A Paris Anniversary Session. Where to even begin! We’ll start by backing things up a year. We received a text from Drew and Veronica, who themselves are a husband and wife wedding photography team in Arizona, asking if we could Skype and catch up. Of course we said yes! They shared with us some big dreams in life, changing in business, and how the following year they were celebrating 10 years of marriage and wanted nothing more than to do a vow renewal in Europe. They talked about always wanting to visit Ireland because of family heritage, it’s rich history, and of course the cliffs of Moher! Then they completely surprised us with… “We want you guys to come with us!” Cue the confetti!

Plans were in the making, a gorgeous castle in ruins was chosen for their vow renewal setting, and we were deciding on a group Airbnb. Planning something in Ireland in December though changed everything. The venue chosen was inaccessible in winter, which most were, housing options were minimal, there was just red flag after red flag. A few weeks later we hopped on another Skype call and they asked us “How about Paris instead?”

A year later, we were off the The City of Love, capturing their Paris anniversary session! Flying internationally for our first time, experiencing time changes and unfamiliar foods, we were having the time of our lives! Leaving San Francisco in the late evening, having dinner then breakfast in the air, landed in London just in time to watch the sunset. So weird! Traveling around the London airport, driving on the other side of the road, window shopping, trying to by snacks but nothing was the same, but our favorite was simply sitting at our gate listening to everyone around us. We just adore English accents, and funny thing is everyone thought we were the ones talking different!

We landed in Paris late in the evening, checked into our adorable hotel, and headed to a local restaurant meeting up with Veronica and Drew. We talked for hours on hours sharing our travel adventures and our plans for the week. It was nearly midnight as we were saying our goodbyes and guests were still coming in for a table! That totally threw us for a loop how different their eating hours are in France.

We spend the next day playing tourist scouting out locations for the vow renewal. We ended up walking over eight miles that day starting from the winter market below the Eiffel Tower, sipping hot wine, avoiding being pick pocketed (its really bad!), walking Jardins du Trocadéro, Palais de Chaillot, and Palais de Louvre. What a dream day!

The day had come we had been envisioning about for over a year! We walked out of our hotel before sunrise (which is nearly 9am in France by the way), bundled up expecting weather as the day before, boy we were caught by surprise! The day before had been sunny and high 40’s, this day was a bit overcast 33 degrees and windy. We Ubered to our meeting spot, the only other people there was another couple and a photographer, as we spotted Drew and Veronica getting out of their car. Drew dressed in a fine navy tailored suit, still bundled up, fitting right in as a European. Veronica emerged from the car in her dream dress and was absolutely stunning!

Fighting the cold we worked as a team! Walking to a location we kept Drew and Veronica dressed in their full winter wear, as soon as we were ready for portraits, Paul grabbed Drew’s jacket, Charlie took Veronica’s, and we would shoot for a few minutes until they literally froze together, and the team would rush back in to bundle them up. We would walk and watch their color return, and shoot again. The rain started lightly which thankfully kept the tourists away, but then became harder. We all huddled below the awning of a downtown building waiting on our ride to the Louvre. That was our saving grace! It huge van arrived to fit us all, already warmed inside, and we all started to thaw. The 15 minute drive was just what we needed to prep for location number two.

We walked into the Palais de Louvre and it was everything we had always dreamed it would be! The history and architecture took our breath away! We shot the same way again working as a team, ending with a beautiful renewing of their vows. The moment we were below a covering, the hail began to pour! What perfect timing! We all ran across the street to their hotel as they changed, and then enjoyed a wonderful meal together. Perfection! We cannot wait to go back! Congratulations Drew and Veronica on 10 years of marriage and we can’t wait to celebrate many many more with you both!

Just in case you didn’t catch it last week, we also were able to capture a session Rachel and Paul while in France celebrating their six months of marriage with another Paris anniversary session!

Vow Renewal Time!

… and the first dance