Méribel Wedding

 At the beginning of the month I had the pleasure of rushing back to Méribel briefly to shoot the wedding of Jamie and Mischa. After fulfilling the correct paperwork they were free to marry on French soil, more on the quirkiness later. It was a busy four days for me not helped by missing my flight out from Luton, luckily a mad dash through London to Gatwick airport saved my embarrassment !?!

The weather leading up to the wedding day was truly miserable, so to wake up on the big day without constant pouring rain was a relief to everyone involved, including the photographer. I had a packed schedule so soon dived into the ‘detail’ and Bridal prep shots.

I’ve really enjoyed this part of wedding photography, giving me the opportunity to capture the story telling side of the day. However after posting quite a few photos on Facebook recently in a similar style, I’ve been surprised by comments made by my ‘friends’ that my feminine side is shining through, Manly cough, perhaps, but it is fun though.

Whilst Mischa and her helpers were getting ready in Villard, a lovely hamlet above Méribel Les Allues, guess what Jamie and his mates were doing? Playing a round of golf up on the Méribel Golf Course. I caught up with them on the green of the 16th, after walking up underneath the Altiport piste draglift.

Jamie, Del boy, Greg and Jim were all having an amazing time, except for a considerable loss of golf balls on the ‘undulating’ alpine course. I promptly left the boys with an hour and half to go, with them still needing to complete two more holes before scrubbing up. The wedding was taking place in the Mairee back down in Les Allues. It has to be safe to say that no-one was sure what to expect with the ceremony room. Westminster Abbey this was not, but perhaps the staff at the Mairee could have been a bit more flexible and celebratory with the layout of the room !?!

But hey, maybe some of us expected too much, it just felt as though we were all attending a meeting with the Mayor, but with all of us overdressed. The Mayor of the Méribel commune officiated the service. But I swear he nodded off briefly at one point, at least President Nicolas Sarkozy kept a close eye on the proceedings.

After a very long speech by the Mayor, ‘I do’ was said twice, the odd hug and a kiss exchanged, rings slid onto fingers, lots of smiles, and eventually plenty of signatures recorded meant Jamie and Mischa were officially husband and wife.

The celebrations then started after a fun walk to the venue. The Bride and Groom requested a relaxed day with the photos, all done in a candid style and just a few formals with family and friends. But what was important to them were a few Bride and Groom shots to be taken up at Lac de Tuéda. We jumped in their car to make the trip up the mountain.

The Lac is always a stunning location, but today had the added ingredient of the newly weds, over looked by surprised but cheery on lookers.

This next shot is one of my favourites from the day, taken at the side of the Lac.

We then soon descended back down the valley to join all of the guests. The speeches started which were the usual mixture of styles, i.e. close to the knuckle…

….but also some lovey dovey moments as well……

I really enjoyed the day. A big thank you to Jamie and Mischa and to all of their guests who made my job that little bit more enjoyable. As ever there are always more people than you realise that help make the day run smoothly.

Since my short trip to Méribel, life has been hectic with further weddings in the Lake District, followed by another near Henley on Thames, and then yesterday in Burton on Trent, with two more scheduled in the next couple of weeks. Plus I’ve been involved with a completely different project that’s winter related, am very excited and I’ll tell you all about it in a few weeks. In the meantime, enjoy the final few weeks of the summer.

Martin