A Black-Tie Wedding at Château La Chèze, Bordeaux

Some weddings feel designed. Gabriella & Mitchell’s felt inevitable. A 19th-century château on the hill above Bordeaux, groomsmen in black tie, bridesmaids in black, and not a single colour in the flowers except white. When the evening came and the long table under the arcades filled with guests, the whole day made sense in one frame.

Château La Chèze sits in Floirac, about ten minutes from the centre of Bordeaux, inside a walled park of two hectares. It is close enough for guests to stay in the city and far enough to feel like the countryside. The stone arcades, the terrace and the old trees give you three completely different kinds of light within a few steps.

Gabriella got ready at the château, in the quiet way I love most: soft window light, a strapless satin gown that needed nothing added, and a veil long enough to follow her down the stone stairs. Across the grounds, Mitchell and his groomsmen were buttoning black-tie jackets and trying to look calm.

Before the ceremony, they met under the arcades, but without seeing each other. Gabriella stood on one side of a stone pillar, Mitchell on the other, holding hands around it, and they read their vows to each other. Mitchell read first. Gabriella couldn't quite finish hers without tears. It is one of those moments I photograph from a distance, almost without breathing, because nothing about it should be directed.

Meanwhile, guests gathered in the shade of the park for a welcome drink.Glasses on old wine barrels, Bordeaux wine, and the kind of conversations that happen when nobody is in a hurry.

The ceremony took place in front of the main façade, with rows of white chairs, each tied with a black silk ribbon, and guests shading themselves under white paper parasols. A violin and cello duo played as the bridesmaids walked out in black, a quietly bold choice that made the white florals look even whiter.

We took their portraits in between the moments of the day, moving between the arcaded gallery, the old shutters and the château walls. I shoot these slowly, often on film, with very little direction. Some frames asked for colour, the blue sky and the white veil; others for black and white: the gown, the tuxedo, the pale Bordeaux stone.

The reception was one long table on the lawn, running the length of the arcades, dressed in white flowers, grapes and candlelight. From above it looked like a single line drawn across the garden. When night fell, the arcades lit up, a croquembouche arrived crowned with sparklers, and the evening moved indoors for a first dance under the old wooden beams.

I’m Olya, a wedding photographer based in Barcelona, working across Spain and France on film and digital. France is a short flight away, and it’s where I photograph some of my favourite weddings: Château de Bouffemont near Paris, Bastide de Toursainte in Provence, and now Château La Chèze in Bordeaux.
 
I take around fifteen weddings a year so every couple gets my full attention. If you’re planning a château wedding in Bordeaux, Provence or anywhere in France in 2027, I’d love to hear about it.