Let’s be honest

Northern Italy probably has more wedding photographers than Germany has beers. And even more beautiful places to get married: ceremonies among the Franciacorta vineyards, receptions on the shores of Lake Iseo, old villas on Lake Garda, starred restaurants and rustic farmhouses in the countryside.

Different places, different couples, different ideas of what a wedding should look like. I can’t be right for everyone, so I asked myself a simple question: when Ilaria and I chose a photographer for our own wedding, what did we really care about?

Two things: spontaneity and discretion. The same two things I’ve built my work on.

Matrimonio a Villa Monte Rossa in Franciacorta, cerimonia – reportage di Roberto Cesari

Matrimonio a Villa Monte Rossa in Franciacorta, cerimonia – reportage di Roberto Cesari

Matrimonio a Villa Monte Rossa in Franciacorta, cerimonia – reportage di Roberto Cesari

First: spontaneity

Photos of what really happened

Candid, unposed, documentary, reportage: these words mean everything and nothing. For me it’s simple: I come to your wedding and… I photograph it.

Some colleagues make every wedding look like a fashion shoot, and I admire their skill. But I wanted something else: photos that, thirty years from now, make you say “look how we were”, “look how you were laughing”, “that’s me tripping on the way out of church”.

Life isn’t a fashion magazine, and neither is a wedding. Not even on Lake Garda.

“When did you take this?!”

The nicest thing anyone can say to us

Second: discretion

Forget about the photographer

You shouldn’t remember the photographer. You should forget about me.

I’ll never say “look here”, “stand like this”, “do the kiss again, I wasn’t ready”. I move quietly, stay on the edges and let the day go the way it’s meant to. No great photojournalist ever asked a protester to “shout a bit more to the left”, and weddings work the same way.

That doesn’t mean no portraits. A moment just for the two of you, with fresh, natural portraits, is as much a part of how I work as the documentary side: no stiff poses, just the two of you and a breather away from the guests. Group photos? The essential classics, yes. A roll call of every single guest, no.

What about the price?

There’s the wedding 300 km away, with getting ready, ceremony and reception in four different places. And there’s the one twenty minutes from home, where everything happens at the venue, it lasts six hours and there are fifteen guests.

Putting two days like that in the same package wouldn’t make sense, for you or for me. That’s why I give you a guideline, usually between €1,800 and €2,800 for a full wedding day, but the actual price is built around your wedding.

It isn’t complicated: just send me your date, your venue and a couple of lines about the day, and I’ll send you a proposal. But if we can, I’d rather talk in person, over a coffee or on a video call. Partly to see if we get along: for a day like this, that matters as much as the price.

Matrimonio a Vivilo al Priore in Franciacorta, ritratti sul lago – reportage di Roberto Cesari

Am I the right photographer for you?

I don’t know yet. But I hope you now have an idea of how I work. Have a look at our galleries, or write to us: a coffee if you’re in Italy, a video call if you’re not.

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