Paris | France

I am happy to share that Wedding Sparrow has shared my top tips on how to make your wedding photos timeless photographed in Paris. We started this shoot in a gorgeous Parisian apartment in Le Marais district with a stunning boudoir look by Girl with Serious Dream, Paris makeup and hair by Onorina Jomir and flowers by one of the best wedding florists in Paris, La Marche Design Floral. After we hit the streets of Paris in a french wedding dress by Meryl Suissa, complete with jewelry by french designer Les Couronnes de Victorie and shoes by none other than Christian Louboutin.

RachelMcCarthy_Paris+%28110+of+150%29.jpg

You have spent hours and hours dreaming of your wedding day, planning the gorgeousness down to the smallest details. Did you forget something? One of the ways to insure that your wedding will be captured in the prettiest ways possible is consulting with your wedding photographer about timing. The timing is so important when it comes to capturing your wedding in the best way possible light wise. Things to consider are; whether you will be in direct light during the ceremony, if your reception is outdoors, will it be available and set up for the photographer at least 30 minutes before the start of the reception? And finally, the time of the day when the lighting is most pretty and soft is the golden hour. This time starts about one hour before the sunsets, it’s the most romantic and complementary light of the day. This is the time if possible to be doing your couples portraits!

Imagine you’ve just received your wedding images back from your photographer and all you see during the ceremony and aisle procession/recession is a sea of your guests, all behind their cell phones and oh no…the occasional iPad! Unfortunately, although we love our iPhones, we forget how distracting and unsightly they are, especially during your wedding ceremony. We want our guests to be present, taking in this special moment. As photographers, we are there to professionally capture these moments for you and it is also distracting for us when a potential shot can be ruined due to someone jumping in front of us with their device. It’s for these reasons we believe it might be time to rethink the use of cell phones at your ceremony.

Avoid trends and meaningless props. Wedding trends come and go, some ideas are really great, while others don’t seem to hold meaning or a place at the wedding years later. Think about the items that you bring to your wedding and what meaning they hold to you. That is what you will look back on many years from now after trends fade. I love the idea of photographing treasured items in a non posed fashion to help bring out the significance in a timeless way.

RachelMcCarthy_Paris+%2849+of+150%29.jpg

There is no question that film translates light, color and skin tones to make luminous and pretty images. Many brides become attracted to the look of film without even knowing that it is actually film because it works so well at making the images look romantic, airy and timeless. If you want that pretty soft look, you will need to use a film photographer to create those gorgeous bridal portraits. Although digital has come a really long way, especially with the more affordable medium format cameras that are now on the market, it still can not replace the artistry and overall look film provides.