Eline & Gaël

Domaine de Bagard is one of those places you do not stumble upon: a former silk farm at the end of a track, in the commune of Sauve in the Gard, between garrigue hills and clear-water springs. This is where Eline and Gaël were married on 21 May 2022 — an estate large enough for every guest to stay the night, so the celebration could stretch across a long weekend rather than a single day.

The morning unfolded in two houses on the estate. On one side Gaël, white shirt and tawny bow tie, surrounded by his groomsmen slipping flowers into his hair before helping him into his terracotta jacket. On the other Eline, having her hair done against a faded blue wall, the dried-flower crown set in place last, just before the earrings.

These are moments that cannot be staged again: you see people as they are, still in shorts, already moved.

Then everyone walked down to the ceremony through the lanes of the hamlet — terracotta dresses in single file along the pale walls, straw hats, children running ahead. Eline arrived on her parents' arms, through a narrow passage lined with cypress trees, pausing a moment before stepping into view.

The ceremony was held outside, on a terrace set against a dry-stone wall, under an arch of ochre drapes and pampas grass. The guests sat below, on the grass and on the natural terracing of the ground.

As the readings went on, family and friends came up one by one to tie a ribbon around Eline and Gaël's wrists — a handfasting that ends in a tangle of colours, and in a kiss beneath a veil lifted by the wind. The group photograph that followed holds everyone in a single frame, gathered tight against the stone wall.

The three of us walked a little further, to where the estate opens onto the countryside. A white track climbing towards the hills, holm oaks, then water below — clear, shallow, a waterfall at the back of the frame. Dress in the pebbles, jacket over one shoulder, a few quiet minutes between the ceremony and the evening.

That is where the opening photograph of this page comes from: Eline and Gaël from behind, hand in hand, walking back up the track.

In the evening the tables were laid under the trees, pale linen and bunches of wild flowers, the seating plan strung between two trunks and ribbons tied to the branches. Dessert carried their two names, written by hand on the croquembouche.

The day ended as it should: Gaël carried shoulder-high by his friends, in the middle of the estate, to a great deal of shouting.

The estate lies in the commune of Sauve, in the Gard (30610) — not to be confused with the village of Bagard, near Alès. This is the gateway to the Cévennes, about thirty minutes from both Uzès and Alès, and under an hour from Nîmes and Montpellier.

The place has deep roots: in the nineteenth century its buildings housed magnaneries, the silkworm farms that shaped the economy of the Cévennes. The estate was taken over and renovated from 2022 onwards.

What strikes you in photographs is how many different settings sit on one piece of land: dry stone and cypress trees for the ceremony, oaks for dinner, then garrigue, springs and a waterfall a few minutes' walk away. Nothing requires a car between two moments — for a photographer that is a luxury: you stay with the couple instead of spending the day on the road.

On the practical side, the estate sleeps up to 170 people across 21 cottages, which changes everything: guests do not leave after dessert. Receptions are held under a 200 m² pergola with adjustable sides (140 seated guests with a dance floor), with a 110 m² indoor hall as a fallback if the weather turns, a shaded guinguette for the hottest days, two seasonal pools, and several gardens — including the Jardin de la Source and the Jardin Cascade — for a ceremony or drinks.