Concert in Avignon. Elizabeth Heilligen by PG Photography, Wedding Photographer.

The concert season has begun for the regional choir. This time the tour takes us to Avingon. The superb Avignon opera Theatre is a n excellent opportunity to test my new 8mm which I have literally just taken out of the box. New angles for FANTASTIC photos.

The curves of the theatre, the red colours and the lights all contribute to the different, colourful images, giving many different types of wedding photos.

Below are a just a few examples of the photos I took, which of course only give a small idea of such an immense concert.

From Rennes to Saint Malo, a fun shoot for Aude and Franck by PGPhotography, Wedding Photographer

Two years after their photoshoot in Rennes, I met again with Aude and Franck for a series of photos around the ruins and in the historic village of Saint-Malo.  And believe it or not, Aude is the most dashing “Chiti”of all Bretagne. In these sinister times, it brought me great happiness to spend the evening with a couple who are still so positive and always smiling. Here is a couple that have nothing but good news to give.

And of course there was the SAint-Malo itself. At the start of springtime we already get the impression that summer is here. In the background we see the smoke from sparkling ships rising into the pink/blue sky, lit up by a multitude of bright colours. A truly spectacular sight.

I have always love Saint-Malo and its a love story that lasts.

Engagement photo shoot in Lyon for Jessica and Jérome by PG Photography, Wedding photographer

For some time now I have wanted to do a shoot in Lyon during the festival of Light. After several fruitless attempts over the past two years, I decided to take advantage of Jessica and Jérome’s presence in Lyon and suggested to them that we do an evening shoot for their engagement in the old town of Lyon. Playing on the lights and vibrant colours, the result is particularly lively and refreshing.

I can also say that Jessica and Jérome are both particularly bright and at ease infront of the camera. The wedding will take place this summer in the region of Nimes and if, which I have no doubt, their friends are as refreshing and open as them, I can’t wait to be there.

In May I  made a short trip to Geneva  to meet with Kelly and Gabriel and discovered a very nice and gentle couple but not very extraverted. That’s why I was very surprised to see them getting mad with the first  music of their wedding   in the Hôtel de Paris in Monaco . Everything had been made to make this wedding become one of the Top events of the season in Monte Carlo

Everything began on Friday when both families gathered at the Sporting d’Hiver totally flowered and brilliantly lit . Sunday afternoon Kelly and Gabriel got ready each on one side of the Hermitage Hotel. I remenber arriving on the Terrace of Gabriel’s flat on the top level of the Hotel. I had thought that even the prince in his palace on the other side of the harbour surely doesn’t have as nice a view over Monaco.

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Des deux côtés l’ambiance pendant ces préparatifs etait déjà festive et c’est dans une joyeuse pagaille que les deux cortèges se sont mis en route pour se retrouver à la Salle Belle Epoque de l’Hotel Hermitage métamorphosée selon les directives averties d’Emma de Pulp-Event ®

qui supervisait de main de maître le déroulement de l’ensemble des opération. Jugez par vous même de la décoration de la salle difficile de faire mieux non? Il faut dire que l’équipe de Pulp Event®

partenaire de la Société des Bains de mer de Monaco sur de très nombreuses manifestations impliquant les ” Happy few ” du monde entier est plus que rompue à ce genre d’évênement Jet set

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A la fin de la cérémonie et malgré l’aide musclée des gardes du corps nous avons eu bien du mal à extirper les mariés de la foule amassées autour de la Houpa. Il nous fallait nous échapper le temps d’une beaucoup trop courte séance de photo des mariés dans les jardins du Casino en compagnie du cameraman de la talentueuse équipe de Azur production vidéo et du sympathique chasseur de l’Hermitage qui nous servait de chauffeur.  Le pauvre avait bien du mal à préserver la Bentley de la curiosité des nombreux badauds et touristes un peu trop empressés.

Comme la veille pour le mariage de Gretchen et Andrew la météo a changé quelques minutes avant le début de la séance. Alors que le ciel avait été clément et d’un bleu d’azur toute la journée,  il est soudain devenu blanc  immaculé aux dernières lueurs du jour.  Quel dommage !  Une demi heure plus tôt nous aurions pu faire une bien plus belle séance !

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Et nous voici arrivé à la soirée. Quelle fête exceptionnelle ! Pendant notre séance de photos les invités se sont rendus depuis l’ Hermitage jusqu’à la salle Empire de l’hôtel de Paris. L’assistance était prête à exploser dès les premières notes de musique. Et là que dire sinon que l’ambiance n’a pas pris cinq minute à démarrer sous l’impulsion de Francky Perez et l’orchestre Broadway

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Kelly, Gabriel  I wish you the very best.  I’ve been covering some of the most wonderful weddings all over the world for so many years now but yours will certainly remain in my personnal Top Ten.

