Eiffel Tower to the Louvre: a Paris pre wedding shoot
The second day of a London and Paris trip for a couple from Cambodia, with the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre-Dame and a few Paris cafés.
The day after their London shoot, we were in Paris for part two. Same couple, same appetite for outfit changes, and a city that looks good from almost every corner.
Where London was all landmarks and big skies, Paris gave us bridges, stone courtyards and cafés.
Paris in a day
Pont de Bir-Hakeim in white
For the Eiffel Tower we used Pont de Bir-Hakeim rather than the Trocadéro. The metro runs over the top of the bridge on iron columns, so you get the tower framed between them, and there’s room to move without a wall of tourists behind you.
The white gown had a long train with blue embroidery on it, which looked great spread out across the bridge. A cyclist came through behind them at just the right moment for one of my favourite frames. We also did a portrait of the bride on her own by the river, with the tower across the water.
Pont Alexandre III and the Palais Garnier
Pont Alexandre III is the most decorated bridge in Paris, with gold statues and those big ornate lamps all the way across. It’s busy with people walking over, so it’s a case of picking your spot along the railings and waiting.
We also went to the Palais Garnier, the opera house, and used the outside of the building and the streets around it. Somewhere along the way we fitted in a jump, which never gets old, and a quiet one under the trees with the sun coming through.
The Louvre in pink tulle
The Louvre was the pale pink tulle gown. We worked along the colonnade first, with the lamps and the long run of arches, then out into the main courtyard with the glass pyramid.
With the sun low across the courtyard, the pyramid catches the light and throws long shadows over the stone. It’s one of those places where you can shoot for an hour and still find new angles.
Notre-Dame and the cafés
For the more relaxed part of the day they changed into a short pink dress and a shirt and bow tie, and we went to Notre-Dame. These were taken a few years before the 2019 fire, so the old spire is still there behind them.
Then some of my favourite photos from the trip, in and around the cafés. Purple chairs out on the corner, a window full of greenery, and inside, a red room with a velvet chaise that looks like a film set. That’s the kind of Paris couples picture before they come.
The Arc de Triomphe and a green McLaren
At the Arc de Triomphe the groom lifted her clean off the ground, with the arch filling the frame behind them.
And yes, that is a bright green McLaren. It went very well with the pink dress.
Paris on video
A short film from our Paris pre wedding photography.
Thank you both for two brilliant days, one in London and one in Paris.
— Barrie
Part one: their London pre wedding shoot, from the British Museum to Big Ben. More stories: a full day across London with Yuefasi and Lian and St Paul’s to Hyde Park with a Singapore couple. The album designed from both days is in pre wedding photography album design.
Planning a pre wedding shoot in Paris?
Send me your dates and the places you’d like, and I’ll plan a route around the light and the crowds. A lot of couples do what this couple did and combine Paris with a day in London.
- A route across Paris planned around your outfits and the light
- Hair and makeup, and dress rental if you’d rather not fly a gown in
- London and Paris planned together as one trip
Paris shoots from £2,000. London from £850, and two-city trips are quoted on enquiry.
