Burgundy, France
I am a French wedding photographer based in Burgundy, and I work in English with couples who come from the UK, the United States, Ireland, Australia and elsewhere to marry in France.
Most of my couples have seen their château once, or only in photographs. They are organising a wedding from another country, in another language, with suppliers they have never met. Part of my job is to make one of those things simple.
Burgundy sits south of Paris, roughly two and a half hours by car and reachable by train. It has the châteaux and the light that draw couples to Provence or the Loire, and far fewer weddings competing for the same Saturdays and the same suppliers.
The estates here are often let exclusively: one wedding, one weekend, the whole place yours. For guests flying in, that matters more than it sounds. Nobody is moved along, and the day keeps its own pace.
It usually starts later and finishes much later. The civil ceremony often takes place at the town hall, sometimes on a different day from the religious or humanist one. Between the ceremony and dinner there is the vin d'honneur, a long drinks reception where most of the real photographs happen. Dinner rarely begins before nine, and the first dance is often close to midnight.
None of this is a problem, but it changes how a day should be photographed. If you have only ever been to weddings in Britain or the United States, we will go through the timings together before the day so that nothing you care about falls outside my hours.
I photograph the whole day as it unfolds, in natural light, on my own. I do not stage scenes and I do not ask anyone to do anything twice.
There is one exception, and it is deliberate: the couple portraits. That is the only part of the day when the two of you are alone, away from the noise, and it is often the half hour people remember best. If you would rather keep it short and return to your guests, twenty minutes is enough.
Afterwards every photograph is selected and edited individually, in natural, lasting tones. You receive an online gallery you can share with family at home as easily as a link, and a photo book, so your images exist somewhere other than a screen.
I know the châteaux and country estates of this part of Burgundy well: where the light falls at seven in the evening, which rooms hold up at night, and how long it really takes to walk your guests from the ceremony to the drinks. I travel across France and abroad.
Tell me about your wedding: the date, the venue, how the day will run. I answer in English, and I will tell you honestly whether I am the right photographer for what you have in mind.
Tell me about your wedding