Nicole and Thomas - International civil wedding at the town hall in central Paris
This season got off to such a wonderful start. In May, I had the privilege of accompanying Nicole and Thomas to their international civil wedding at the Paris City Hall, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget that day. There are weddings that gently linger in your mind, settling somewhere between memory and emotion, and this one is one of them.
First and foremost, it was a bilingual wedding, because half of the guests, who had come from all corners of the world, didn’t speak a word of French. There was something beautiful about that quiet diversity, about those faces listening without necessarily understanding everything, but sensing what mattered most. Love needs no translation, and in the Paris City Hall that day, everyone knew it.
Yet, when listening to Nicole, it’s hard to detect the faint accent that barely betrays the fact that she grew up elsewhere. She speaks the language of Molière with quiet elegance, just as she seems to handle just about everything with ease. There is a natural grace about her—a way of occupying a space without ever dominating it—that made every shot almost too easy to capture.
When the couple contacted me, they told me something that truly touched me. What they liked about my work was its closeness to reality, the way I photograph things as they happen, without staging them or retouching them. They wanted a cinematic, lively atmosphere, rooted in the moment. They wanted people to look at their photos ten years from now and still feel the air of that Parisian May. What a compliment for a wedding photographer in Paris.
That’s exactly the promise I make to myself at every wedding. Not to take charge. Not to interrupt. Just to be there, ready and discreet, until something happens—and something always does, as long as you know how to wait.
Nicole had chosen a short ivory tweed dress, trimmed with delicate pearls, with a sixties-style elegance that was absolutely perfect for the streets of Paris. No long train, no pomp, just that clean, luminous silhouette that seemed made for walking the cobblestones of downtown Paris while holding a small bouquet of white flowers. Thomas, in a dark suit and silver tie, had that certain something in his eyes—a gentleness, a quiet presence—that made every image feel natural. The two of them were a picture in themselves.
After the ceremony at the town hall in central Paris, we took some time to wander around. Paris in May is a rare sight: the light is soft and slanting, the outdoor seating spills gently onto the sidewalks, and the passersby don’t yet know they’ll end up in wedding photos. That’s what I love about documentary-style photography: the city becomes a character, strangers become witnesses, and the couple exists in the world as it truly is, not in a setting created just for them.
We stopped in front of a Parisian café with dark green and gold facades—the kind of place that seems to have been there forever—and Thomas embraced Nicole with that slightly shy tenderness of people who truly love each other. I didn’t ask for anything. I just pressed the shutter button.
It was the terrace of the 1905 bar, with its warm lighting, its orange neon sign glowing softly in the background, and its shelves laden with bottles—each one a promise of evenings to come.
Nicole leans toward Thomas, a glass in her hand, their lips meeting. Behind them, the bar buzzes with life, the bottles glisten, and all of it together creates a scene that captures exactly what that day was like: intimate, lively, and a little magical.
My favorite image is the one you see through a half-open door, with a red curtain to the side, and the two of them at the bar, facing each other, whispering to one another. It’s as if the world had shrunk until it contained nothing but them. It’s the photo no one would ever commission, yet everyone would want to have.
Planning an international civil wedding at the town hall in central Paris means choosing the most authentic side of Paris—not the postcard-perfect views, not the Eiffel Tower at sunset, but the streets of the city center, the morning cafés, and the May sunlight glinting off the ancient stones. It means choosing a simple, heartfelt ceremony, surrounded by people who have traveled from far away because you’re worth the journey.
Nicole and Thomas made that choice. And I had the privilege of capturing it.
