MARRIED AT THE D’ANGLETERREHanieh & Robert
Hanieh and Robert brought everyone they loved to Copenhagen to get married, which is a lot to ask of people, and every one of them came.
It started at the Hotel d’Angleterre, the grand old hotel on Kongens Nytorv, and worked outward from there. Into the streets, up onto a rooftop above the spires, down to the water at Nyhavn, and back to the ballroom long after dark. A whole day of Copenhagen, on foot.
THE MORNING AT THE D’ANGLETERRE
The getting ready filled two hotel rooms and most of the morning.
Robert and his groomsmen sorted themselves out in one room, Hanieh and her bridesmaids took over another, and her father came in to see her before any of it began. Her dress hung by the window. This is the slow part of a wedding, and usually the part people hold onto longest afterwards.
THE CEREMONY
They married in a room at the hotel, everyone close enough to reach.
Hanieh came in on her father’s arm, and Robert watched her the whole way down. Vows, rings, the register to sign, and a room full of people who had crossed borders to be in it. The city was out there the whole time. For a little while none of it mattered.
OUT INTO THE CITY
Afterwards I took the two of them out to find the good corners of Copenhagen, and there is no shortage of them.
Painted walls, cobbled lanes, an old stone archway, a rooftop with the spires behind them. Hanieh looked extraordinary in all of it, and the dress was a good part of why. This is what a destination wedding gives back for the flights and the planning: the two of you, a city you do not live in, and an afternoon with nowhere else to be.
DINNER, AND THE FIRST DANCE
Back at the d’Angleterre the tables were set and the evening got going.
They had their first dance in the ballroom under the chandeliers, and then everyone sat down to eat. Speeches, toasts, and a room kept warm and loud by people who had come a long way for one night.
DOWN TO NYHAVN
By evening they made it down to the harbour.
Nyhavn is the row of coloured houses that everyone photographs, and there is a reason everyone does. By the time they got there the crowds had thinned and the boats were in, and Hanieh and Robert had the quay to themselves for a while. Then back up through the old streets towards the hotel.
AFTER DARK
The party went late, the way the best ones tend to.
There was cake, and dancing that did not let up, and partway through it the two of them slipped out to walk the empty streets for a few minutes, Hanieh’s dress bright against the dark stone. Then back inside, to a floor that was nowhere near done.
A destination wedding asks a lot of everyone. Getting your people across borders, trusting a place you have mostly seen in pictures, hoping it all comes together on the day. For Hanieh and Robert, it came together. Copenhagen is a fine place to get married, whether you bring everyone you know or nobody at all. I have photographed a quiet elopement in Copenhagen as well, if that is more your speed. If the city is on your list, I would love to photograph your day here.
