Sophia & Gwilhem | A South of France Wedding Weekend, Shot on 35mm Film
There are weddings you photograph, and then there are weddings that feel like they were written for film. Sophia and Gwilhem’s wedding weekend in the South of France was firmly the latter — golden light, grainy heat, sausisson flying through the air, and a bride saying her vows in French to surprise the groom who’d spent his whole life dreaming of this exact day. This is a wedding I shot on 35mm film, and honestly, it couldn’t have been anything else.
Two Countries, One Date That Meant Everything
Sophia grew up in Texas, raised by her English parents — so there was always a transatlantic thread running through her story. Gwilhem is half French, half English himself: his dad French, his mum English. So when it came to choosing where and when to marry, the answer was never going to be simple — and it was never going to be ordinary either.
They chose the South of France as the setting, a nod to Gwilhem’s French roots, and they chose the 4th of July as the date — a quiet homage to Sophia’s Texan upbringing. It’s the kind of detail that could easily go unnoticed by a guest, but as their photographer, I love a wedding date and location with real meaning stitched into it. It set the tone for a weekend that felt personal from the first toast to the last dance.
The Night Before: A Wine Tasting Under French Skies
The celebrations began the evening before, with a wine tasting hosted by the couple’s sommelier friends. There’s something so quintessentially South of France about starting a wedding weekend this way — glasses catching the last of the evening light, easy laughter, a table full of people who clearly adored this couple. As a documentary and fine art wedding photographer, evenings like this are pure gold on film; the low light, the texture, the candid in-between moments.
An Extremely Hot Wedding Day (and the Best Decision We Made)
France in July does not do things by halves, and Sophia and Gwilhem’s wedding day was no exception — properly, intensely hot. Parasols went up, fans came out.
As their photographer, part of my job isn’t just capturing the day but helping it run beautifully too, and with the heat building, we made the call together to move the ceremony beneath a sprawling tree at the edge of the field for shade.
It was one of those changes that ends up being better than the original plan. The dappled light through the leaves, the relief on guests’ faces, the natural, editorial backdrop it gave us — the ceremony photos from underneath that tree are some of my favourites from the whole wedding. Proof that a little flexibility on the day, and a photographer who’s shot enough French weddings to read the light and the heat, can turn a challenge into the shot everyone remembers.
A Vow Surprise and a Handfasting Ceremony
Sophia had a surprise for Gwilhem: she said her vows in French. For a groom who has spent his life moving between two cultures, hearing his bride speak his father’s language back to him, in front of everyone they loved, was a moment I will not forget behind the lens. It’s rare to capture genuine, unscripted emotion like that — the kind of split-second reaction that 35mm film renders so beautifully, with all its warmth and grain.
The couple also included a handfasting ceremony, their hands bound together as they exchanged their promises — a beautiful, tactile symbol of two families, two countries and two people becoming one.
Grazing Tables, Cocktails, and the Great Saucisson Chase
Cocktail hour brought out a gorgeous grazing station for canapés — exactly the kind of relaxed, elevated styling that suits a fine art South of France wedding so well. Guests wandered with cocktails in hand, sunlight fading into that soft, buttery early-evening glow that French summer does so well.
And then came the tradition: the men of the wedding party lined up to catch a saucisson tossed through the air, a proper French wedding custom that had everyone in fits of laughter. It’s these unscripted, joyful moments — chaotic, funny, completely human — that I live for as a documentary wedding photographer. No amount of posed portraits can compete with a group of grown men diving for sausage.
Dinner Under Festoon Lights
As the sun properly set, guests gathered for dinner beneath strings of festoon lights and paper lanterns strung through the olive trees — that warm, dreamy glow that feels like it was made for 35mm film. Toasts rang out down the long tables, glasses raised again and again, while games were played between courses to keep the evening light and playful long after the formalities of the day were behind them.
Dessert was a showstopper: a beautifully spun croquembouche, the classic French tower of choux pastry and caramel, standing proudly at the centre of the celebration.
Cowboy Hats, Bubble Guns, and a Dancefloor to Remember
Once the tables were cleared, Sophia’s Texan roots made their final, joyful appearance of the day — cowboy hats and bubble guns took over the dancefloor. String lights whipped into streaks of gold across the frame as guests danced long into the night.
It was the perfect send-off: French tradition and Texan spirit, all wrapped into one unforgettable night, exactly as their wedding date had promised from the very beginning.
Sophia and Gwilhem’s wedding was everything I love about photographing weddings in the South of France — heritage, heat, spontaneity, and two families’ worlds colliding beautifully under one very French sky. Shot on analogue 35mm film alongside digital, it’s exactly the kind of editorial, fine art storytelling I set out to create for every couple I work with.
Looking for a wedding photographer in the South of France who shoots both film and digital? I’d love to hear your story — get in touch to start planning your own destination wedding weekend.
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