Marie and François - Part 1 : the civilian wedding

Today I'm going to talk about my second wedding as a professional photographer. It was the wedding of Marie and Francois.

François and his family arrived in Marseille 15 years earlier. He is since then a true Marseillais, in love with our city and our football team. François is military, just like his father and marries Marie... Who is military just like her father! So, we are celebrating the union of two military families.

These two lovebirds met at the officer's school in Cuëtquidan which François left this year (you may even have seen him behind the school flag on July 14, 2019 on the Champs Élysées!). Marie, as for her, is graduating this year... I therefore advise you to pay attention on July 14, 2020 after the fly-past ;).

Marie and François have therefore chosen Marseille for their civil wedding. Not having been able to meet us earlier in the year, we decided to hold the engagement session the day before the wedding.

The engagement session

So, we meet on Friday morning, because at noon Marie's family arrives from Alsace and Bordeaux. François' parents live close to the beach, and to the Pharo park, so we decide to go to the park and there, the first difficulty: Marie think she is not photogenic. So as soon as she sees me taking the camera in hand, she hides or puts her hand between us.

It doesn't matter, a photographer has more than one lens in his bag! (Oh yeah... I like lame jokes...). So, to overcome this, you just have to use a saying: chase the natural one, it comes back running at full gallop!

Also, I like to discuss and discover people (I think that those who contacted me for this year can only approve:))... So, we just go for a walk, and when the natural of my little couple comes back, just trigger it... How nice it is when you do all the work!

Ainsi, progressivement Marie s’habitue à l’objectif jusqu’à ne plus y faire attention, c’est gagné ! On passe donc un bon moment et une séance sympa entre moments de tendresses et chambrages caractéristiques du couple, puis il est l’heure de prendre l’apéritif avec les deux familles… On est prêt pour le jour J !

Bride preparation

Early in the morning, I begin with sending the post-processed photos from the previous day's engagement session in order to relax Marie and make sure she enjoys her wedding without thinking about her face in the photos... And I receive this message:

" Hi Sylvain! It's Marie. Honestly the pictures are wonderful, I'm very happy "

...it's looking pretty good, isn't it? But hey, we'll rest on our laurels later (or not).

So, we start the day with the bride's preparations, with the hair and make-up session for the beautiful one who's getting wonderful. Then, a little snack with François' family and we go to dress the bride and groom.

For their civil wedding, François decides to get married in military dress and Marie chooses a simple white civil dress. The wedding dress will be for the religious wedding. The bride and groom prepare themselves in the midst of the jokes the little couple is sending each other, but I can still feel the tension that gradually rises in the room...

Civil Union

Then comes the hour of the show, the bride and groom join their guests, and, after having welcomed each of them, it is off to the main city hall of Marseille. So we leave by car while the guests head for the Ferry-Boat on the port.

It is time for everyone to get together and for the guests to settle into the town hall, while François and Marie prepare their grand entrance into the arms of his mother and father respectively. Tension and emotion are palpable in the entrance of the town hall... And here we go!

François enters first, his mother leaving him at the mayor's office after a sincere hug, then comes Marie's turn at the arm of her father who holds back his tears of pride and joy.

The ceremony begins under the attentive, tender and emotional looks of the respective families. This is the moment for me not to miss anything, between small complicit glances, emotional faces and other gestures that amplify the emotional importance of this moment.

Thus, the ceremony continues until the long-awaited moment of the signature in front of the mayor... And the tension remains palpable for François who finally relaxes when Marie's pen rises...

After the traditional kiss of the bride and groom, it' s time for the traditional group photos in an ideal setting... On the balcony of the Town Hall overlooking the Vieux-Port in front of the bonne mère.

And, once the group photos are finished, it's time for us to leave for the couple's photo shoot. We leave in the direction of the Pharo and one understands instantly the interest of the engagement session... The bride and groom need very little guidance and are as natural as possible :). A few pictures later, and we decide to stop there to go back home... But with all these emotions, the couple is a little bit peckish and the dinner starts only in two hours... So, we stop for a well-deserved pancake break!

Wedding dinner and dance, end of the first part

The bride and groom being a bit tired, they leave before the beginning of the dinner to rest... Time for me to take some pictures of the rather exceptional place located above the Vieux-Port next to the bonne mère.

After the nap, our lovebirds join the reception hall for the rest of the celebrations. On the menu, a self-service buffet and a ham workshop, there is free seating and a very relaxed atmosphere. Then comes the opening of the dance with the first dance of the young couple. The bride and groom begin the evening with "J'irai où tu iras" by Jean-Jacques Goldman and Céline Dion... We're made to get along! So, it's off to a crazy dance evening where, between two photos, I join the dance floor for a bit of rock and roll, and the classic routines: Madison, Kuduro!