The couple came from New Zealand. They had crossed half the world to marry in Málaga on their own, with no guests, and then stay on for a few days' holiday. Because it was an elopement in Spain, there was no trial beforehand.
I find this kind of wedding beautiful because it is so genuine. It is a long way from the traditional celebration, with its protocol and every detail planned in advance, and it keeps only what matters: getting married and sharing a lovely moment, just the two of them.
They wanted their photographs taken as the sun came up, so I started getting the bride ready in the small hours, in an apartment in Málaga's old town.
For her wedding hair she asked for something elegant and timeless, with a modern touch, and above all something that would hold all morning. That mattered more than anything else, because a style done before dawn had to reach the photographs intact and stay in place for many hours afterwards. The updo sat at mid height, leaning high, with a soft wave and a few loose strands. It had structure, because that was what would hold it all morning, but it was built so the structure never looked forced, and that is where its modern touch came from.
The makeup followed the same idea: timeless, natural and luminous, made for the light at sunrise and to last the whole day.
In the sunrise photographs, with her veil in the wind on the clifftop, the updo holds against the wind and keeps the shape it had when she left the apartment: the waves in place, the loose strands where they were left, and a structure nobody can see. Her skin has the same natural light it had at the start of the morning.