After much deliberation, Stéphanie and Paul decided to get married in the last week of August. Luck for them, the horrible weather of the previous weeks had finally cleared up and the sun had come out at last. The priest was slightly late in arriving for the ceremony and so the guests had were all waiting on the sea front where it was bizarre to see so many people with umbrellas, on the beach, on such a glorious day. Paul really should have metioned when we first met that his dad was an old colleague of mine who has now taken his reitrement. Luckily I had completely forgotten this as it surely who have made me a little stressed. The only worry that we had on the day was that the CD player in the church would not play the music that had been prepared for the cermony. Luckily I had brought my laptop with me and so the best man and myself franticly ran across the Port and into the town centre where my car was parked to collect it. Whilst running back to the church, at much the same pace, i was carrying the open laptop in my arms so that we could burn a new CD “En Route”.  At my age this task was quite taxing and I looked rather like Danny Glover in the film “L’arme Fatale”.

The evening got off to a great start in Pierrefeu at a superb venue which was previously unknown to me. I would recommend this venue to other couples as the prices were, for once, quite reasonable.

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Stéphanie and Paul from Sanary sur mer

Where, when and how did you meet?

It was the 24th Novemeber 2007 in 113 Café during a drunken evening for Paul and a girls night out for me. He literally fell at my feet that night (hee hee hee) when he was walking over to come to talk to me!!!

One week later we met up again. Both my friends and his friends had advised us individually to play it cool.

Even so, Paul gave me his number perhaps because I didn’t want to give him mine. The next day, he came by to the shop where I was working at the time, under the pretext that he wanted to buy something (his smelly feet were the first thing to be put in the hall of shame!!!) but I reassured myself that he had not actually come to buy anything and that in fact he had come because he wanted to see me again. That evening we danced our first slow dance together and we have been together ever since.

Our first kiss was on the 4th of December in a shisha bar where we seemed to be the only two people in the world.

Wedding location : Civil ceremony was held in the mairie in Sanary sur mer

Religious ceremony : Saint Nazaire church in Sanary sur mer

Reception : Le domaine du Pourret in Pierrefeu du Var

Menu du repas de la soirée :

Mille-feuille de St Jacques au curry

Turbot pôché au lait, risotto du domaine et brochette de reinette poêlée

Trou normand

Filet de boeuf rossini chartreuse d’asperge et friture d’herbes aromatiques

croustillant de chèvre salade de jeunes pousses quenelle de mousse de noix

Pièce montée déguisée de choux et nougatine

fontaine de chocolat accompagnée de fruits frais, bonbons, mignardises et verrines

Jewelry:

Engagement Ring : Histoire d’or

Wedding rings : Marc Orian

Hair : Jean Louis David Salon in the shopping centre at  Mayol

Make-up : “L’instant pour moi”

Shoes : Dejean for me , for him Marine Nationale (hee hee hee)

Lingerie : Wacoal et Chantelle

DJ and lighting: Melvis Bouvey Professional impersonator of Elvis Presley

Wedding dress : Déborah Marseille, rue de Rome ( Cosmobella )

Grooms Suit : Tenue de cérémonie Marine Nationale

Florist : Fleuriste Sanary sur mer

Witnesses for Groom: Taylor Bravo friend from the army and Sébastien Carrugi childhood friend

What can you tell us about them ? : Taylor is like an iron hand in a velvet glove, he has a big heart and  Sébastien is a very complex guy but he is very kind

Witnesses for the bride : Ophélie Renaud  and Jimmy Chianese both very close friends of the bride

What can you tells us about them: Ophélie is an adorable crazy blonde and Jimmy has all the class of an Italian in every circumstance, I have unforgettable memories of both of them

How and where did Paul propose ? : We were at Disneyland in Paris during an easter break. We were in the Cinderella hotel amongst Disney PRinces and Princesses and in front of a tearful, surprised crowd, It was very moving and the hotel said it was the first time someone had proposed there.

What is your favourite memory of your wedding or the best moment for you :

Stéphanie: the floods of tears I shared with my Dad before entering the church

Paul: my arrival at the mairie

Honeymoon : a tour of Las Vegas, San Francisco, Los Angeles which was a gift from all of our guests

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I wish you both all the best and should your honeymoon overlap my trip to America we must try to met up again in Vegas to take some crazy photos

Here is a slideshow which sums up some of the best moments of the wedding followed by some of my personal favourite photos

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Nathalie et Michael voulaient un : “Petit mariage entre amis”. En bientôt 1000 mariages je n’étais jamais encore reparti le lendemain à midi. Pas de Un mariage sans photos Gnan Gnan ! sans séance de photo de groupes ni séance de photos du couple que du photoreportage en toute simplicité. En avant première voici un diaporama d’une centaines des meilleures photos de ce mariage. Merci à vous deux et à vos amis pour votre formidable accueil. Et voici ma photo préférée de ce reportage. Le choix n’a pas été facile !

