Indre-et-Loire · Amboise · Loire Valley
Wedding photographer at
Château de Pray
Château de Pray stands two kilometres from Amboise, above the Loire, a four star château-hotel with a Michelin-starred kitchen. Its salons open onto a terrace over the river, and its orangery is carved straight into the tufa cliff. An hour from Paris by TGV, it draws international couples, and it is one of the Loire Valley houses we would love to photograph.
From our own weddings. We have not yet photographed here, and we would love to.
The château
A four star château-hotel with a Michelin-starred restaurant, Pray sits above the Loire at Chargé, two kilometres from Amboise and an hour from Paris by TGV. The estate runs on English as much as French, built for the international couples who marry in this stretch of the valley.
Why Pray suits the way we work
Pray photographs like a series of interiors, each with its own light: the painted Grand Salon with its coats of arms and stained glass, the smaller Prussian-fireplace salon, and the tufa orangery with four-metre ceilings and bay windows onto the courtyard. We light for the faces and let the period detail sit behind.
Outside, the terrace over the Loire and five hectares of wooded park carry the ceremony, the cocktail and the golden-hour portraits. It suits a refined, not-too-large wedding that wants the river in the frame.
Where your day photographs
The troglodyte Orangery
A hundred and twenty square metres carved into the tufa, four-metre ceilings and bay windows onto the courtyard, up to eighty, warm stone and daylight at once.
The Grand Salon
A painted French ceiling with coats of arms, tapestries and period stained glass, opening onto the Loire terrace; we light it for the faces.
The Loire terrace
Overlooking the river, for the cocktail and the golden-hour portraits with the Loire behind.
The wooded park
Five hectares of formal gardens and trees, room for the couple away from the hotel.
How we would photograph your day
We came to weddings from photojournalism. We observe, we anticipate, we capture what happens without interrupting it. No posing, no staging the facade, no asking anyone to do it again.
We always work as two. While one of us is at the ceremony, the other is watching the faces. That second pair of eyes is the difference between a record of the venue and a record of your day.
Getting there, and what it costs
Pray is about an hour away, above the Loire at Amboise. We live in Lencloître, in the Vienne, and travel to weddings in the Vienne and the Loire Valley is included in our packages, with no surcharge.
Our packages start at 3,190 €, both photographers for the full day, all edited images included.
Why us
This Is Reportage, TOP 20 Storytellers in the World, 2022. WPJA, TOP 50 Photographers in the World, 2021 and 2022. 232 international awards across sixteen years, judged anonymously from real weddings.
337 weddings photographed since 2009, across Europe. We are based in the Vienne, we speak French, English and Romanian, and we always work as a duo.
"We planned our whole wedding around being able to work with them. The way they naturally blend in while capturing every emotion, warm, humane, and so easy to work with."
"It only took five minutes to realise they were the friends we wanted to pay to be at our wedding."
Frequently asked questions
How far is Château de Pray from Amboise and Paris?+
Two kilometres from Amboise, above the Loire, and about an hour from Paris by TGV, which makes it easy for international guests.
How many guests does Château de Pray hold?+
By room: the troglodyte Orangery takes up to eighty, the Grand Salon thirty-five, the Petit Salon twenty. It suits a refined, not-too-large wedding.
What is the signature shot at Château de Pray?+
The Michelin-starred troglodyte Orangery carved into the tufa, and the terrace looking out over the Loire at golden hour.
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