I heard my email ping at 430 am. I’m usually dead asleep at this time but I had woke up just before the email came in, and something told me to check it.
“I’ve been looking for the perfect documentary wedding photography in Sweden for days. Will you come to Sweden?” the writer enthusiastically asked.
“Absolutely,” I replied.
And that’s how I met Per and Michele-Lee. We quickly set up a zoom call and bonded over music, travel and a distinct desire to be fully present with the people we love. This wedding photography in Sweden would not be directed, just documented, as they lived it. No intrusions for posing or fussing, just let them–folks from all over the world–be together for this one wild and precious day.
Per grew up on Lake Racken, a small lake in central Sweden known for a colony of artist friends who created a movement centred around a nationalistic romantic longing for nature, a search for light, for darkness and sadness. Per recounted how being infused with creativity as a kid impacted his life.
Drifting to sleep his parents played jazz on the porch, he would later start in a punk band. He studied for his PhD on its shores. So of course they would have the ceremony here, where he brought his soon-to-be wife Michele-Lee, a colleague who grew into much more as they travelled the world with ChangeMakers. Soon, Spiderman-loving Emmett was born.
They held a private ceremony at the home where Per grew up, complete stuffed animals on the floor for the grandkids. The ceremony was on the deck, where his parents’ friends played music late into the night when he was a kid. Per’s mom sang them a song while Emmett tried to contain himself and the grand dads tried not to giggle at him. Then they moved to their public ceremony on the forested shore of Lake Racken.
Their wedding would be a full circle moment. Friends from all over the world joined them at Logen i Skotta, relishing incredible local organic food. Per’s 80 year old mom sang a jazz tribute to them, bringing down the house with tears. Then, Per and his band reunited to kick off the party–singing a love song to Michele-Lee that, if we thought Barb’s songs made us cry, left no tear duct in tact.
They partied late into the endless day light, the sun as reluctant to go down as each one of them. No one wanted the day to end. After that, they’d all return to their various corners of the world but for now, they were all together again.
Because that is what a wedding is… the only occasion in your life when everyone you love comes together to celebrate love. It’s unabashed and unbridled and unlike anything ever in your life again.
Remembering it how you lived it is the most important decision. Being fully present with your people the whole time is the most important action. There’s no reason to leave your people. Choose documentary wedding photography in Sweden and you won’t miss a thing.
