Bridal Inspiration | Provence, France | Film Workshop, Light Edition 1

Her hair was long,
Her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.
John Keats –
La Belle Dame Sans Merci

This past April I had the amazing opportunity to attend the First Edition of Light, a film workshop hosted by Greg Finck in Provence, France. I genuinely can’t say enough good things about his workshop – Greg and the team of vendors did an exceptional job. I am going to share more on the workshop experience later, but for now, here is the beautiful bridal shoot styled and executed by Made In You and Nessa B, with fashion styling by Rime Arodaky, floral design by Laetitia – Fleurs d’atelier, hair by Ciara Coiffure, make-up by Charles Gillman, a Jenny Packham dress from boutique Martine Toledano, earrings and shoes from Art et Facts, and videography by Pascal Délé, all held at Les Domaine de Patras in Provence. (Model Chloe provided by Your Angel Model, France). And of course lovely scans from Richard Photo Lab.

Made In You and Nessa B did such a great job conceptualizing this editorial. Full of anticipation and small details that juxtapose both the sweet (honey) and the courser (salt) side of marriage, it represents all those moments of reflection couples experience on their wedding day leading up to the point they say their vows. Reading love letters from each other, enjoying a moment of repose to take in the weight of the moment, allowing oneself to feel full of anticipation and process the commitment they are about to make. These portraits illustrate why I absolutely love having time set aside on the wedding day to spend with the bride to create unique, thoughtful, memorable images before she see’s her love. Brides often value these portraits, but don’t realize that specific time needs to be set aside to create them. So often it’s just a few minutes here or there that we as photographers have available to us to take portraits of the bride alone, and I always encourage brides to really consider setting aside a block of time – 30+ minutes – to relax and breath in the day, while capturing these cherished images. By allocating special time for this, it allows us to really get creative and capture something unique, special, and stylized to the day. It can be moments in the bridal suite with a gorgeous veil and all the delicate fashion details of the day to create special portraits that will be treasured by her spouse’s eyes only. Or it can be portraits in her wedding dress like the above, that really showcase the anticipation of the moments leading up to the ceremony. By setting aside 30+ minutes just for bridal portraits, you will not only have a moment to take it all in, but it gives us the time for creativity that will produce images that, 20 years from now, will mean so much and you’ll be so thankful you specifically dedicated time to capture!