To unleash his creativity in photography, Le Anh Long (Le Anh), a 32-year-old photographer from Vietnam, came up with an idea and invited two of his friends to create a unique wedding photo set. The concept was to have the groom wear a wedding dress, and the bride wear a suit.
During a search for ideas to create a unique photo set, Le Anh decided to experiment with a different approach by having the groom wear a wedding dress and the bride wear a suit. “At first, I just wanted to take some photos as a model for my clients and for their wedding album. However, taking photos in a traditional way wasn’t very special, so I decided to break the mold and came up with the idea of switching the outfits between the couple. I even thought about having the groom wear a dress and makeup, but it seemed a bit too much, so I didn’t do it. In my mind, I imagined the groom as someone with a bit of a rebellious edge, with some interesting tattoos, and my friend Thanh and his wife were a perfect fit for this idea,” Le Anh said.
Le Anh spent about a week searching for an outdoor location for the photo shoot. Initially, he planned to choose an old apartment complex or a historic area for the shoot. However, to capture this setting, they needed to have good weather. On the day of the shoot, the weather was quite bad, so the group had to switch the location to Dong Xuan Market (Hanoi). After the shoot, the photographer spent a full week editing the photos as he had to come up with the suitable color scheme for the wedding photo set, which took a lot of time.
When Le Anh proposed the idea of the photo shoot to them, the couple, Pham Trung Thanh (29) and Dao Thanh Tu (40), who reside in Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi, were enthusiastic about participating due to the unique and playful concept that reflected their personalities. It was the first time that Thanh wore a dress in public, so he was a bit hesitant and lacked confidence, but with the encouragement of his wife, he became more determined during the process of creating the photoshoot.
In sharing with the writer, Thanh and Tu revealed that they have been together for 10 years. Thanh said that when they first started dating, they asked their families to allow them to live together without having a wedding ceremony, and only registered their marriage when they were expecting their first child. Currently, the couple has two children, but Tu has never had the opportunity to wear a wedding dress, so she decided to give the chance to her husband for this special photo shoot.
“We lived together but only registered our marriage, we never wore wedding dresses or took wedding photos. When Le Anh proposed the idea, we really liked it. It was both playful and convenient to have wedding photos as a memory. At first, my husband was hesitant to wear a dress, but he saw me happy, so he agreed,” Tu said.
Sharing his secret to maintaining a happy family life, Thanh said that it is important to put oneself in the other person’s shoes to understand and share everything positively. “In love, age doesn’t matter, and there’s no need for promises for the future, just putting in your all in the present. Living together, we cannot avoid the pressures of life and sometimes arguments happen… In those times, forgive each other, give it your all together to overcome it, and never give up,” Thanh shared.
As for Tu, love is very simple, age is not important, and as long as you love the right person, you don’t have to be mature. This couple hopes to have a wedding ceremony when they are older to create something special, because life is about turning experiences into beautiful memories.
Starting his photography career in 2016, Le Anh has always pursued a vintage style and strives to create unique photos. The photo shoot for Thanh and Tu is one of the most impressive and cherished works for Le Anh as it not only brings aesthetic effects but also tells the story of the couple’s long-awaited wedding photos after 10 years, which moved the photographer deeply.