A Two-Day Pre-Wedding in Paris and Fontainebleau

‍Lynn and Mu told me early on that Europe had always been the plan. Not a specific city at first, just the idea of it: old stone, wide boulevards, a place that felt far from home and worth the journey. When Paris came up, it stopped being an idea. We started planning that same week.

This was a destination pre-wedding in the fullest sense. Our studio arranged the hair and makeup artist, who traveled with us for both days. Lynn chose her gowns through our bridal dress rental, so nothing needed to be packed across an ocean. We built her bouquet ourselves the evening before the first shoot, from flowers picked up at a market near our apartment. And we mapped the entire route and timeline in advance, down to which bridge we would reach before the light turned hard. All Lynn and Mu had to do was arrive in Paris and be together.‍ ‍

Day one: sunrise at the Eiffel Tower

‍We met at half past five in the morning. May in Paris means the sun is up before six, and it also means the Trocadéro is full by eight. So we started in the dark, walked into the first light, and had the whole terrace almost to ourselves.

‍This is where Lynn and Mu exchanged their vows. Not a rehearsal, not something staged for the camera. They had written them privately and had not shared them with each other until that moment. I stepped back with a longer lens and let them have it. Mu got through his first. Lynn made it about halfway through hers before she had to stop and laugh and start again. Those frames, with the tower behind them and the sky still pale, are the ones I keep returning to.‍ ‍

Pont de Bir-Hakeim and Pont Alexandre III

‍From the tower we walked down to Pont de Bir-Hakeim, the two-level bridge with the iron arches and the metro running overhead. It is one of the most cinematic structures in the city, and at that hour the columns cast long, clean shadows across the walkway. Lynn's gown moved in the breeze off the river. A train passed above us at exactly the right second, and I did not have to ask for a second take.

‍Later in the morning we crossed the city to Pont Alexandre III. The gilded statues, the ornate lamps, the dome of Les Invalides sitting in the background: this bridge does not need much help. What I wanted here was contrast, so we slowed everything down. Lynn and Mu leaned on the stone balustrade and talked while I worked quietly around them. Some of the most honest photographs of the day came from those unplanned minutes.‍ ‍

Parisian streets and cafés

‍The afternoon belonged to the city itself. We wandered through narrow streets, stopped at a café with wicker chairs facing the sidewalk, ordered two espressos, and let the neighborhood carry on around us. Lynn changed into something simpler for this part of the day. The photographs here are less about landmarks and more about the two of them: sharing a pastry, reading a menu, Mu holding the door while Lynn ducked under his arm.

‍This is the part of a Paris pre-wedding that couples underestimate when they plan it and treasure most when they see it.‍ ‍

The Louvre at golden hour

‍We ended day one at the Musée du Louvre. The glass pyramid, the courtyard, the arcades along the Cour Carrée where the light comes through in long warm bands. By early evening the tour groups had thinned and the stone had gone gold. Lynn wore her second gown here, the one with the fuller skirt, and we used the scale of the courtyard to make the two of them feel small and unhurried inside all that history.‍ ‍

Day two: Fontainebleau

‍For the second day we left the city. Fontainebleau is about an hour south of Paris by car, and it gives you what Paris cannot: space, silence, and a château with gardens that stretch further than you can walk in a morning.

‍We arrived before the gates opened and started along the canal and the formal parterres while the mist was still lifting. There were no crowds to plan around. Lynn and Mu could walk at their own pace, and I could take my time framing the long reflecting pool and the rows of clipped trees. The bouquet we had made two nights earlier was still holding, and it belonged in this setting more than anywhere else.

‍By late morning we moved into the woods at the edge of the grounds. Soft light, tall trees, a couple who by now had forgotten the camera was there. That is always the goal of a two-day shoot. The first day builds trust. The second day gives it back.‍ ‍

Why Leica, why two days

‍I photograph every session on Leica, and Paris is the kind of place that rewards it. The cameras are small enough to move through a café without turning heads, and the way they render skin and shadow suits stone and morning light. More than once, someone stopped to ask about the camera, and every one of those conversations ended with a smile for Lynn and Mu.

Two days matters for the same reason sunrise matters. Time is what makes a pre-wedding feel like an experience instead of a checklist. Lynn and Mu did not race between six landmarks in one afternoon. They lived in Paris for two days, with a route we had already thought through, and the photographs show it.‍ ‍

Planning a destination pre-wedding in Paris

‍If you have always wanted your pre-wedding photographs taken in Europe, Paris in May is close to ideal: mild weather, early light, the gardens fully in bloom. We handle the route, the timeline, hair and makeup, gown rental, and florals from our studio, so the trip itself stays simple.

‍Learn more about destination pre-wedding sessions at aaronliu.co/destination, or get in touch to talk about dates.