Wedding photographer at the Château de Berne
A wine estate of several hundred hectares at Flayosc, a few minutes from Lorgues, in the heart of the Var, between Draguignan and the Verdon gorges. It is one of the great estates of the hinterland, and it resembles nothing you find on the coast.
Here the scale changes everything. The vines carry far, the perspectives are long, and the landscape enters the picture without your having to look for it.
I document weddings. On an estate of this scale, that begins with the distances: knowing which parcel, at which hour, before the rows of vines take the last light.
What the space brings
On an estate this size, the couple session stops being a question of setting and becomes a question of distance.
Two people in the middle of rows running out for hundreds of metres produce an image neither a garden nor a terrace can give. The silhouette matters more than the detail, and the scale says something.
It is the exact opposite of a wedding in town, where the point is to isolate the couple from the setting. Here you place them inside it.
The vines and the hours
The rows create lines that organise the picture on their own. Late in the day, when the sun comes in low, the cast shadows bring out the relief of the ground and the depth.
At midday, by contrast, everything flattens and the vineyard becomes a green carpet of no interest. The rule is simple: the last hour before sunset, or nothing.
Count the travelling in. On a large estate, reaching the right parcel takes ten minutes that many couples forget to allow for.
What the hinterland changes
Flayosc sits an hour from the sea, and the climate is more continental. Summer days are hotter than on the coast, evenings cooler, and the mistral comes down noticeably.
That has a practical consequence: a cocktail hour in full sun at six in the evening in July is punishing here. Shade is your ally, and it is scouted in advance.
In exchange, the hinterland offers what the coast no longer has: space, silence, and nobody passing through.
A day that can run long
This kind of estate suits weddings that do not stop at midnight, and stays rather than days.
When guests are housed on site, the rhythm changes completely. Nobody counts transfers, nobody gets back on the road, and the end of the evening produces images you never obtain when everyone is watching the clock.
Exact conditions are arranged with the estate, which applies its own closing times.
What happens if it rains?
The estate has indoor spaces, like most large wine estates. For the couple session in the vines, I would rather reschedule it for another day: the ground becomes unusable and the point of the place goes with the light.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the estate? At Flayosc, in the central Var, a few minutes from Lorgues. An hour from Saint-Raphaël, the same from Saint-Tropez, an hour and a half from Nice outside high season.
Can we stay on site? The estate offers accommodation. Conditions are arranged directly with them, and it is what changes the rhythm of the day most.
How late can the celebration run? The estate applies its own closing times. It is a question to ask early, because it governs the whole shape of the evening.
When is the best season? May to October, with a mention for September, when the vines turn and the harvest gives the images a working background.
How far ahead do couples book? About fourteen months for a summer Saturday. The estate houses guests on site, and it is the accommodation that goes first rather than the reception date.
Tell me about your day, and we will work out together how it is photographed.