Today on La mariée aux pieds nus, we let you discover the images of the elopement of Azat and Ksenia, who said yesto each other on the water with simplicity. A beautiful moment punctuated with details of the 30’s, captured by Vanessa Madec…
“Azat and I met about 5 years ago, and that very evening I knew already that I’ve won a lottery – he was a person I somehow never dared to even hope that existed. Not less important, this fantastic person liked me as much as I did like him. The rest was easy, and in four years he proposed to me.”
“We decided to have a tiny, intimate wedding with our families, as we are both Russian expats living between Germany and France, and our families would have to travel far to spend this time with us. Both of us wanted the wedding to be easy and unconventional, something that would mean celebration to us and not resemble a tradition checklist.”
“So we decided to do the paperwork at the Consulate, get a couple of taxis for everyone and go to the Hamburg Port to ride a vintage Southern style boat MS Louisiana, and then move on to a French restaurant. We didn’t pick a theme, it came naturally – I am a swing dancer and this was the perfect occasion for me to show off my 30’s style, and Azat got an excuse to get his hands on the expensive British tweed that he likes.”
“But when I started looking for a photographer, I quickly realised that this part won’t be easy. I hoped to find someone with the same vision, same love for vintage colours and, most important, with that talent of catching the moment. This is not an easy task but on top of that (surprise, surprise) we were on a budget.
Once I found Vanessa’s website and her work was so perfect, exactly what I was looking for. But I looked at these beautiful big weddings in her portfolio and thought to myself – someone who shoots weddings in castles would probably not bother with ours. But I still asked if we could meet for coffee, and I was amazed when Vanessa said she was actually interested in shooting our tiny party. And, she brainstormed with us and provided lots of ideas and hints, and even suggested that we exchange rings in a nice place instead of doing it at the dull Consulate, which we found to be a great idea.”
“So when the day came, it was wonderful to have Vanessa on our side. Somehow her presence had a calming effect on me – I knew she has been to so many weddings before and she knows what to do. The day itself was full of improvisation and running, which felt quite crazy. We almost missed the boat, and when we finally made it, we realised it was empty except of maybe 20 people on the top deck.
So we had this vintage, red velvet and wood panels beauty of a boat for ourselves. We danced, we drank champagne, and Azat and I exchanged rings on the top deck, and it felt exactly as we wanted things to be – free, ironic, sincere. It was an adventure and we were in in all together. So when we were saying goodbye to Vanessa at the restaurant, she felt like family to us.”
“When I received the pictures after a short while and I was so happy with them I didn’t dare to believe. I knew in advance that the pictures will be good, but when I saw the final result I was so overwhelmed. “Is this us? Is this me? Did it all actually happen?” The wedding day itself was so emotional that things got a bit blurry in my memory, but then Azat were going through the pictures together and remembered the day step by step, shot by shot, so many little details, and this is a true time machine.”
Photographer : Vanessa Madec | Dress : Ghost London | Shoes : Mint&Berry | Suit Jacket : Wellington of Bilmore | Suit Trousers : Drykorn | Flowers : Blumen Eilers | Hair : Mistress and Master/Queen of Hair | Ceremony place : Louisiana Boat Hamburg | Restaurant : Petit Bonheur
