This wedding here has a special place in my heart, because it was my first one as a mom photographer. Ada, my daughter, was born only two months before, and I was still in the recovery process of giving birth. Still breastfeeding, not sleeping at nights, but I missed taking pictures so much that I couldn’t miss my first wedding as a mom photographer.

Nathalie and Paulo contacted when I still was pregnant - two weeks before the delivery - and I accepted right away: we had a Zoom call - I really couldn’t meet them in person at that time - and I found two lovely, chilled, laidback human beings, with whom I really enjoyed speaking.

Nathalie is a fashion and graphic designer. She is originally from Flanders, but she lives with Paulo in Ixelles. They met in London 5 years ago, while Paulo, who’s Brazilian, was working there, and things quickly became serious. They told me about when Paulo proposed in Menorca, and showed me the video of their silhouettes with a glorious sunset in the background.

Some days before the wedding we met again, just to hang out, and it was so nice to have a coffee and to chat together!

The wedding was on the 28th of January, on a very, very cold morning, in Ixelles, and we decided together to have the couple photography session at the Bois de la Cambre.

They had such contagious joy and happiness, and their families were welcoming, with four adorable children. I was really happy to be their photographer at their wedding, after the period I took off to take care of my little baby.

And I want to share here the words Paulo wrote me some days after I delivered the pictures, because they melt my heart: 

Dear Elena,
Firstly I would like to say a big thank you for everything.
Then I can say what I need to say.
Well from the moment Nathalie told me to look for a photographer I knew that would be an issue for me, as I tend to have very critical eyes when it comes to photography. But then we found you and liked your work for the non-staged photos and your editions.
When Nathalie and I met you for the first time we knew something good would come out.
The day of the wedding was very stressful for us and you made it very nice, calm, and with a lot of passion.
And that was the most beautiful thing for us. From the beginning to the end. I loved every moment and time we spent together. It was cold but warm at the same time. 
When we saw the pictures and videos we were stunned by them. 
It was just amazing to go back to that moment once more, with these stunning pictures, and that amazing video. 
Once more thank you very much for everything that you have done for us.
It's been an amazing surprise seeing it the way it is.
Thank you very much.
Paulo & Nathalie