An uptown wedding at the Columns Hotel, photographed on digital alongside 35mm and Polaroid. The house does most of the work: tall windows, worn green panelling, and light that keeps moving all afternoon.<figure><img src="https://oliviayuenphoto.cdn.modulify.website/projects/columns-hotel-wedding-2.jpg" alt="Couple holding hands under a floral chuppah during an outdoor ceremony" loading="lazy" decoding="async" /></figure><figure><img src="https://oliviayuenphoto.cdn.modulify.website/projects/columns-hotel-wedding-3.jpg" alt="Groom in a tan suit feeding cake to the bride at the reception" loading="lazy" decoding="async" /></figure>

A colourful, nostalgic celebration at the Columns Hotel on St. Charles Avenue.

The Columns

Hotel Peter and Paul is a former church, schoolhouse and rectory, and it photographs like all three at once. Dinner ran by candlelight under the stained glass before the brass band took everyone out onto the street.<figure><img src="https://oliviayuenphoto.cdn.modulify.website/projects/hotel-peter-and-paul-wedding-2.jpg" alt="Candlelit banquet table inside an old church with stained glass windows" loading="lazy" decoding="async" /></figure><figure><img src="https://oliviayuenphoto.cdn.modulify.website/projects/hotel-peter-and-paul-wedding-3.jpg" alt="Close-up of a white bouquet and a hand holding a wine glass" loading="lazy" decoding="async" /></figure>

Candlelight in a converted church in the Marigny, with a second line to finish.

Peter & Paul

A courtyard wedding at Hotel Mazarin, a few steps off Bourbon Street. Parasols up, handkerchiefs out, and the whole party moving at once.

Two brides, lace parasols and a courtyard send-off in the French Quarter.

Mazarin

Ninety minutes up the river from New Orleans. A black-and-white frame in front of the flower wall, then sparklers held high for the exit.<figure><img src="https://oliviayuenphoto.cdn.modulify.website/projects/baton-rouge-country-club-wedding.jpg" alt="Black and white photograph of a couple making peace signs before a white flower wall" loading="lazy" decoding="async" /></figure>

Sparklers, a flower wall and a long night at the Country Club.

Baton Rouge

Latrobe's on Royal, in the French Quarter. Polaroids piled up on the table through the evening, which is usually the part people go back to first.<figure><img src="https://oliviayuenphoto.cdn.modulify.website/projects/latrobes-french-quarter-wedding-2.jpg" alt="Instant photo of a woman with a cigarette beside a man in a tuxedo" loading="lazy" decoding="async" /></figure>

A fall wedding on Royal Street, documented on instant film as the night went on.

Latrobe's

The courtyard at the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum after dark, lit almost entirely by hanging glass globes.

A night ceremony under greenery and hanging candle globes.

Pharmacy Museum

The exit at NOCCA, in the Bywater. Everything worth keeping from a petal toss happens inside about four seconds.

Petals in the air on the way back down the aisle.

NOCCA

A small spring ceremony at Margaret Place, guests close enough on either side to be part of the frame rather than the background.

A spring ceremony against old brick, close enough to hear.

Margaret Place

The second line is the part of a New Orleans wedding that cannot be staged or repeated. Band in front, handkerchiefs up, and everyone out into the street behind you.<figure><img src="https://oliviayuenphoto.cdn.modulify.website/projects/second-line-parade.jpg" alt="Brass band leading a bride and groom with parasols down a street" loading="lazy" decoding="async" /></figure>

The brass band, the parasols, and the walk out into the street.

Second Line

An elopement at the French Quarter Wedding Chapel: two people, a black cowboy hat, a veil, and no interest whatsoever in doing it the expected way.<figure><img src="https://oliviayuenphoto.cdn.modulify.website/projects/french-quarter-chapel-elopement-2.jpg" alt="Man in a black cowboy hat and a veiled bride standing under a white arch" loading="lazy" decoding="async" /></figure>

A maximalist elopement at the French Quarter Wedding Chapel.

The Chapel

The Drifter Hotel on Tulane Avenue. The whole set laid out on the pink tile afterwards, which is how instant film is best looked at anyway.

A poolside elopement, kept entirely on instant film.

The Drifter

City Park in the late afternoon. Engagement sessions are mostly walking and talking, with the camera picking up whatever happens in between.

City Park

Photographed in Seattle. Travel bookings work the same way as the ones at home: a little planning, then mostly staying out of the way.

A couples session by the water, a long way from Louisiana.

Kailey & Kelsey

An engagement session on the boardwalk. Black and white, and no instruction more complicated than to keep talking to each other.

Black and white, on the boardwalk, laughing at something off camera.

Preston & Tom

Painted steps, a floral dress, and the kind of colour you only really get in this city.

A portrait on a painted stoop, which is a very New Orleans place to stand.

Teal Steps

Shot at the very end of the day, when the sky does more of the work than any light I could bring.

The last of the light, with the skyline behind.

Dusk

Film is part of nearly every wedding here, not an add-on at the end. It handles low light differently to digital, and it slows the whole thing down in a way that tends to suit the evening.

On 35mm

Polaroids get made and handed over while the day is still going on. Guests write on them, they end up in pockets and on tables, and the scans come back with the rest of the gallery.<figure><img src="https://oliviayuenphoto.cdn.modulify.website/projects/polaroid-portrait.jpg" alt="Instant photo of a laughing bride and groom holding a white bouquet" loading="lazy" decoding="async" /></figure><figure><img src="https://oliviayuenphoto.cdn.modulify.website/projects/vintage-polaroid.jpg" alt="Instant photo of a couple beside a weathered cemetery tomb, the bride holding a bouquet" loading="lazy" decoding="async" /></figure>

Instant photographs, handed over on the day.

Polaroid

Disposable cameras are the least precious thing on the table and often the most fun. Direct flash, no screen to check, and whatever comes back comes back.

Flash, grain, and no way to check the back of the camera.

Disposables

A session at home before the baby arrived. Nothing arranged beyond finding the softest light in the house.<figure><img src="https://oliviayuenphoto.cdn.modulify.website/projects/family-session.jpg" alt="Child resting their head on a pregnant belly with a partner's hands nearby" loading="lazy" decoding="async" /></figure>

Maternity

Family sessions run on the same principle as the weddings: let it happen, stay close, and keep shooting through the parts people think are not the photo.

Front lawn, late light, one child being swung by the arms.