Zoe & Adrian - A Berlin Elopement 15 Years from the Day They Met - Berlin Wedding Photography
“In the next one, will you find me?
I’ll be the boy with the pink carnation pinned to my lapel
Who looks like hell and asks for help
And if you do, I’ll know it’s you
I can’t imagine you without the same smile in your eyes
There is somethin’ about you that I will always recognize
And if you don’t remember
I will try to remind you of the hummingbirds”
There’s something so wild about this job - about how quickly you come to know and love strangers, to care for them, to respond to any flares of crisis a wedding day brings and to revel in all of the beautiful chaotic joy. I thrive so much off of these human connections, I take enormous pride in adapting to all manner of families and friendship groups and finding unique ways of telling all of these stories through my lens. I used to think that I would only take weddings for new couples rather than people I know, to maintain a modicum of professionalism and certain boundaries, knowing how involved I’ll still get.
Good thing I have been determined to break this self-imposed rule several times a year for the past ten years because I would miss out on an even more extraordinary layer to telling your wedding stories: that beautiful gift of telling the stories of people I ALREADY know and love! My sister, my father-in-law, the best friends of my sister-in-law, my oldest and dearest friends - I’ve been steadily building an archive of so many faces I’m already so wonderfully familiar with.
Zoe & Adrian met on November 13th 2009 at an ambiguously-themed house-party at Zoe’s flat in Hamburg where she lived amongst a gaggle of fellow artists and students, bohemian creatives who took a theme party VERY seriously. I remember walking around the party with my pal Zoe - a fellow American transplant to Hamburg - taking pictures of the partygoers with my Canon z-shot (images that have now retained a time-capsule quality in their blurriness and ephemeral imperfection) - and surreptitiously sneaking a photo of the shaggy-haired art student that Zoe kept finding reasons to walk past. To great relief, they finally started chatting after what felt like hours. And the conversation continued throughout the night, well into the early blue haze of morning (by which point I was trying to sleep in Zo’s loft-bed above them and kept yelling abuse from at their whispers and giggling).
In July of this year, I got a text from my old friend Zoe saying that she and Adrian had given notice at Berlin city hall and asking was I serious about flying over to shoot their wedding for them? After 15 years, a move after the first 5 to Berlin from Hamburg, SO many visits and celebrations shared between us, these soul mates were FINALLY getting married. The collective joy in their engagement has been felt across the globe - to us and other friends in England, to Zoe’s extended friends and family in the States, amongst their community in Berlin & Hamburg etc etc.
Because from that chaotic meet-cute at a house-party in Hamburg, Zoe & Adrian have been constant, their love story has evolved and solidified and grown roots within their multi-continental community. They are my daughter’s fun German Aunt & Uncle who indulge her with treats and games and stories and silliness. Their love story has run in tandem with my own, I met my Michael just 5 months before, and we have grown up together but apart and settled into adulthood and all of whatever that means. They have built the most beautiful life together and it’s been such an honour to stay a part of.
So of course I got on a plane to Berlin. And on a brisk grey November afternoon at Pankow Rathaus, 15 years to the day they met, Zoe & Adrian got married wearing stunningly crafted suits with just myself and the government official performing the ceremony present. They gripped onto each other, we all hugged and cried and spent the next hour exploring their favourite spots and taking some pictures (complete with a detour to a photo booth). That evening I returned to their flat where Adrian’s mum & sister and their partners were waiting with confetti and cake and well-wishes. We feasted at their favourite local spot, we toasted to them and I returned to my hotel with a full belly and a fuller heart.
One of the greatest gifts in this world is to find a partner that not only allows you to grow and evolve, but actively participates alongside you and encourages you to shine. A person who reminds you to hold onto some of that shine for yourself. Zoe & Adrian bring out only the best in each other and it has been the honour of these 15 years to love them. This one’s personal.
From my little family to our Z & A, alles gute!
Here’s a little sneak peek of what we got up to…
