Day One — Bringing Everyone Together in Valletta
For Jaee and Gerard, one of the things they were looking forward to most about their wedding wasn't a particular moment in the ceremony or a detail of the celebrations. It was something more personal: spending quality time with friends and family they hadn't seen in a while, and bringing their different circles together.
That wish was at the heart of their two-day wedding celebrations in Malta, beginning with a pre-wedding welcome gathering at the historic Saluting Battery in Valletta.
Before their wedding ceremony at Villa Bologna two days later, the couple had set aside an entire evening for the people who mattered most to them.
A Historic Setting Overlooking Malta's Grand Harbour
Set beneath Valletta's Upper Barrakka Gardens, the Saluting Battery is one of Malta's most recognisable historic landmarks.
Its centuries-old fortifications and traditional cannons overlook the Grand Harbour, with views across to the fortified cities on the opposite shore.
It is a setting with a character of its own. The stone architecture, the open views and the history of Valletta provide a distinctly Maltese backdrop, far removed from the atmosphere of a conventional indoor reception.
For Jaee and Gerard, it was the chosen location for the opening gathering of their wedding celebrations, with the evening scheduled from 5pm until 11pm.
The People Who Make a Wedding Personal
What stands out most from my conversations with Jaee and Gerard is how much importance they placed on being present with their guests. With friends and family they hadn't seen for some time, their wedding was an opportunity to reconnect and bring people from different parts of their lives together.
That is also why the welcome gathering deserved its own place in their wedding story.
I have always been drawn to the quieter, less structured side of wedding celebrations. The conversations, the relationships and the small interactions between people often tell us just as much about a couple as the ceremony itself.
It was this natural, human side of the celebrations that I hoped to document for Jaee and Gerard, allowing their photographs to reflect not only the setting, but the people at the heart of their wedding.
