Storytelling Oriental Wedding in Paris

When Sonia and Zaki told me their story during our pre-wedding interview, I knew right away that this was going to be one of the most emotional weddings of my season. It's often said that our brides and grooms are a lot like us photographers, and that's certainly why the feeling is so important. With Sonia and Zaki, if not for our shared Algerian origins, their way of seeing life, religion, people and society matched my own values in every way. . I think it would have been impossible for them to choose another photographer, and for me it would have been very painful.

The civil ceremony took place at the Courbevoie town hall, and it was with tears in their eyes that the bride and groom were united. Well-chosen music (a cover of John Legend's All of me played on the violin) accompanied the bride and groom as they entered the hall. Slowly but surely, each of our two protagonists initially held back tears of joy, which eventually escaped in an intense flow to the rhythm of the music. The village hall is particularly beautiful, with an incredibly beautiful piano and chandelier, much to the delight of the wedding photographer in me, who loves composition in all my images. There's plenty of room in this room too, so I was able to move around discreetly to capture Sonia and Zaki's precious moments.

After the civil ceremony, it was back to the bride and groom's home for new outfits. In an Oriental wedding, the dress is usually changed at least 5 or 6 or 7 times during the evening, depending on the bride's customs and origins. Sonia didn't wait for the evening, and quickly replaced the short, distinguished dress from the town hall with a more traditional, beautiful wedding dress before the couple's session. It was another emotional moment when he discovered her in this dress for the first time.

The couple's session took place at the foot of the Eiffel Tower on the Bir-Hakeim bridge. This is a wedding photographer' s usual rendezvous for photos in front of the Iron Lady. I find this location increasingly difficult to photograph for a wedding, firstly because I've shot there a lot and don't like to reproduce the same images, but more importantly because it's becoming more and more difficult to stand there without being bothered by tourists or other film crews.

For the evening, we went to an oriental restaurant on rue des Pyrénées in Paris with a limited number of guests. The henna ceremony took place before a light, refined meal. Then, with the Oriental wedding in mind, the dancefloor, not initially planned by the bride and groom, was improvised in this small family restaurant. The tables soon gave way to bodies swaying to the sound of the derbouka and the frenzied rhythms of Algerian rail or chaarbi.

I've included the full storytelling in the slideshow at the very bottom of the article, so turn up the volume to fully appreciate the experience.