Less is more | How many pictures should I have for my wedding day?

Before we dig into numbers and figures, I want to share with you about the WHYs I'm a photographer, as this probably differs from one photographer to another and might or might not fit your vision of what a photographer is. And if it doesn't fit your vision then maybe I'm not the right photographer for you. But hey that's fine, I still love you.

Recently, I've been reflecting a lot about why I am a photographer and what meaning it brings into my life and to others. Because let's face it, saying : because it makes me happy and I want to make people happy is surely true but doesn't quite fill a life purpose. One motive that drives me is Beauty; I want people to see beauty in their everyday lives, I want people to stop starring at TV news, insipid reality shows, and their race for sensationalism that make us lose hope in humanity, believe that the world is ugly and others are bad. I want people's social media feed to be flooded with images of beauty. Why is it easier for us to share bad news than beauty? I want people to see  beauty instead of articles about how a baby dolphin got killed because of selfies, or about political non-sense on immigration, or anything that keep raising hate and fear of the other, easy short-cuts, ignorance and ultimately make us indulge in navel-gazing because we think that we are better than the outside world that is so ugly. Friends, the world is VAST and it's beautiful, if you have doubts, have a look here . I'm not saying there's no bad and ugly out there, I'm just saying we don't have to focus on it to solve world's problems! Only with a positive mind and a joyful soul must we overcome the life's struggles. And what more than beauty can bring joy to the heart ?

A thing of beauty is a joy forever: its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness.
-John Keats

The other thing that drives me is the speed with which life passes by. Life is short. But we only notice it when it's almost gone. Being a photographer enables me to freeze a moment in time, that smile, that tear of joy, that first step, that first look, that "I do", that vow.  I want to create heirloom, memories you'll pass onto your children, when they'll be teenagers and think you're so uncool... Show them the pictures of your wedding, of your love, of your youth, of your beauty. Or even to your older self when you'll feel like life has passed too fast,  and your children are all gone from home, look at the pictures we took of them when they came into your life, the joy you felt. It's still there. Rekindle it.

Or when you'll have your first argument or first crisis in your marriage, I want you to pick up your album or your photo box and go through them again, remembering the unconditional love you promised each other to have for one another, through the good and bad. That is: even when your toddler is crying out loud when all you want is sleep, even when he forgets to clean up the dish washer, even when she's on a hormonal roller coaster, even when you feel like the fire is gone. It's not. And I want you to look at those pictures to rekindle it.

I don't have pictures of my parents' wedding as they didn't hire a photographer but I have these pictures of them and I can't tell you how amazing they make me feel. I can feel so much through these two pictures only.

Mum and Dad in Paris - Trocadéro, Springtime (cherry blossom  ♥ ) Aren't they the most stylish ?!

Mum and Dad, Normandy - Ok, my mum is definitely the coolest...

They were taken a couple of years after they arrived in France when they fled the war in Indochina. Coming into a foreign country wasn't easy, they didn't speak the language, they didn't have a job, nor place to stay at first. But I can tell by these pictures how happy they were. I can feel the love, the joy, the freedom and the hope. Can you ? I'm sure you can too even though these two persons are strangers to you. And that is the purpose of my work. Make you feel that. Make your children feel that. Make your parents feel that, whenever they will look at your wedding pictures.

Do you need 2,000 pictures to feel the emotions of your wedding day? No you don't. What you need is someone who will be able to reflect faithfully the essence of your wedding day. All the emotions you've been through during that day, captured and reflected on a tangible printed photograph : from morning preparations, butterflies in your stomach, the awe in your mum's eyes when you put on that dress, the wait in anticipation before the first look, the heartbeat walking the aisle, the shaking voice uttering the vows, the burst of joy at the "I do", the warm love of friends that came from the other side of the world that day, the soothing embrace on your first dance, the feeling of being on the first chapter of a life-long love letter. That is the mission that we have as photographers documenting a sacred moment of people's life, be it a wedding, a love session or a family session. 

Of course, I'm not saying 2 pictures of your wedding day would be enough but you don't need thousands of them (I usually deliver around 400-600 photos), just like you don't need the videographer to give you a 12hr-long footage of your wedding. Would you ever sit 12 hours - t.w.e.l.v.e - in your couch watching that film? Would you?? No you wouldn't. Let me just ask : would you rather go to the movies and watch a 1hr-movie that made you feel like an emotional roller-coaster, it made you have butterflies in your stomach, it made you giggle, laugh out loud, tear, cry out loud... or would you prefer a 4hr-movie that bored you to death and that you won't remember a single detail of, after watching it ?

Now let me hear about your love and how you want us to create memories together ! Reach out to me, I can't wait to be inspired by your story! 

"We keep this love in a photograph

We made these memories for ourselves

Where our eyes are never closing

Hearts are never broken

And time's forever frozen still"

-Ed Sheeran

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