A Summer Wedding at Las Sirenas, Sotogrande

There are weddings you photograph, and then there are weddings you feel in your bones. Hannah and Stephen's day at Las Sirenas in Sotogrande was the second kind.

From the moment I arrived at this extraordinary Italianate estate in the heart of southern Spain, I understood why they had chosen it. Las Sirenas is not just a beautiful venue — it is a world entirely its own. Shell-inlaid terracotta fountains, classical sculptures half-hidden by bougainvillea, formal lily ponds catching the afternoon light, cypress avenues that feel ancient and cinematic at once. And then, moving through all of it, Hannah and Stephen — a couple so full of warmth and joy that every room they entered felt brighter.

They had come from the UK with their closest people, and what followed was a Mediterranean summer celebration in the fullest, most generous sense of those words.

Las Sirenas sits within Sotogrande — one of Europe's most private and exclusive communities on the Costa del Sol, known for its polo estates, its marina, and the kind of unhurried elegance that money alone cannot manufacture. The venue itself is something apart: an Italianate villa of extraordinary architectural detail, where every courtyard offers a different quality of light and every terrace frames a different view of the formal gardens beyond.

For a film photographer, it is close to perfect. The warm terracotta, the deep greens of the estate planting, the way the Andalusian summer light floods across the lily pond in the late afternoon — Kodak Portra was made for exactly this.

Stephen and his groomsmen gathered in the grounds of Las Sirenas as the summer heat settled over the estate — all black tie, all laughter, completely at ease. There is something about a groom surrounded by his closest friends on his wedding morning that I never tire of photographing. The noise, the jokes, the quiet moment when he straightens his bow tie and suddenly it becomes real. We had all of it.

Hannah and Stephen married in the cypress-lined ceremony avenue at Las Sirenas — one of the most naturally dramatic settings I have ever worked in. Tall cypress trees rising on either side, a minimal white platform stage, and the sound of the Andalusian summer all around them. Hannah walked towards Stephen in her sculptural El Bridal gown, its cape sleeves catching the warm air, her veil trailing across the terracotta brick.

The vows were heartfelt. The celebrant held the space beautifully. And when it was done — when they turned to walk back down the aisle as husband and wife — their guests erupted. Petals everywhere. Laughter everywhere. That recessional image, in black and white, with the pure joy on both their faces, is one of my favourite frames from the entire year.

After the ceremony, we slipped away from the celebrations for a short portrait session through the estate grounds. The archway leading to the gardens became one of those locations you find by accident and immediately know is the one — warm terracotta stone, trailing palms, the afternoon light pouring across the courtyard at exactly the right angle.

The cocktail hour unfolded across the terraces of Las Sirenas — guests gathered along the balustrades above the lily pond, champagne in hand, the estate at its most golden. It had the feeling of a particularly elegant garden party that happened to be one of the best days of anyone's life. Catering by Gusto Marbella, bar by Proshakers — every detail considered, every moment effortless.

The energy that carried through from cocktail hour into the reception was something I rarely see — the kind of joyful momentum that only happens when the people are right, the setting is right, and the couple at the centre of it all are exactly where they are supposed to be.

This was absolutely electric. That was the word I used afterwards, and I stand by it.

Every image from Hannah and Stephen's wedding was shot on medium format film — Kodak Portra 400 and Portra 800, developed and scanned by Carmencita Film Lab in Valencia. The warmth of the terracotta, the depth of the formal gardens, the glow of the summer light across the lily pond — film renders all of it with a richness that feels exactly like being there.

If you are planning a wedding at Las Sirenas or anywhere across Andalusia and the Costa del Sol, I would love to hear your story. I photograph a limited number of weddings each year and am currently accepting enquiries for 2026 and 2027.