Lights, camera, fries!
The photos are arguably one of the most important aspects of your wedding day, alongside the food, of course. They reflect your experience of the day and your feelings, so they have to be done right. A different angle, the position of the sun, and whether the person in the shot is smiling or frowning all impact the overall feeling the person looking at the photo has and how they interpret the moment that’s captured.
Nontethelelo Rivers is a filmmaker and digital content producer. The photography bug bit her while she was still in film school and has stayed with her ever since. What started off as a hobby became a passion. “Now I call it a hobby that pays me well,” she shares.
The beautiful and happy couple you see in these gorgeous photos are Danielle and Nathanael Van Wyk who tied the knot in April of last year. They are Nontethelelo’s friends, and as her wedding gift to them, she suggested doing their wedding photoshoot at a McDonald’s!
“I asked Danielle if we could do a shoot at McDonald’s and she was super keen,” she explains. “They told me that they wanted something like this but couldn’t do it because there was no McDonald’s closer to the wedding venue.” So, the McDonald’s in Umhlanga was chosen as the lucky location for this photoshoot.
You can find ideas for just about anything on Pinterest from meal inspiration to what to wear for your next date (I am sitting at just over 22 000 pins at the moment). Similarly, Nontethelelo found inspiration for this kind of photoshoot while looking for ideas on Pinterest for her clients. “I came across the idea from an American couple who did their wedding photoshoot at McDonald’s and fell in love with the idea!” she exclaims. Yes, these kinds of shoots are more common in America, but Nontethelelo found a way to make it work for her in Umhlanga. We are definitely so glad that she did, because these photos are phenomenal!
The shoot lasted an hour. They got there at 4 p.m. so it was a race against time to get enough light for the photos. During the shoot, they had well-wishers and admirers from the restaurant wanting to give their blessings to the couple and squeeze in a photo. So, that took up a bit of time, but Nontethelelo never saw it as an obstacle or distraction. “It was beautiful to witness,” she remarks.
“I’m definitely looking at doing more shoots like this in the future!” she says. She received so much love for these photos when she released them, so she’s always looking for couples to do fun things like this with in public. As you can see, the results are amazing. Long live unconventional weddings and their out-of-the-box photoshoots! We can’t wait to see what this talented woman does. Maybe it’s time for you to get married?
Words: Cristina Govender
Photos: Nontethelelo Rivers