Destination Wedding Photography: Blue Waters Antigua
We’ve known Dee (Divyesh) since meeting him at one of our couples wedding back in 2010 and having worked with him a few times (he owns a catering company). So when he came to us to discuss his wedding plans, naturally we were very happy for him. And as it turned out, we’d also previously met his fiancée, Tina. She is related to one of our brides from 2012.
It was such an honour to have been hired not only to document their caribbean destination wedding at the Blue Waters resort in Antigua, but also being treated to an entire week with them in Antigua. We had such a fantastic time that we don’t know where to begin.
I think I’ll begin with what it meant for me personally. Not many people know this as I haven’t been totally comfortable openly talking about it up until now, but, I suffer from severe depression and generalised anxiety disorder. Among many other things, it means I find social situations and stress extremely difficult to deal with. In general, I just avoid social environments where I have to spend more than 5 minutes with a large number of people I don’t know.
As a result, travelling abroad has always been a big no-go for me as I get very bad panic attacks at the thought of being in unfamiliar territory. For that reason, much to my wife’s dismay, I’ve always avoided doing weddings abroad. This year however, I agreed to do some international shoots as part of my ongoing effort to confront and overcome all of my irrational fears. And I think I’m winning!
When Dee and Tina mentioned Antigua as the destination for their civil ceremony, I found myself in a weird situation with mixed feelings. On the one hand, as I’ve always done in the past, I was instantly looking for all sorts of reasons to say no. And on the other hand, I felt unexpectedly excited about the idea of shooting a wedding in the caribbean. But I think it was more to do with the fact that a number of positive elements came together and gave me a bit of confidence to finally take the plunge. The fact I knew Dee already, we were going to an English speaking country and on an all-inclusive luxury resort. It felt as though not much can go wrong.
And I was right. From the moment we met Tina and Dee’s family members, I was almost totally relaxed about the whole trip. Everyone was so friendly, welcoming and not to mention understanding. Once we got to the resort, it felt like a get together with old friends with just the 16 of us in one of the most beautiful parts of the world.
Each day leading up to the civil ceremony, we got together to plan everything properly. In between the planning, we all got to know each other better during our relaxations in the pool, spot of dancing with the live bands after dinner. Oh it was so hard keeping my diet with gourmet meals every night! I think most of us ate a bit too much desert. Especially Naz! She totally shocked me as she normally stays away from deserts.
On the day of the ceremony, as you would expect in the Caribbean, it was very hot! It was the first time I shot a wedding wearing shorts. I felt a bit weird, but it had to be done. Thankfully, it rained a little and the weather cooled down just enough to be bearable.
There’s so much I can say about this trip, but I’ll be here all month writing it up. All I’ll say is that Tina, Dee and all their family were an absolute joy to be around. Words can’t do justice in describing how grateful I am to them for making it an enjoyable, stress-free, experience.
Here are a few images from our week in Antigua. Keep an eye out for Tina & Dee’s Indian wedding and reception images coming soon.
One beautiful backdrop for a beautiful wedding! Thank you for sharing it with us.