Deirdre & Steven - Chateau de Lartigolle Wedding, France

Steven & Deirdre's Wedding in Chateau de Lartigolle, France..

We haven't taken a holiday this year as we've been busy building a house. More on that soon (we hope!).

So we've been holding on tightly to memories of three French weddings this summer, which threw some much needed golden light into our rainy Irish wedding season.

This is the first of the three. Steven and Deirdre. Living legends. In Chateau de Lartigolle, which is a little patch of heaven near Auch in the South of France.

Steven and Deirdre are amongst the most warm, generous and up for it people we've ever met. It was a total privilege to be welcomed into their day. Half of Steven & Deirdre's hometown made the journey to Pessan for the wedding. If that's what a night out is like in Tramore, count me in :)

Had some amazing comrades along for this one too. Always a pleasure to shoot alongside brilliant film-maker Rodolphe from Best Day Productions. And a special mention for our ridiculously talented friend from Vancouver, Tomasz Wagner..

I've been a long-time admirer of Tomasz' work, so when he was going to be in Europe this summer and kindly offered to second shoot, we started hatching plans.. As a photographer I rarely get to see how other photographers like to work so it was also pretty inspiring to watch him do his thing.  Some of the shots above are his, but you should really head to Tomasz's own blog to see more. It's sublime.

There'll be more Irish weddings coming up soon too. It's super fun playing in the French sunshine, but you know we love us some brooding Irish skies ;)

Tania & Andrew - Wedding at Nikis Resort, Umbria

Tania & Andrew - Nikis Resort Wedding Photography, Umbria

Chemistry. You've just got to have it. Between a couple, obviously. But also between us and the couples we work with.

We've been so lucky, ever since we started really, to work with such brilliant, laid-back, creative, up-for-anything couples. I guess if the home page of your website is people hugging in a toilet, the fairytale wedding people are maybe going to give you a swerve! But we feel genuinely blessed to have had the privilege of knowing, and working with, such great, great people over the years.

Which brings us to Tania and Andrew. Who just rule. Their wedding in Nikis Resort, just outside Umbertide in Umbria was not only jaw-droppingly beautiful - it was full of warmth and depth. Not everything at weddings goes to plan, but they never got hung up on the small stuff. Always kept the important things up front - being present with all their people, committing to each other, break-dancing in a wedding dress...

A shout out to Super Tuscan Wedding Planners as well, who helped bring the day to life. 

Nada & Phil's Palacete de Cázulas wedding - Andalusia, Southern Spain

Nada & Phil - Palacete de Cázulas Wedding in Andalusia, Spain

Nada and Phil are wonderful human beings. Everybody agrees. There was such warmth in their wedding. And it was a real privilege to be there for this part of their journey.

The wedding was at Palacete de Cázulas in Otivar, a tiny hilltop village in the Andalusian hills of southern Spain. Nada's Assyrian roots were celebrated the night before the wedding with a henna ceremony, which later evolved into a rocking tapas party. The next day, Nada and Phil decided to meet on the rooftop before the ceremony began. I always love this stolen moment before the roller coaster begins...

I could go on, but I'd only scratch the surface here of how moving this day was. So I'll just leave the rest to the images...

Apart from to confess that I hid 3 avocados, 2 grapefruits and 6 figs from the garden in my luggage home ;)