[Originally posted at The Bride, the Groom and the Greek Sunset: A Perfect Wedding Picture by Jason Horowitz]
SANTORINI, Greece — The bride wore a sparkling tiara and a flowing red wedding gown, her fifth matrimonial ensemble of the day. The groom wore a silver tuxedo and the fatigued look of a guy who had spent the last dozen hours posing for pictures.
The photographer gave instructions. Re-enact the proposal on bended knee. Twirl in the dress. Kiss the bride’s hand.
But it was nearly sunset, and the couple still hadn’t captured that perfect Santorini picture to display at their traditional wedding in China next month.
So their photographer, who is based in Shanghai, rushed the pair across the island’s whitewashed roofs and narrow cliffside footpaths, coaching them in Chinese at various scenic outlooks.
Above a luxury hotel renowned in China as the setting for a popular romantic comedy, he told the weary groom to lift his betrothed in an over-the-threshold pose. The third try was the charm.
For a grand finale, the couple stared into one another’s eyes on a rooftop, and the photographer framed their silhouettes around the blood-orange sun, sinking behind them into the shimmering Aegean Sea. It was the stuff pre-wedding-picture dreams were made of.
“Santorini is famous in China,” said the 29-year-old groom, Yao Kai, after the final click of the camera.
A view of the coastal town of Oia on Santorini. Credit…Laura Boushnak for The New York Times
Tourists gathered on top of the ruins of Oia Castle to take photos of the famous sunset. Credit… Laura Boushnak for The New York Times
Pre-wedding pictures have become a multi-billion-dollar business in the Instagram age — particularly for Asian couples.
Many Chinese brides and grooms who plan for traditional ceremonies back home go first for professional photographs under the Eiffel Tower in Paris, at Big Ben in London, and in the English countryside. (“A Downton Abbey effect on Chinese pre-wedding photo shoots,” the South China Morning Post reported.) New Zealand and Antarctica are the latest pre-wedding destination hot spots.
But the deep blues and white-out whites of Santorini exercise a particular hold on the romantic imagination of many an Asian nearlywed.
Continue reading at
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/06/world/europe/greece-santorini-wedding-photography-chinese-couples.html or find more great stuff at https://www.dowoakevents.com
Generally I’m not a huge fan of destination weddings, but I might be willing to make an exception for this. There definitely are a lot of very cool places out there, but I don’t typically think of Greece. However… after reading through this I may have to reconsider. It legitimately looks so awesome that now it’s somewhere I would really like to go. And apparently you can get awesome photography done there as well, which seems like an added bonus. Maybe I’ll go and just get them to take pictures of just me?
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