It is always a pleasure to do a destination wedding photography
especially when it is in the French Riviera in the South of France and even
more so when the reception takes place in a luxury wedding venue like Villa
Ephrussi de Rothschild (http://www.villa-ephrussi.com/en/home)
between Nice and Monaco. And you can’t ask for things to get better when you
have a beautiful Persian couple like S&C.
The bridal preparation started at the family’s beautiful villa
in Cap Ferrat which was a short drive to the venue Les Salons de la Rotonde Lenótre
(http://www.lenotre.com/FR/Receptions/Lieux/presentation-lieux-receptions-rotonde)
in Beaulieu where the ceremony was performed. It was a beautiful venue and its
circular architecture was perfect for the more than 300 guests to have a
perfect view of the exquisite Persian wedding ceremony. While it was my second
Persian wedding photography in the South of France I was surprised at how
different the arrangements looked. While the first wedding was overlooking the
sea of the French Riviera and the bride had chosen to sit facing the sea
herself, at this wedding the bride chose to face her guests. And though this
wedding ceremony was indoors the decorations were equally intricate and there
was beautiful light falling on the bride’s face.
I have also written a separate blog on the interesting
rituals of an Iranian wedding (http://neliprahova.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/persianiranian-french-destination.html)
and once again there were beautiful candelabras, multi-colored herbs and spices,
flatbread, apples, grains, nuts and certainly most importantly the silk shawl that
is held above the couple and sawn by the various female relatives.
The Persian wedding ceremony was followed by a luxury
wedding cocktail drinks on the stairs of the Les Salons de la Rotonde Lenótre
in Beaulieu where we also tried to take the group wedding photos. It was
certainly not easy as the 300 and more guests were walking in and out of the
background of the group photos so we ended up taking lots of casual group
wedding photography. And while the guests continued to enjoy drinks while
enjoying the warmth of the French Riviera, the newly married sped off to villa
Rothschild for their luxury wedding photography session. At a high end venue like
villa Ephrussi de Rothschild with lush and romantic gardens any place you stop
for a photo provides you with the opportunity for creative wedding photography
results.
Driven by several buses the guests made their way to the wedding
venue of villa Rothschild. As this is not my first destination wedding
photography in villa Rothschild I have already written a detailed blog on this luxury
wedding venue in South of France (http://neliprahova.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/destination-wedding-photography-in.html).
And I can only repeat that Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild is not only one of the
most beautiful palaces in Europe but also has one of the most beautiful gardens
on the French Riviera making it a perfect place for a destination wedding in
South of France with ample opportunities for creative luxury wedding
photography.
I was extremely lucky to have just taken the detailed photos
of the table decorations and to capture the beautiful set up in the amazing French
gardens of this wedding venue when a thunder was heard in the background. The
300 guests have just taken their seats at the tables when a storm like in a
movie started. I won’t exaggerate to say that this must have been the strongest
downpour of rain I have ever seen in my life.
The immaculate work of many hours of the luxury wedding planning agency
Monte Calro weddings (http://www.montecarloweddings.com) was destroyed within minutes. The party
then had to move indoors, however the rain couldn’t dampen the festive mood
neither of the guests nor of the couple. Although most of the guests ended up
totally drenched by the time they made their way indoors I have not seen one
person complaining or frowning. Everybody was laughing and making fun and the
dance floor was always full and the bride and groom were always in the middle.
I’ve never seen such a party! The music was pumping till way after 3am and I
wonder who had more fun – the guests or the couple. While I feared that the
rain will turn this Persian destination wedding into a disaster it ended up
being probably one of the most fun weddings I have ever photographed not only
in the French Riviera and Monaco but in all these years of doing destination wedding
photography.
For
further information on destination wedding photography in the French Riviera in
South of France and to view our portfolio of wedding photography in Central
London, Europe, France, Monaco, Italy, Cyprus, Greece, Portugal, Zurich and
Russia please visit www.NeliPrahova.com or contact
Neli on nprahova@gmail.com.
