Credits
The wedding team
- Film
- @rhb.films
- Photographer
- @rickybailliephotography
- Content
- @candidcontentstudio
- Gown
- @evalendel
- Boutique
- @annepriscillabridal & @mwlbride
- Groom outfit
- @slatermenswear
- Makeup
- @rachellouisebridal
- Celebrant
- @foreverloved_celebrancy
- Florals
- @jeffreycampbell
- Entertainment
- @cloudninept
- Jewellery
- @sunvoyagerjewellery
A wedding at Solar Da Levada in Portugal
Words and photographs by Ricky Baillie
Robyn and Fraser’s wedding at Solar Da Levada in Portugal was so beautiful, and I was honoured to be there to capture their incredible day!
There’s a photograph of Robyn standing on a lawn in front of two enormous arched windows. Fraser is a few steps away and the train of her dress stretches almost to the bottom of the frame. Look closely at the glass and you can see the chandeliers on the other side. It’s one of my favourite ways into their gallery, because so much of this wedding happened on one side or the other of those windows.
The ceremony indoors
Before Robyn put her gown on, I photographed it beside the mirrors beneath a chandelier. You can see the dress from several angles in that one picture. Later there’s a much closer photograph of Robyn under her lace veil. It’s in black and white, and you only see a little of her face through the lace. I like what those two pictures tell you about the same piece of clothing once someone you know is wearing it.
Robyn wore Eva Lendel, with Andi Santos on hair and Rachel Louise on makeup. Fraser’s outfit was from Slater Menswear. For the ceremony, greenery ran down either side of the aisle. The arched glass let daylight in behind them, while the chandeliers gave the room a softness of its own. In one frame I photographed through a leaf. It fills a good portion of the picture, leaving just enough room beneath it for the two people everyone had come to see.
A wedding out in the gardens
Most of the celebration took place outdoors. I particularly love the striped parasol above the table. From a distance, it’s the shape that catches your eye. Up close you notice the guests sitting under it, the corners of the curtains and the light through the trees behind them. Elsewhere in the gardens, pale dresses and brighter colours reflected in the water as guests gathered beside it.
There’s a little sequence with a white open-top car that makes me smile. In one photograph Robyn stands up with her bouquet held high. In another, Fraser is beside the open door and you see just how much dress there is to gather. They sit well together because one is the photograph you might imagine when you book a wedding car, and the other is the fun of actually getting a bride and her train into it.
By the fountain
For the group photographs, we had steps to work with. I could give each person some space and still leave room around them for the garden. Robyn and her bridesmaids make a particularly lovely picture in the pale colours they wore. A few frames further on there’s a different gathering on those steps, with the dark jackets picking out faces against all that green.
Another pair of photographs brings us back to the arched windows. In the colour frame, the shadows fall in long bands across the lawn as Robyn lifts her skirt to walk. In black and white, the two of them stand close to the glass and the lace falls out behind her. I like seeing the same place twice when the couple are doing something quite different.
In between are smaller details I’m glad made the edit. A pale drink in a shallow glass. The little round table in front of the stairs, with Robyn and Fraser leaning over it to cut their cake. Then, right at the end, the pair of them kissing beside the fountain, a musician just behind them and water catching the light across almost the whole frame. I can think of few better pictures on which to leave their day. Thank you, Robyn and Fraser, for inviting me to Portugal and for letting me share these photographs.
The wedding team
Film @rhb.films
Photographer @rickybailliephotography
Content @candidcontentstudio
Gown @evalendel
Boutique @annepriscillabridal & @mwlbride
Groom outfit @slatermenswear
Makeup @rachellouisebridal
Venue @solardalevada_lagodoscisnes
Celebrant @foreverloved_celebrancy
Florals @jeffreycampbell
Entertainment @cloudninept
Jewellery @sunvoyagerjewellery