David and Eleanor - Gougane Barra Wedding Photographer / July 8, 2025 by Jan

Gougane Barra will always have a soft spot in my heart. I remember the first time I ever visited it. I couldn’t believe it was real! The scenery is so striking, and with the chapel (or rather; oratory) placed on the quasi-island, it looks straight out of a movie. Then you walk inside, it’s filled with those lovely pink and purple walls. Such soft colours that work so well in these wedding photos and give it so much more character than a standard white wall. Elegant!

YUGAL

The day started a little stormy – although I’ll get back to this at the end. This was David and Eleanor’s big day! Eleanor is Filipino and she incorporated some Filipino traditions into the ceremony. I am always really intrigued by other cultures and traditions and love to learn more about them. I’m well accustomed to the hand binding which is an old Celtic tradition. But I got to learn about a Filipino tradition of a ceremonial cord, called a ‘yugal’ that is wrapped around the couple in a figure of eight. The ‘yugal’ represents their commitment to each other, much like the hand binding. It’s so fun to be a part of these traditions and capturing them as best as I can.

“OMG!

As the ceremony was coming to a close and David and Ellie, now husband and wife, walked down the aisle and we burst out of the oratory, we stumbled upon a crowd of American tourists who couldn’t believe their eyes. “Oh my god!” one of them shouted. They couldn’t believe that they were lucky enough to see a groom and bride the very second they were there! I’ll never forget that really audible “Oh my god!”. Haha!

TAYTO

I often have couples who are worried about the couple shoot. Some of them just feel awkward in front of the camera and don’t know what to do. Especially on such an emotional day like their wedding day. And if you’re one of those couples, don’t worry! I am there to make it as easy as possible, and actually, also really fun!

Eleanor was in particular very worried about this, and as we were talking about the couple shoot beforehand, I suggested that we should do something. An activity where I can capture some lovely shots and they won’t feel so awkward. She came up with the left-field idea of making and eating Tayto sandwiches, a food item that was very close to their hearts. Definitely not something I would have suggested! Haha! But we got such cute photos of the two eating their Tayto sandwiches.

And let’s look at these couple photos. Didn’t they do an amazing job?? I can’t believe they ever had any worries at all. They were adorable!

5-Star Google Review

Eleanor was also amazing and wrote me this 5-star Google review:

“We booked Jan for our wedding and he was a delight to work with! Very friendly and accommodating. Our wedding venue was so small, but I didn’t even notice that he was around documenting everything. He made us comfortable on camera and the photos came out so beautiful! The setting was very scenic but he made it look more magical. Thank you, Jan! More power to you”

— Eleanor

A Storm at Gougane Barra

And before we wrap up this blog post, I mentioned I would come back to the storm. I photographed Maddy and Matt’s elopement also at Gougane Barra, but in this horrendously stormy weather. They were a great couple and were so committed to these photos even though it was miserable out. I was committed as well and happy to keep going but I did feel sorry for the couple. However, when I got home, I couldn’t believe how beautiful these photos were. I wouldn’t wish this type of weather on any couple, but actually, they’re so strikingly beautiful! They’ve become one of my favourite set of wedding photos ever! I hope that Maddy and Matt feel the same way.

5-Star Google Review

Well, we actually see from their 5-star Google review that they were also over the moon!

“Jan was so amazing to work with - exceeded all our expectations and then some. My now husband and I are not very photogenic, photo-loving people but Jan really captured us in such a natural, appealing way and we love them all. He was so easy to work with on site, incredibly prepared and professional, friendly, and had some really cool ideas for types of shots and locations - all of which were especially helpful not being familiar with the Cork area or taking photos in general. His wife also assisted with the shoot and was so kind and helpful, making it a truly a wonderful experience overall. Can’t recommend him enough!”

— Maddy

Hey!

If you would like to book me for your upcoming wedding day, say hi to me and my wife here, we’d love to photograph your wedding!

More Gougane Barra Wedding Ceremony Photos:

Ian and Rachel - The Imperial Wedding Photographer / May 19, 2025 by Jan

The great thing about weddings is how personalized they can be. Some couples love to do a bouquet toss, other couples prefer to do a walk-out under sparklers. Some want it big, others want something smaller. And just because you’re going for something smaller, doesn’t mean you should be getting less.

Ian and Rachel decided on having a formal wedding ceremony followed by a more informal remaining day, which meant that they only wanted me for a couple of hours of photo coverage.

I started the day photographing Rachel in her hotel room with her father and sister, she was busy adding the final touches to her outfit and once fully ready, we captured the full outfit; the wedding dress, the bouquet, the jewellery.

