White Hydrangeas and Basque Hills at Maison Belzunce, Biarritz

Inside a room with dark olive-grey walls and parquet flooring, Valentine fastened a pearl earring while her reflection filled the mirror. Her strapless gown with a full train was buttoned slowly, the room going briefly still. Sarah Maquille kept the beauty look natural and luminous. A pearl-edged veil threaded through loosely waved hair completed the look before Tepee Sauvage arrived with a bouquet of white hydrangeas, dahlias, and trailing green foliage.

Bilingual celebrant Tevy Ceremony, a sought-after wedding officiant in the South of France opened proceedings in French and Spanish, a nod to the couple's Madrid roots. Rows of natural wood folding chairs faced out over the Basque hills, the stone manor and its turret framing the backdrop. Valentine walked the grass aisle escorted by her father, and when they kissed Adrian dipped her back with the hillside behind them.

Serafin Castillo took Valentine and Adrian along the ivy-covered facade, up the grand stone staircase for a mid-step kiss, and onto the garden path with her train trailing on stone. Earlier, her father had wrapped his arms around her from behind, glasses catching the window light, a private beat captured in black and white. The closing frames carry the feel of images that will only improve with time.

White cards finished with a sage green wax seal and a sprig of greenery set the palette on weathered wood. The groom's polished black Fratelli Rossetti Oxfords sat on branded wooden shoe trees alongside, while the bride's white heeled sandals and a simple chain caught the directional morning light on stone. Every element telegraphed the day's white and green scheme before a single flower had been arranged.