{elopement} Chris & Jesper ~ Gozo, Malta

When Chris and Jesper contacted me about shooting their elopement on Gozo, an island off Malta in the Mediterranean,  it was only supposed to be them. He’s Danish, she’s French. Apart from witnesses I would be the only outsider there. Over the year that followed things changed slightly. Though we’d never met, we became friends. So when Jesper and Chris decided they wanted their friends there to celebrate their day, they also graciously invited my family. So on a beautiful day in July, only ten days after my own wedding, Jacqui, Noah, Joel and I joined Jesper, Chris and their five friends for the smallest and sweetest wedding I’ve been a part of to date. Every now and then I get to experience something that changes the way I look at love, the reasons I do what I do.

This was one of those days.

[audio:https://www.box.com/shared/static/y87ezchz59btt2mh7ral.mp3]


music credit: Wake Me – Message To Bears (iTunes)

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  1. Sachin Khona says:
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    Diggin’ in the crates. Beautiful work as always jonas!
  2. I loved this one. the emotion was captured SO well!

    they look like genuinely amazing people! you have a fantastic talent!

  3. I first saw this post a while ago and I still think of it from time to time. It’s one of my favorite wedding posts. The smiles, the love, and the fun. Its hypnotizing!

  4. I have been browsing through your work and I really love the way you capture weddings. I came across this one in Gozo, (I am maltese and live in Malta)….
    So I came across these images and did not read the caption first. I recognised the light and said, hey wait a sec this is mediterranean light, this is Malta for sure….so I go up and read…then scroll down and see Rikardu and yes I was right…our light is easily recognised or maybe because am a photographer myself and used to seeing it!
    good work!
    Therese

  5. Wow! Actually bought a tear to my eye – the peeking around the stairs and hug before the wedding – gulp! Just lovely, the relaxed happiness of these two is wonderful.. what a great story to be part of. An inspiration to a beginner photographer – thank you Jonas.

  6. Wow, what an amazingly intimate wedding to be a part of. Everything about it looked beautiful. Great job capturing it. It’s deflating how good you are!.. :)

  7. Hey Jonas, fantastiska bilder i vanlig ordning. En av de bilder som sticker ut är helt klart “krogsgaard219” där du lyckats fånga tåren när den lämnar kinden… Otroligt!
    Bra jobbat ännu en gång!

    Hälsningar från Sverige!

  8. Jonas, your work is quite simply stunning! I have book marked your site and will be coming back to visit on a regular basis! Beautiful photography in every sense…

  9. A beautiful wedding complimented by beautiful shots. It must have been a real honour to be a part of. Couples like Chris and Jesper are surely why we do this and I’m not surprised to hear how pleased they both are with the results. Beautiful images as always!

  10. Tänker på hur du gått från en blogg som fick mig att skratta tills jag grät, till bilder som berör till tårar. Det här är absolut de vackraste bröllopsbilder jag sett! Tack för att du delar med dig av ditt arbete, det är otroligt inspirerande att se så många fångade ögonblick av lycka och kärlek. You rock! :)

  11. Lika fantastiska bilder som alltid. Jag har nog aldrig sett en så lycklig brud! Man blir liksom varm i hjärtat när man ser bilderna. Detta trots att jag inte har någon relation till objekten överhuvudtaget. Men det är väl det som är skillnaden mellan en proffsfotograf och en amatör. Ett proffs vet exakt hur han eller hon ska ta bilderna för att beröra.

  12. Hej Jonas!

    Jag studerar statsvetenskap och ekonomi i Linköping. Det är inte så hemskt roligt och jag tror inte att jag kommer att jobba med något inom det. Men jag är inte så stressad här och jag har fina och spännande vänner. Istället för att bli orolig över mitt liv eller ivrig på att flyga iväg har jag skapat mig en liten atelje i mitt korridorsrum. Här lyssnar jag på Wake me, leker med photoshop, slipar på min blogg, tittar på dina foton, försöker lära mig mer, blir inspirerad. Jag är trots allt bara 22 år. Men inom två år vill jag göra något annat. Den dagen kommer! Det vet jag :)

    Två frågor från mig nu. Först, hur du lägger in ett musikklipp sådär tjusigt i början av varje inlägg? Dessutom, om du får tid över, så vore jag så hemskt tacksam över om du skulle kunna tänka dig att berätta hur du har arbetat tidigare? Plugg osv. Kanske att man kan få något tips!

    tack och ha det jättefint nu!

  13. One of the best wedding photo’s I have seen.. It tells the story.
    I felt like i was their,simply stunning..
    would loved to know what film look you went for with vsco..

  14. I just stumbled upon your site while searching Google for horse photography. I love your horse pictures – they’re stunning. But I have to say, these wedding pictures are out of this world! The pictures require no words, such a beautiful is told with them. They had me in happy tears of joy for these two who are so clearly madly in love with each other. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen such joy captured in wedding photos before. Very touching. I’m in awe. And I really truly mean that. :D

  15. I’m just glancing through another wedding blog, but, as I do, I find myself smiling, laughing and catching my breath with the emotion captured in the images. This is what we wedding photographers aspire to. Kudos.

