Svenja, from Switzerland, was traveling solo around Australia when she decided to embark on a sailing tour of the Whitsundays. Sylvain, from France, was in Australia for a three week whirlwind tour of the country with his dad when they too decided a sailing tour of the Whitsundays would be a fantastic idea. Yes, you can see exactly where this is going. Svenja & Sylvain coincidentally met on the same sailing tour of the Whitsundays and that trip three years ago is where we begin this amazing couple’s story.
The first year had to be done by distance, of course. Luckily for them, the distance between Switzerland and France meant that Svenja could plan to meet her new French boyfriend on weekends while she completed her nursing studies. Once qualified though, she made the move in a heartbeat to settle in with her new ma cherie in Rennes in the north west of France, not too far from Sylvain’s coastal hometown of Granville. They knew they were destined to be with each other and so began the planning of their dream wedding day.
Fast forward to 2013, when Svenja spotted a Facebook post by an Australian photographer (me!) who’s work she adored. It was a photography style very different to the stiff and posed styles of the photographers in France that she had met with and not liked. And well, that’s pretty much how it came to be for me to end up in Normandy, France to photograph their wedding. The stars aligned so that the couple who met in Australia could have an Australian photographer document their wedding day.
Now, let me warn you, the French know how to party. We’re talking dance party to the early hours of the morning kind of party. We’re talking Spiderman costumes, leopard-print suits, jumping on tables kind of party. I am so glad that I could be there to photograph it all andI’m blessed to have made some amazing new friends on the other side of the world. Sylvain & Svenja, thank you for having me there and thank you for being such beautiful people.
France Wedding Photography by Jonathan David
