Same-sex elopement in Barcelona: Lukas and Mitch

same sex wedding in Barcelona

Same-sex elopement in Barcelona: a chic, intimate wedding for two

The sun was waiting to rise over the ancient urban jungle of Barcelona.
A blue, pink, and red breeze was filling the air, falling over the rooftops and caressing the old Bunkers, while I was imagining a freezing dawn spent on top of the hills during the most recent war.
A man was busy with his daily workout routine.
Whenever I climbed these rocks, I felt the eternal, deep beauty of this city, the perfect moody and magical backdrop for an intimate celebration.

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Proposal in Barcelona
from potential disaster to epic win

When I first talked with Cory about his proposal in Barcelona, he had a very clear idea: he wanted it to be in one of the best and most scenographic places of the city.

Bunkers, I thought. Los Bunkers del Carmel were built in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. They were used as part of an anti-craft battery to defend against attacks from the fascists. They also happen to offer one of the best views over Barcelona, and they are therefore one of my favourite places to shoot.

The only issue was that there are a few ways to get to the Bunkers, so as it was supposed to be a surprise proposal, we had to find an easy meeting point where we could pretend to be hanging at the same time.

And the time was 7.30 in the morning. (Sunrise time, best time, yu-huuu!)

I told Cory that we could meet at the closest bus stop, that they could ask me for directions to get there, and that – like every warm, mediterranean, half-Spanish-half-Italian Barcelona citizen – I would have offered to walk them there. Everything sounded perfect.

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Destination wedding photographer Copenhagen
Madison and Nicolas

Copenhagen, Denmark. The wind was blowing, a delicate rain was hitting my face, some seagulls were fighting for bread, the weather was dark and moody.

I remember that day and I think about wishes. The power they get when you write them down, you treat them as something real, you set them as goals.

destination wedding photographer Copenhagen

“As a child in Japan, I used to go to a temple, write out a wish on a piece of thin paper and tie it around the branch of a tree. Trees in temple courtyards were always filled with people’s wish knots, which looked like white flowers blossoming from afar”. Wish tree, Yoko Ono.
Whenever I travel to a place for a destination wedding, I’m always surprised by the people I meet and the wonderful experiences I live.
This time, I left for a family session in Denmark and I ended up shooting the sweetest couple. After the photo shoot with Nicolas, I ate lunch with Madison, we had a lovely walk in the freezing hair of Copenhagen, we wrote our wishes and hung them at Yoko Ono tree.
Madison and I talked about long distance relashionships. She told me how her long distance relashionship grew and took her far from home, while facing fear, challenges, and love.
If we are lucky and brave enough, wishes are the starting point of most of our actions, decisions, and success. That’s what happened to Madison, and that’s why I’m so glad I got to know her and spend such a lovely day together. Here you can find some memories of her love story with Nicolas in Copenhagen.

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Destination wedding photographer Morocco
Sarah and Thomas

“Destination wedding photographer Morocco.” While flying to Marrakech after sleeping for just one hour, with a horrible cold and an ear closed, I kept thinking: how would it be like? I imagined the colors, the sound of the city, the muezzin singing, the desert. In my imagination, it was all very colorful and noisy, alive and full of people.

It actually was. I shot at the Medina, at Jardin Majorelle, on some of the amazing terraces of Marrakech, at the most beautiful riads. Everything was as I expected, and beyond my best expectations.
But then, we found a green desert and a stormy weather, a strange Berber policemen riding a motorcycle, and I captured Morocco as I would have never imagined.
Being a wedding photographer while traveling the world gives me the chance of feeling constantly surprised and overwhelmed by unexpected beauty. This way I could run around the desert with my ear closed, a horrible sore throat and the wind blowing and feel the happiest person ever.

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Best of 2016
wedding and lifestyle photography

destination wedding photographer North Italy
Some days ago, while looking for some stupid tv show after eating too much for Christmas, I ended up watching “Dead poets society”. Professor Keating, played by Robin Williams, was reading a poem by Walt Whitman:
“Oh me! Oh life! Of the questions of these recurring, of the endless trains of the faithless… of cities filled with the foolish, what good amid these, oh me, oh life?” Answer. That you are here – that life exists, and identity. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.”
Pause. “That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.” Pause. And then Keating asks: what will your verse be?
What will my verse be? I asked myself.

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Provence wedding photographer
Erin&Baptiste

Provence wedding photographer
While I was studying, I haven’t been able to fly for almost ten years.I felt panic, fear, it was a phobia. I couldn’t even get close to a plane.

I guess that, as a control freak, I considered the idea of trusting a stranger while flying at thousand of feet quite bothering and stressful.
And then, all of a sudden, I remember the clouds, the overwhelming beauty of random geometries, the seductive perfect balance of natural color palettes and the sky over New York, so moving.
Even before becoming a photographer, beauty has always been a consolation, a source of inspiration and calm, the origin of that crazy sublime feeling of being brimming with joy and emotions.
This year I’ve been constantly walking with beauty, but during Erin and Baptiste’s wedding in Provence it was such a strong presence, I almost felt it was cheerfully struggling to exceed itself in each moment.

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Wedding photographer Malta
Gill, Luca and Livia

Destination wedding photographer Malta
Sun, nature and peace. The first time Luca told me about Gozo I didn’t imagine how amazing this place could be. Together with his beautiful wife Gill, he had just decided to get a house there. What a brave decision, I thought. It’s like living in the middle of nowhere. Then, last summer, they asked me to fly to Malta to shoot a reportage of the whole family on holidays, and I fell in love with this warm, peaceful and wild little island.

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Japanese wedding in Barcelona
Mai and Keigo

Wedding photography Barcelona, honeymoon and holiday pictures

The Italian writer Umberto Eco, who sadly left us a short time ago, once said that he who doesn’t read will only live once. Who reads will live 5000 years: he was there when Cain murdered Able, when Renzo got married with Lucia, while Leopardi was staring at the infinite…

The photographer, as the reader, is a privileged person.
He listens to, he lives, he witnesses thousands of stories.
He is there in the most epic moments, when hundreds of Renzo get married with their Lucia, and he’s also there to witness the daily, priceless beauty of family life.
Meeting lovely couples from all over the world during their wedding or honeymoon is one of the things I enjoy the most of being a wedding photographer in Barcelona.
While talking to Mai and Keigo I felt like I was flying to Japan and sharing what I love the most about Barcelona at the same time. I love seeing how people coming from other places feel in front of the monuments and the history of my city. These pictures talk about a whole day spent together to celebrate this adorable couple and their new life together.

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