An engagement shoot and a wedding at Erentrudisalm

I hadn’t spoken to her in years. Then we bumped into each other by chance at a birthday party, and almost before we’d said hello she asked whether I was free for her wedding. She had been following my photography all that time, quietly, from a distance.

It began with a couple shoot on a May evening, the two of them laughing and in love. A few weeks later they were getting married at Erentrudisalm, high above Salzburg.

All day we watched the sky. The rain was coming, we were sure of it, and all day it kept not coming. When it finally arrived, just before dinner, it stayed for barely half an hour.

And then it was gone. The clouds cleared, the air turned crisp, and the sun went down over the valley in a way no timeline could have promised. The ceremony was behind them, there had been dancing and a little champagne, and everything felt lighter. While the guests were finishing their dessert, I asked the two of them to slip outside with me for a few minutes.

That was the most magical part of the day. Not the plan, not the schedule, just two people in the last of the light, finally able to breathe.