When the lovely Lina, of Lina Ahnoff Photography asked me to come to Denmark to shoot a wedding alongside her in Copenhagen’s famous winter wonderland the Tivoli Gardens I jumped at the chance. I love travelling for work to shoot destination weddings and those of you who know me may know that I am somewhat of a Christmas nut. I love the excitement, the atmosphere, the food and drink and the decorations of course!! And in my opinion no one does Christmas quite like our fellow Europeans on the continent. It was an amazing time to visit Copenhagen, to feel the cold, smell the chesnuts, taste the grogg and Aebleskiver… (I want an Aebleskiver pan!) Lina kindly put me up in her home and her family extended me such warm hospitality I truly felt like a part of the family. It was amazing to get a feel for a real Danish Christmas and when it came time to leave I actually felt a little emotional.

Anyway, back to the wedding, and what a wedding it was. In the heart of Tivoli Gardens lies Nimb, a beautiful and high-end boutique hotel which looks like a palace out of Arabian Nights. It is to die for. The place was dripping in elegant Christmas decorations (sorry- that’s why it’s a LOOONG post!), was beautifully furnished down to the very last detail and the food was out of this world. All this made for a truly magical wedding setting. Trine and Sebastian were married on the terrace over looking the gardens in the crisp and cold air, and the gardens then made the perfect backdrop for some beautiful Christmassy couple’s shots. Even though the sun set not long after three pm, we did manage to get them done in the light, which is always a race on a winter wedding day!

Trine and Sebastian the lovely bride and groom were so welcoming to someone who spoke no Danish and many of the guests were so interested to hear what brought me to Denmark and how I was enjoying it. I have to say, I have fallen a bit in love with the Danes. They are such a warm and generous people, and I love their wedding traditions. They have this brilliant tradition where the couple have to stand on their chairs to kiss if the guests ting their glasses, and then they have to get under the table to kiss if the guests stamp their feet! And if either the bride or groom leaves the room all the men either kiss the bride, or ladies kiss the groom! It’s hilarious! And then of course there’s the speeches. Anyone who’d like to can give a speech at a Danish wedding which means dinner can go on for hours! But aside from speeches they sing songs, do amusing ‘turns’ etc. and it’s so clear how much effort and love goes into all this. It’s a wonderful thing to witness. Then after the dinner and all the speeches comes the mad dancing, and the sock cutting! It’s traditional to do a waltz, during which the guests get closer and closer to the couple, the groom is swept off his feet, and the toe is cut off of one sock. Apparently this is to make him appear poor and therefore less appealing to other women! It was such an insight to see another culture and their wedding traditions.

I have to say an enormous thank you to Lina and her family, you truly hold a very special place in my heart and I hope our paths will cross again. Any time you need a second Lina! And if you’d like to see Lina’s photos from the wedding they’re featured here on a blog including a few of mine too.