What a difference a year can make! I cannot believe that it’s been that long since The Wilsons moved to Switzerland.
It was initially planned to be a six-month adventure. My husband James would take a secondment with his work, the boys would attend the local village school and I’d mostly spend the six months editing before the filming season was due to kick off again in May.
But it just didn’t turn out that way. We all fell in love with Wengen, a car-free ski resort in the shadow of the Jungfrau and The Eiger.
The boys settled into school really well and have taken to German language really well. James is also a natural. Me, not so much.
Before too long I had my first Swiss wedding commission at the gorgeous Suvretta House in St Moritz. Working and filming in the snow was a new experience, so too was filming the ‘portrait shots’ on a frozen lake. I even went sledging with the couple and their friends the day before the wedding, capturing the buildup in a way I hadn’t done before.
The winter months were spent juggling lots of editing with attempting to absorb myself into Swiss life as much as possible. That meant taking advantage of living on the doorstep of some fabulous skiing, enjoying the apres-ski as well as helping my children become expert skiers.
We hadn’t been here long before I knew that going ‘home’ would be unlikely. Wengen had become our home. As soon as we became committed the wedding bookings for this year started rolling in as I build up connections with some fabulous photographers and planners across France, Austria, Italy and of course Switzerland.
I’ve discovered some amazing venues and proud to have been made the recommended videographer of Suvretta House, The Chedi in Andermatt and The Giessbach on Lake Brienz… not to mention at Bond World at the top of the Shilthorn.
I’ve learnt the weather can offer up some challenging conditions too. When I filmed Jess and Cory’s wedding on Lake Blausee it was difficult to plan … an April wedding could mean any kind of weather. As it turned out the couple from Australia had a little bit of everything. From rain in the morning, to sunshine in the afternoon for their outdoor ceremony and a spot of snow in the evening … that eventually led to the couple being snowed-in at their Chalet the following day.
Jess + Cory // A magical adventure from Story of Your Day.
Living in a car-free resort can lead to some isolation and a lot of travel for weddings. Some weddings I drove to and some I flew to but all involved the train at one stage. There were some weddings that involved all three modes of transport.
I returned to the UK in July for some lovely weddings, including Carol and Alex’s wedding at Swinton Park. They’re travelled further than me though, from the United States for their Independence Day wedding in Yorkshire.
I crossed the border between Switzerland and France in about three different places for various weddings, even taking a short cut through Germany for a wedding in Strasbourg.
Another of my favourite weddings involved a ten hour drive to Grez-Neuville in France for Cassie and Chad’s wedding.
Cassie + Chad // 21 years from Story of Your Day.
All in all, living in Switzerland has probably meant more time away filming than I ever had when I lived in the UK and now I have the winter months ensconced in my office, with a beautiful and inspiring view, editing all the gorgeous weddings I’ve filmed over the summer.
In what has been an incredible year for Story Of Your Day in our new location in the heart of Europe.
Of course, I cannot finish without mentioning the wedding of Vicki Belo and Hayden Kho in Paris at the Ritz and Palais Garner.
Story Of Your Day // Vicki and Hayden Sneak Peek from Story of Your Day.
The full trailer will be launched by Tatler magazine in December!!!
And I’m looking forward to next year when I’ve many more amazing weddings, both here Switzerland and the rest of the world.
My Switzerland Filming Wishlist for 2018…
… five Swiss wedding locations I would like to film – in no particular order:
- Hotel Schweizerhof Bern – Elegant and luxurious; a fantastic play to get maried in the centre of Bern
- Hotel Waldaus Sils – Just 10km from the bustling resort of St Moritz, in an unspoiled alpine village nestled on a hill in the forest high above Lake Sils
- The Schilthorn – famous for the world’s first 360-degree revolving restaurant Piz Gloria, which featured in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
- Iglu-Dorf – a magical igloo village above Zermatt where you can also take in the views of the iconic MatterhorN
- The JUNGFRAU – the highlight of any trip to Switzerland – morning, noon and night it always looks stunning on a clear day.
