2020 – The year that proves love always wins

A look back at the couples who said ‘I Do’ against the odds this year

Wow what a year it has been, 2020 – the year that proves love always wins. No one could have predicted the roller coaster 2020 had in store for us or the huge sacrifices couples would have to make to get married. Yet through it all so many couples have tied the knot, changed their plans and had their day against all the odds. We have also seen lots of couples get engaged during lockdown and other couples continue to plan for their wedding from home, which has been so wonderful to see.

Although weddings have been very different over the summer and into winter this year there is something so wonderful about them too, couples have gone from planning a big wedding with lots of suppliers and 100+ guests to changing venues, uninviting guests and pretty much starting their planning from scratch. But with a smaller, more intimate wedding comes even more love & emotion.

I’ve been so lucky to work with a number of incredible couples who got married this year and I wanted to share some of this warmth and happiness with you by taking a look back through this year and the weddings I was lucky enough to capture.

My summer season started with Claire & Nick who spent two weeks in isolation when they traveled back to the UK from their home in Denmark so they could have an intimate wedding with their closest family & friends. Their day was my first insight into a socially distanced wedding and also my first experience wearing a mask while taking photos –  that was fun! (my viewfinder fogged up almost instantly so that proved to be a bit of a challenge but I soon managed to work with it)

Since then I have worked with a variety of couples who have all faced their own challenges, some made the snap decision to go for it within a few weeks, others were forced to change their plans two or three times and some managed to add something new into their day because they had to scale back on other things. Despite the journey, they all made the most of it and had the perfect day.

Once of my couples from the summer, Bronte & Nathan, have since sent me a wonderful review – “After moving to our plan B wedding since New York was no longer an option (thanks Covid!) we were excited about getting married but weren’t sure how our super small and now intimate wedding would plan out. We had a bigger celebration booked in for 2021 but the pictures we got back from Katrina actually made us re-think the whole thing and we ended up scrapping the bigger do! The day was just incredible and Katrina’s pictures were the icing on the cake”

This just shows how powerful an intimate wedding can be and how important the photography is to document the moment and remember it for years after.

The biggest changes for couples and their guests has been the socially distanced ceremonies and seating plans, couples were usually sat at their own table for the wedding breakfast and guests would be sat in groups of 4 across an 8 seater table. But these measures didn’t affect the laughter and fun, it’s always there and people are always having a great time! The pattern that I’ve seen from these 2020 weddings is the happiness in each and every photo, their are no regrets or worries, there is no stress or rushing around, just pure joy and happiness for everyone involved.

One thing I have loved about photographing intimate 2020 weddings is the flexibility couples have with time on the day, they don’t have a strict schedule to stick to and have more time to spend together. I’ve had the luxury this year of taking couples away for photos together, either to another location or exploring more of the venue grounds. This has also given couples more time just the two of them to take it all in, have some fun together and really appreciate what they have achieved.

I would like to say a huge thank you to all the couples that have kept me in the loop when changing their plans so I could still be their for your day and to all the couples who have continued to plan their weddings and booked me to capture their day in 2021 & 2022, you have made this year so much better!

There are many lessons we have learnt during this year, lessons that will hopefully change the world for the better and unite us but I think we can all agree that love always wins!

If you are consider an intimate wedding or elopement and would like more information on my bespoke packages then I’d love you to get in touch, tell me all about your plans xx