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For their second slideshow Delia and Fabien have tottaly changed their music style. After Jason Mraz for the Slideshow of their engagement session in Aix they have cosen for the wedding Slideshow a smooth version of the famous Somewhere over the Rainbow from Louis Amstrong. In the meantime I keep on receiving messages for their e-guestbook that i had on the blog regularly

I got to know Sonia during the preperations for the wedding of Francoise and David at La Font du Broc in 2008. Myself, the bride, the videographer and a few other girls have such a great morning. So when Sonia introduced me to her fiancé, Christian and asked me to be the photographer at their wedding, I didn’t hesitate for a second. With Sonia’s excellent attention to detail we agreed on an exclusive package for which Sonia now holds the Copyright!! From now on I say to my clients, We’ll do a Sonia, LOL.

What can I say about this wedding? Lots of things in fact and I am not really sure where to begin. So from the beginning; I met up with Sonia, her cousin and her driver in a small beauty salon. The decor was magically and so we took advantage of the perfectly placed mirrors to take a few pictures under natural light in all its beauty. I must mention the beautician who was truly excellent at playing her role in the shoot, she deserves an Oscar.

I spent a big part of the day in the car, thank you GPS because travelling time between Cannes, Juan les Pins and Mougins on a Saturday is terrible. I then spent 45 minutes driving around Juan les pins to find a space beside the salon where I took pictures of the hair preparations.

I would like to mention the Priest from the parish of Saint Philomène in Cannet. His excellent sense of humour during the joyous ceremony merited all of the praise he got when guest left the church. It was see how well he communicated with the guests in this situation.

I hadn’t been to L’Auberge des Adrets in over 15 years and I had remembered it to be quite flattering. As soon as I walked in my impression was completely changed, it has been completely transformed over the years thanks to the many courting couples who have visited through the years. I would now describe this as a magically venue, full of charm and beautifully decorated.

Lastly a quick mention to our friend Jazz Barth, I love his fabulous répertoire, and who has been playing his saxophone for some years now and features in two or three of my favourite photos.

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Sonia and Christian from Mougins and Grasse

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Where, when and how did you meet?

We met online in a chat room, he was in the library at the University of Law in Perpignan, I was at Titinette’s place in Antibes, the “virtual” first meeting was on the 24 November 2004. Then a few months later Christian made the journey to Cannes so we could meet in person. That was on the 8th February 2004. Our first kiss was on the beach at lunch time in Cannes, WOW!!!

Wedding Location :  Civil ceremony was at the Mairie in Le Cannet

Religious Ceremony : Church of sainte Philomène  in le Cannet

Reception : Auberge des Adrets

Menu du repas de la soirée :

Magie d’un soir en provence

Saint Jacques juste rotie Tartare de courgettes et tomates cerises réduction de balsamique et estragon, coriandre et pignons de pins

Agneau de lait cuisson de 7heures Artichauts en barigoule, echalotte confites au sel, Rosti jus court au pistou

Brie de Meaux créme de Mascarpone et Truffes Noires

Pièce montée déguisée de choux et nougatine

Café Gourmand et miroir de macarons

Jewelry:

Engagement rings :  le Manége à Bijoux

Wedding rings :   Bijouterie Julien d’ORCEL

Hair : Salon Invent’if, Juan les Pins

Make up : Gloss le Cannet Salon

Shoes : Christian       BESSON Chaussure

Sonia          Carla Chaussure

Lingerie : Boutique REZZO Nice

DJ and lighting: Bruno Night and Day Production

Wedding dress : Complicité Cannes

Grooms suit : Complicité Cannes

Florist : BOURDIN Christelle Cours SALAYA Nice

Best man and Usher:  Marc CARLIER cousin and Lilian CAMILLERI cousin

What can you tell us about them ? : Marc is discreet and well mannered, loves “Pierre Richard” and Lilian has such a bg heart

Bridesmaids : Sarah RUBINO little sister and Carole REFALO best friend

What can you tell us about them ?: Sarah is sensitive yet strong and Carole is very sensible and a big softy at heart

When and how did Christian propose? : In the vieux port de Marseille, this is where we first really fell in love.

What was the best part of the day for you? :

Sonia: Entering the church in my Dad’s arms, full of emotion

Christian :  the same

Honeymoon : Balearic islands, a gift from Sonia’s parents, her sister and her Bridesmaid.

BElow there are two galleries with a selection of 300 of the best photos which I will soon give to the happy couple and on another note, the group photos will be available very soon on my website http://www.pgphotography.eu/ Select the French version on the client tab and it will ask you to tape a username and password which you will find on facebook or you can ask Sonia and Christian. You can also see the most viewed photos of this spectacular wedding.

