis and Lucy are such nice, genuine people with a brilliant attitude to life and want to savour every moment and share it with all their loved ones. Lucy and Louis have spent many years visiting Nerja in Spain so decided to celebrate their wedding with friends and family on the beach at Hotel de Marina Nerja.

A little bit about the day and how it went

I arrived in Nerja 2 days before the wedding and everything seemed so organised. All their closest friends and family had already arrived and were enjoying the time spent together around the pool at the hotel. The excitement just seem to grow the closer it got to the wedding day.

Louis got ready at his father’s villa on the wedding day with his best men and bridal prep took place at the hotel and venue (Hotel de Marinas Nerja). The ceremony took place facing the beautiful sandy beach and followed on with reception drinks in a private garden with Louis’ close friend playing the guitar and singing some beautiful songs. Dinner took place beside the beach where guests were entertained with incredibly funny best men speeches a delicious 3 course meal. As we were set on the beach I was able to grab the bride and groom while the sun was setting for some portraits ahead of the cake cut.

The day ended with a disco inside the function room of Hotel de Marinas Nerja where we were lucky enough to have Louis on the microphone for a quick bit of rapping and the dancing just seemed to go all through the night.

Do tell us a little bit about yourself & how you would describe your photography style?

I’ve been a documentary wedding photographer for 4 years now and seem to fall in love with wedding photography more with every wedding I document. The sincerity of the day is a beautiful thing and the challenge of working so many photography techniques into a single day makes it so creative and fun. I take a very unobtrusive approach to documenting a wedding day and make it my main objective to capture a story that I can give back to the couple and show them how wonderful their day was. One thing I know for sure is that a wedding day goes so quickly for a bride and groom so I’ll always try and give the bride and groom as much time as they need together without forcing lots of group shots and portraits on them. I’ll always work as quickly as I can to get what I need so the couple can get back to enjoying their day and this is one of the main reason’s I’ll always take couples for a pre-wedding shoot so they get used to my approach and feel comfortable being photographed then on the day it’s quick and easy and they’ll look and feel totally natural.

What did you love about the day?

Destination weddings are fantastic because the weather is 99% guaranteed, unlike weddings in the UK the bride and groom know the sun is going to be shinning on their big day! Outside of this I loved how the wedding day was extended from just the one day of celebrating to 4-5 days (before and after the wedding day). Louis and Lucy’s day was informal but still had all the traditional touches that made it feel like a really special wedding day. Nothing was forced and it seemed to flow perfectly from prep to ceremony then speeches to the dance floor. It was all about having fun and enjoying the time with their fiends and family.

What advice would you give to couples planning their wedding day?

I’d always say always try your best to meet your photographer. Make sure you’re comfortable with him/her. They should feel like you’ve known them for years, more like a friend. There shouldn’t be any point that your photographer gets in your way or makes you feel uncomfortable before or during the wedding day. Trust your suppliers and relax as much as you can on the day and remember that a wedding day is always about the love that two people have for each another.

A quote from the couple…

“We knew of Tarik as he photographed my brothers wedding. We were so impressed with the pictures that we saw from their special day and how natural he had made even the ‘posed for’ photo’s look we knew that we had to book him for our wedding. Tarik was accommodating and incredibly enthusiastic from the start. It was clear that Tarik was very keen on photographing a wedding abroad. We met to discuss our needs and what we were hoping for. From the moment we engaged with Tarik we knew that he would capture our day the way that we would want him to and we would not hesitate to recommend him to others. The captured memories that we now have are incredible.”

“Savour every moment, take a moment for yourselves to take in what is going around you and do it abroad. The run up to and days after the wedding were fantastic with all of our family and friends in a holiday mood.”