Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Wedding in Rome



A June wedding in Rome sounds idyllic and this one pretty much was. We started the day with the Bride in her amazing suite at the Hotel Russie where her parents watched on as she prepared for her wedding day.





Rubia and Andreas held their wedding ceremony in the Basilica of Santa Sabina at the top of the Abentine Hill in Rome and, at 11am, the Bride made her entrance looking beautiful in a stunning dress designed for her by Bruce Oldfield.






Once the ceremony was over we were driven through the streets of the Italy's capital City to the Villa Aurelia for an afternoon reception for the Bride and Groom and their two hundred guests. The Villa is set within a private park and enjoys spectacular views of Rome and the Vatican City.
Champagne was served throughout and, as well as canapés, there was a 'Risotto' bar serving a variety of different interpretations of the dish including asparagus, porcini mushrooms and saffron. Before the guests departed for their hotels for a break there was a cake cutting ceremony and ice cream was served from a traditional Italian cart.



There was time for a shower and a change of clothes before we resumed the wedding celebrations at the Villa Miani. Built high up on the slopes of Monte Mario in the early 1900s, the Villa is an even better vantage point to see the city than the Villa Aurelia.
Despite a forecast of 'light showers' the sun had shone all day but only an hour before the newly weds were too arrive we could see a very large cloud and the thunder storm it contained heading towards us! Incredibly, however, the storm went to the east and west of Villa Miani and we stayed dry. It also meant that we enjoyed a spectacular view of Rome, illuminated by the evening sun with a dark brooding sky and flashes of lightning as a backdrop.




After an evening of open air dining there was dancing in the purpose built night club upstairs in the Villa which went on until 6am.





The wedding was organised and planned by Linda Cooper Weddings who, as always, made sure that the event was run with military precision. This included transporting my team from one venue to another at high speed through the Roman streets which was all great fun and very exciting!

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Wedding in the South of France


As you will know if you have read my previous post, I have just spent a few days in Nice photographing the wedding of Jasmine and Cedric. Being the South of France, the sun shone all day and there was even the comfort of a light breeze to take the edge off the heat.
Jasmine and Cedric were married in a ceremony at Mandelieu Town Hall which is just a few kilometres from the Grooms parent's home.






They married at 2pm with around 50 guests present in a simple but intimate ceremony. Although the Bride and Groom live in London, Jasmine's family are Chinese and Cedric's Swiss so the wedding guest list was quite a cultural mix and the speeches throughout the day were in three different languages.





After the ceremony the couple and their guests spent an hour at the nearby Chateau de La Napoule where we took some great photographs of the wedding party.






Then it was off to the beautiful Eze Village for the evening reception held in Château Eza Hotel's fantastic Michelin starred restaurant. The restaurant is set high up at the top of the village, has spectacular views over the Riviera and Mediterranean Sea and is a very romantic setting for a wedding reception.


Before the wedding breakfast commenced Jasmine changed into a stunning red evening dress with matching hair clips and earrings.




The happy couple have postponed their honeymoon until later in the year as they have a party in June for all their friends in London and then a second wedding ceremony in China in August.