Hello, my name is Peter Van De Maele. I live in Bruges, well known as the Venice of the North with its picturesque canals, the most fabulous city of Belgium, the heart of Europe. The perfect and most idyllic place to get married. My father was a wedding photographer and so I grew up in a house full of cameras.

 

From a very young age, I loved to assist my dad with his work: carrying the Hasselblad cameras, switching lenses, replacing the camera rolls and looking for the perfect angle to take the perfect shot. It was my favourite pastime. I received my first camera (Canon AE1) from my father when I was nine. When handing me the camera he said the following words to me: ‘Always follow your dreams’.

 

So as a young man I decided to explore the world and capture it through the lens of my camera. So I travelled with my faithful Hasselblad Xpan manuel camera and 500 camera rolls in my backpack to the far east. I have seen a lot of countries (India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan) and broadened my mind in learning and appreciating the culture. I came back with a wanderlust which has never left me till this day. So I decided to explore some more and left again to take a tour through Europe.

 

During this voyage I met my Cuban wife in Mallorca, Spain. Together we visited Italy and Germany to settle in the end in Belgium. When our son was born, we went to Havana and Holguin in Cuba to introduce our son to his Cuban family. There we had the opportunity to go to Cancun, Mexico. In the holiday resort of Playa del Carmen we met a nice American couple who invited us to their exotic beach wedding and asked me to take some pictures of their wedding. And thus started my career as an international wedding photographer.

 

My travel experience, my passion for photography and my skills as a wedding photographer make me the ideal person for your wedding shoot. I already covered shoots in Europe, the Caribbean Islands, Cuba and Mexico. I'm always open to any wedding photographic challenge or adventure at every unique destination.

 

Finally I want to thank my family and friends for supporting me in making my dreams come true. And many thanks as well to all brides and grooms who believed in me and gave me the chance to shoot their dream wedding.