With a Little Help From Our Friends…{Part 1}

March 17, 2010

It’s unlike me to split a wedding up into 2 parts but Anita & Alan’s really was a wedding that deserves more than one post. You’ll see why.

Being a photographer based in Chile means that the wonderful Kyle Hepp gets to photograph some truly unique and individual weddings. Being a third world country, weddings that cost hundreds of thousands of pounds are out of the question and for Anita & Alan’s wedding in particular everything was set up with love, devotion and with help from friends and family.

“The event started the day before, with everyone coming together to set up and organise for the next day’s festivities. “On Thursday, after Seba and I spent two days on vacation exploring Castro, we met up with Anita, Alan, and about 30 of their closest friends.” Kyle told me “We carpooled from Castro to Quicavi, another little seaside town, where we would take a boat to Voigue. But first, we had to load that bad boy up. When all was said and done, I was nearly certain that we would sink. I have never seen so much stuff packed into such a small space. I mean, pretty much the entire wedding, minus the tent, was being transported. As soon as we arrived on the island, everyone set up their tents, we ate lunch and then we got right to work — and by “we,” I mean everybody else worked really hard and Seba and I photographed them working really hard.”

“The entire wedding truly was a labor of love. Aside from the fact that Chiloe is already a solid 13 hour drive or more, by the time you cross over on the ferry, everything for the event had to be built from scratch, since obviously an island with 30 families living on it doesn’t have facilities to host an 150 person wedding. They made a big tent, with a floor and everything, built it from the ground up. They also built outhouses in two days flat. I swear, if my camera had broken, these Chilotes probably could have built me a new one. I have never before witnessed such resourcefulness”

Everyone camped overnight and eagerly awaited the next day…

Thanks to Kyle for sharing. I am so excited to show you the wedding day later today!

Credit: Kyle Hepp Photography