destination wedding - neuschwenstein castle, bavaria, germany

at the beginning of summer i had a rather unusual email conversation with my friend's boyfriend whom i never met. the long and short of it, i was asked to come and shoot their wedding in germany, at a castle, a long time dream of russ.

there are hundreds of photos from the day, but here are a few to give you a feel for the fun we had...

some of the details..









getting ready...











a few photos before they met..






the first meeting..





the ceremony was in two parts..the first atop the mountain that overlooked the castle; the second in the courtyard of the castle. how could you not get married with the castle in your background atop a little ledge waaaaaay up high, yet married in the courtyard of king ludwig's castle? the best of both worlds really! :)










just before the ceremony started, 3 girls from australia were hiking down the mountain by us, and asked what was going on. once we told them, they asked if they could watch, and we even put them to work, holding my laptop that the music was playing on. they were so sweet! :)







a few photos atop the mountain before we made our way down to the castle..





and some fun ones on the way down too.. :)




when we got to marion's bridge, that crossed from the mountain to where we walked to the castle, the applause and cheering commenced! it was so cute! and everyone was super great to let us take a few shots on the bridge..the very, very HIGH bridge!!







then some more fun ones.. :) note kerri's hiking boots - she changed into them going up and down the mountain.. :)




and then russ did the prince sort of thing to do - carry his princess up the stairs to the courtyard..boy did the shouting and clapping go nuts!! it was so cool!! he pretty much raised the standard for all those single guys there that day!






then the tender ceremony began...











so lovely, hey? sigh.. :)
and then we went and shot around the castle..here are a few of my faves..

















and then we ate together at the restaurant at the castle and they danced to "i'm yours" by jason mraz.. :) it was a lovely day..






congrats to you guys..i'm so honored you'd ask me to capture your day..indeed it was a fairytale...and they lived happily ever after.. :)

all my love..trace xox