Simon & Laura
Miami
A three-day destination wedding at the Young Mansion, a 1920s Mediterranean Revival villa just north of Miami. Vintage Miami colour, photography first, with a film shot alongside.
Vintage Miami. Peach, pink and sun.
“Thanks to the talented @fairford_studios for capturing our special day.”
Simon, on Instagram
Simon and Laura brought their people to the Young Mansion in Hollywood, Florida, for three days in September: a Friday night paella dinner, the wedding itself, and a Sunday pool party.
They knew the look they wanted. Vintage Miami: soft peach and pink tones, the colour of a faded postcard, with the symmetry and warmth of a Wes Anderson set or an A24 film. The same look across the photos and the film.
Photography came first. The key moments had to be stills they could print and keep. The film was shot alongside, where it never got in the way of a photograph, and cut to the same grade.
Shot like a postcard.
A 1920s villa, terracotta roofs, palms and a tobacco suit did half the work. The grade and the framing did the rest.
- 01
Faded colour
Teal skies, warm terracotta and peach skin tones, with softened blacks so every frame feels like it came off film.
- 02
Centred and symmetrical
The couple dead centre on the villa steps, with the architecture squared up around them. A nod to Wes Anderson.
- 03
Frames within frames
A stucco arch on the rooftop, a gilded mirror while getting ready, a dark doorway for the shoe. The villa does the framing.
- 04
Black and white
Kept for the quiet and the low-light moments: the shoe, a portrait by the front door, the bouquet toss.
- 05
Details that tell it
Rings held over the pool with their shadows on the water, wildflowers on the long table, the dinner itself.
- 06
One grade, two formats
The film is graded to match the photos, so the album and the video feel like the same weekend.
Three days. One story.
Being there for the whole weekend means a beginning, a middle and an end, and by the time the vows come round nobody is noticing the camera.
- Day onePaella night
Friends and family arriving from home. The first toast and the first dancing, the night before.
- Day twoThe wedding
Getting ready, the courtyard ceremony, portraits on the rooftop above Hollywood Boulevard, dinner at a long table under lanterns, and the bouquet toss.
- Day threeThe pool party
The weekend's long exhale. Sun, swimming and everyone finally off duty, captured for the guests' film.
- The morning afterThe opening shot
The two of them heading off in fresh clothes. It became the first thing you see in the film.
Sixty seconds of Miami.
Shot alongside the photography and graded to match: the whole weekend in one minute, set to Dean Martin.
The full film lives on a private site for the guests, and for the family who couldn't be there.
Watch on Instagram 1:00
The photographs
Tap any frame to open it full size.
Getting married, at home or away?
Wedding photography and film from one person who stays for the whole story, at home or abroad. Packages on request. Tell me the date and the place.