The clock was ticking so I headed off to the The Imperial’s ceremony room. I always really like their ceremony room and find it such a pleasure to photograph in. I believe the Imperial is taking a break from hosting weddings while they renovate, but I hope they get back to it soon, as it’s a great venue.

As part of the ceremony, the couple lit the candles and I then already found themselves slipping the rings on each other’s fingers. All the while I’m photographing the guests’ laughter and tears, or the embarrassing moment when Ian’s mother realized she had forgotten to bring the rings. Thankfully, they were just in her hotel room and with a quick sprint down the corridors, the crisis was averted.

Rings

“…the embarrassing moment when Ian’s mother realized she had forgotten to bring the rings.”

We were then able to enter the penthouse suite which features this lovely balcony that almost wraps around the whole building. With the views overlooking the city and the sun already being low, we had this amazingly soft light. It was still so radiant, so we had so much colour in the skin tones, making the two love birds just glow!

And as a finishing hurrah, we did the group photos with family and friends.

I always bring my A-game to these kinds of weddings, as that is a lot to squeeze into just a two hour time window, so I come prepared by knowing exactly what I’m photographing and when. I still have to capture a lot of the same moments and details, but with a lot less time on my hands. There’s definitely more pressure on each photo being pergect. It’s a fun challenge and I love how the photos came out! Ian and Rachel thought so too, and were kind enough to leave me this lovely 5-star Google review:

“We hired Jan as our wedding photographer and he did an amazing job. He made us feel very at ease as was very professional. Our pictures turned out amazing. We would highly recommend Jan!”

— Rachel

When it comes to booking a package, it’s important to book a package that fits your idea of what your day should be. I love getting those dancing shots at the end of the evening, when everyone is relaxed and having a blast (which I did here for instance), or photographing the wedding couple with their camper van, which was specially requested by the couple!

Either way, I’d love to hear from you! Say hi to me here and fill me in on what your wedding plans are!

More Wedding Couple Photos at The Imperial

More Wedding Ceremony Photos at The Imperial

O&R - Garryvoe Wedding Photographer / April 23, 2025 by Jan

A wedding at the Garryvoe Hotel. Strange, usually when I’m in east Cork for a wedding it’s in Ballycotton.

This was my first wedding of the year between Oisín and Rachel. It was still winter, in the middle of February, so too cold for cliff backgrounds or beach photos, but we did have the lovely, cozy warm ambiance of the Garryvoe Hotel.

I always like to highlight three things that stood out to me at a wedding.

1) An Indoor Couple Shoot

I have done partial couple shoots indoors or unexpected ones indoors because the weather changed suddenly but this was a couple shoot I planned from the get go to be inside. With the Garryvoe Hotel having this lovely library that I could set up as a photography studio with my lighting equipment was amazing! As always, I had to move some furniture out of the way with the help of some strong waiters but the effort was worth it and I love how these photos came out!

Before every wedding, I get in do a video call with the couple to get to know them and to understand what’s important to them on their big day. Oisín and Rachel had mentioned that as much as they wanted to have a couple shoot, it wasn’t something that was that important to them. This isn’t uncommon and those couples often find it more important to be around friends and family. And I absolutely understand that, so this couple shoot actually just took 10 minutes. They were delighted. They had some beautiful shots of them as a newly wed couple and didn’t miss a thing.

2) The ‘Friends’ Ceremony

Oisín and Rachel had such a laid back and funny ceremony, no doubt because of the celebrant who did a fantastic job on the day. But amazingly, it turned out that the celebrant was the uncle. Because of that he was able to create such a unique ceremony for them and part of that was reading out Joey’s (from Friends) best man speech:

“We are gathered here today on this joyous occasion to celebrate the special love that Oisín and Rachel share.

It is a love based on giving and receiving as well as having and sharing. And the love that they give and have is shared and received. And through this having and giving and sharing and receiving, we too can share and love and have... and receive…”

It had everyone in stitches!

3) The Entrance Song

This was just a small element of the day, but it stood out to me. When entering the dinner hall for the speeches and the dinner, couples will often have a special entrance for that moment, sometimes accompanied by music. On this day, Oisín and Rachel chose a very untypical song for a wedding; “The Next Episode” by Dr Dre featuring Snoop Dogg.

They came dancing out, absolutely loving it. They really made their big day uniquely theirs, and I love to see that!

5-star Google Review

Rachel left us a lovely review, I thought I’d share it here.

“We would highly recommend Jan and Nikki to anyone looking for a wedding photographer.
They were very professional and attentive and truly made us feel at ease. The photos are brilliant and we got them back very fast.
Thanks again Jan and Nikki”

— Rachel

If you would like to tempt me away from Ballycotton and shoot at the Garryvoe or somewhere else in east Cork, say hi to me here for wedding packages and the chance to book in for a video call with me.