  16. Kan inte låta bli att fråga om du råkar veta vart hennes skor kommer ifrån? Så oerhört söta!

  17. This is too much. This is too good to be true, this wedding, this love and these people. But if it is all true, let it be forever. I can tell that Chris & Jespes is the sweetest couple that exists. And you Jonas…I have never have enough words for you, thanks for sharing this love!

  18. I think all of your weddings are beautiful stories told through your eyes, but this one is different to me. I feel like it’s all told through their eyes and you just happened to be there to spy on it. The amount of love between them is inspiring. Beautiful and moving work as always Jonas.

  19. Very beautiful and intimate pictures, Jonas! I love the fact that they invited you with your family and the way they look at each other! Adorable!!
    ~ Saluti.

  20. to all of you who commented:
    Thank you so much for your kind words.

    to Jonas, Jacqui, Noah and Joel:
    I love you.

    Our wedding day was the most incredible and beautiful day of our lives, we had a great time and felt (and still do) incredibly lucky to have the honor to be surrounded by the people we love most, may it be old or new love.
    Jesper and I love each other this way on an every day basis, we jump and goof around, hug, laugh and kiss a lot every day. It is who we are and what we do (although I may have smiled and giggled a tinsy bit more than unsual on W-day… who knows…) but anyway, this is who we are and we are so unbelievably lucky that Jonas captured “us” so perfectly in the way we are but especially in the way we love. For that, we will be eternally grateful.

  21. Sublime photos. The most joyful bride on the planet. That first look through the arch – what a moment – and as lots of others have mentioned, the tear photo is out-of-this-world. I love how this couple embraces each other like it’s their last moment on earth. What a blessed couple to have you there to capture their magical day – you know you’ve done well when strangers get choked up looking at photos of a couple they don’t even know. Bravo!

  22. Groom signing in :-) – we were and are honoured to have had you spy on us throughout our wedding-day, and to get to know you enough to call you a friend. The same goes for your amazing little family Jacqui, Noah, and Joel.

    We loved having you there and that you all took an active part in the wedding in a way we never imagined. You added a big part to the magic. That also makes it very strange to not see you anywhere in the images; a discrepancy with our recollection of it.

    I never really liked having my picture taken much and I was a bit wary of how having you snipe us all day would turn out; here I must admit to your great credit that it was the easiest and most natural thing in the world, because of the way you conduct yourself and your camera-wielding. Big kudos.

    Lastly, thank you for your kind words, which mean a lot coming from you with so many great weddings under your belt.

    lots of love to all of you

  23. I was one of the privileged friends that witnessed this event and it’s so valuable to be able to live it all through again with these pictures. Thanks!

  24. The peek around the corner photo is brilliant, and I laughed when I saw the bride between the two men in cloths. Amazing!

  25. Still dont get how you are not the best wedding photographer every year. Your weddings always bring out what a wedding is (union of love), not a massive expensive party. This one is just out of this world! True love and happines in each picture. A true record of feelings and emotions, captured for eternity!

  26. “Every now and then I get to experience something that changes the way I look at love, the reasons I do what I do.” – Couldn’t say it better.

    Fantastic pictures. What I really like about your pictures is one can actually relate to the emotions, moments and smiles and tears. It’s not posed, it’s not fake it’s as it is, the real thing.

    Truly inspiring work.

    The photogrpahs during/after the vows – fabulous.

    You should “Take a bow :)”

  27. Love the whole shoot! But one stand-out for me is your son wrapped in the orange towel. Being the father of a similar aged boy I can really relate to that shot!

  28. My new fave wedding. Too many beautiful images to choose, the one of her crying though, I gasped! Amazing!

  29. I love small and intimate weddings! They just have a sense of genuine love and happiness that can get lost in a big, formal do. You’ve really given this couple their own voice and that, to me, is what makes it exceptional.

  30. her face is so wonderfully expressive. What an amazing wedding to be a part of. Relaxed, and just amazingly beautiful. I loved looking at their Wedding story.

  31. honestly, i think this is one of your very best jonas. your connection with this couple really shines through in every shot. truly beautiful work

  32. Laid back, beautiful, effortless barefoot love. Goodness I wish more people got married like this. Each photo made me smile bigger than the one before. By the end of the post my face hurt. Love, love, love this.

  33. You probably have some of the raddest clients around! I love your bride, she is absolutely adorable and what a wonderful intimate wedding to be a part of. Those are the best!

  34. Killer. I love seeing the entire day. The shot of her crying and the shot of them with the woman in red are spectacular alone, but the entire set is just ridiculously awesome.

  35. That has to be one of the happiest brides I’ve ever seen… she was clearly oozing joy. You can tell this was a genuine affair full of so much love. And the shot of the tear falling? Holyyyyyy crap.

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