The rest of the photos along with those taken at the demand of some of the guests will also be passed on to the happy couple. So if you can’t find the pictures that you are looking for in my galleries, I would suggest you speak to Sonia and Christian.

You can also order albums online. I don’t make up small orders so if you only want a few, you will have to print them yourself.

I left Mel and Graeme on a warm and night of early June by the Albert Docks in Liverpool after a fantastic engagement shooting to meet with them again a month and a half later in the old village of Roquebrune where they had decided to plan their wedding. Though they both feared to be stressed on the big Day it was quite like a normal day. Have you ever heard of a wedding where absolutly nothing went wrong ?  I can now witness that it happens sometimes. A day as natural as the water coming out of the famous fountain in the middle of the old village of Roquebrune just facing the house where Mel and her brothers spent their hollydays in their chidhood.

If Mel managed to avoid the stress it might because her bridesmaids Sarah and Amy, and her sister in law Lidia spent half of the day with her  chatting and drinking Champagne while they all had their hair done in the village.

I haven’t seen if Graeme was stressed. I had promissed to bring him a dozen of beers at the church to help him face a possibly long wait by the altar. I fear that i forgot. Sorry Graeme once again a group of beautiful girls have distracted me from my duty – LOL

But in fact his must have been short as we where all perfectly on time at the church. After the ceremony came the highlight of the day as Mel and Graeme and her parents were expected by a threesome of old Citroen 2cv one blue one white and one red. I will never forget the sight of those three old cars on the small forgotten roads in the countryside behind La Bouverie and through La Motte. I am sure that Mel and Graeme deeply enjoyed every minutes they spent standing on the back seats of the old white “convertible” the hair floating in the wind ….. STOP – Oups sorry again Graeme -LOL

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Melina and  Graeme From Liverpool

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When, where and how did you first met? Bristol Balloon Festival in 2003
Did you hit it off from the get go? No- we lost touch in 2004 until a friend’s wedding in 2007

Transportation: Three 2 CV’s: Red, White and Blue
The Venue: Chateau Ste Roseline Les Arcs
How did you find your venue and why did you choose it? The setting is beautiful and it had the perfect feel for a summer wedding in the South of France

The Church: Eglise St Pierre-St Paul Roquebrune-sur-Argens
Wedding Planner: No wedding planner, organised it ourselves!

Menu:

Guests were served
Choice of canapés with their aperitif followed by
Scallops on a bed of tomato and avocado cream
Duck in lavender honey with sundried tomato and olive polenta
Warm goat’s cheese with green salad
Wedding cake
Fresh fruit
Selection of patisseries with coffee

Engagement Ring: Goldsmiths Newcastle
Wedding Rings: Goldsmiths Chester
Hairdresser: La fantastique Melissa
Make up: The beautiful Lidia
Shoes: Jasper Conran
Brides underwear: Jane Reger
DJ: ABC Animation
The dress: Maggie Sottero

Grooms attire: Simon Carter

Florist: La Rose d’Or, Le Muy – fantastic and affordable

Best man: Andy Snell (Graeme’s brother)

What to say about him: Best brother a man could have!

About his speech: Went very easy on Graeme! Well prepared and very well delivered.

Maids of Honor: Amy Fellows and Sarah Appleby
What to say about them: Beautiful, attentive and most of all, calming!

First Dance Song: Sharing the night together – Dr Hook
When, where and how did Graeme proposed: Graeme took me to the top of le rocher de Roquebrune one spring day in 2009 and gave me an engagement ring which he’d managed to hide from me all the way from the UK!

Best moment of the day

For Mel: Seeing Graeme standing at the altar and getting ready with the girls
For Graeme: Seeing Mel walk down the aisle and driving through the countryside in an open-top 2CV
Honeymoon: With so many places to choose from, the fun of planning has only just begun!
Advice for future couples who want to get married: Make sure everything you do is what you want – don’t make compromises.

My favorite picture of the day :

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While getting ready Mel, Sarah and Amy suddenly got mad dancing and shouting in front of the mirrors when a song which i cannot remenber burst out of the radio

After a first contact a few month ago I’ve had no news from Stéphanie and Paul. In fact for some health problems they weren’t sure to be able to get married this year . I had then decided to take a week hollydays in Britanny for the very first time in years.  Two days before they call me back I had been proposed a huge wedding on the same week by one of my favourite english wedding Planner and had cancelled my trip to Britanny. A chance for them and for me as this morning i signed a third wedding on the same week.

We met one evening on my way back from Aix en provence in front of the Golden Island of Saint Raphael  Paul is the son of a former colleague and Stephanie graduated in  crime analysis. What a wonderful smile.

here are some pics of that meeting

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