Yann and Sandra's wedding day at Ferme du Manet - Yvelines

Best friend's wedding

Yann and Sandra are much more to me than just the bride and groom I photographed. I've known them for more than a decade, and it was with a very strong emotional charge that I shot this reportage. It was not without its difficulties when you already know half the guests. Staying as professional as possible when so many friends are there, to deliver the best possible photo reportage for your best friend.

The town hall in Montigny, the church in Guyancourt, the evening at the Ferme du Manet

After passing before the mayor of Montigny le Bretonneux, Yvelines, Sandra and Yann celebrated their union at Saint-Victor church in Guyancourt. It was a very moving ceremony, with a priest full of humor. His language was adapted to the youth of his congregation, and his speech very reasoned: "You don't get married because you love each other, but you get married to love each other". I didn't agree with that at the time, but today I read it quite differently. After the church, we headed straight to the Ferme du Manet estate in Guyancourt, Yvelines, for the cocktail party with its traditional group photos, bouquet toss and love-session in the estate garden. The evening took place on site in a fiery atmosphere.

The first in a long chain

June 2017 Update from the photographer: this wedding was the first in a long series for me. Among the guests were Yves and Vanessa, whose wedding I covered the following year in Bordeaux, then at this last one there were Annaig and Yann who got married in Normandy and then Sophie and Nicolas who got married in Chaby in Burgundy and finally Lucie and Thomas, present at this last wedding and who are getting married this year in 2017 in Pau. I also do my job for the human encounters, and this beautiful series of weddings shows me just how much you have to be totally committed to each wedding in order to progress further and forge bonds of trust with the bride and groom, as well as with their families and friends.