When – a few years ago – I left my previous work to follow my passion, I could just dream to be the photographer for a wedding in Myanmar. Myanmar Wedding Photographer sounds like a great title! Luckily, this was not just a dream but something that happened less than two months ago. Everything started three months ago when Marko, one of my photo-friend with which I share the 30 Rising Star thing this year,  asked me if I was available to travel there, as he got an inquiry but he was having (unfortunately for him) another assignment on those days. I was free, and I gave him my availability. I met Pamela and Gustavo on Skype the following day and we both had a good vibe. We easily came to an agreement and this adventure had its start. They were coming in Myanmar from Utah to make their dream comes true, and I would have been there to collect their memories.

I landed in Myanmar three days before the wedding, to have time to explore that country where probably I’ve never been in my whole life, if not for this wedding. Also, probably what I saw and experienced in those three days has changed forever my perception of life, and I realized how many things we feel as essentials are truly unnecessary to be happy. If you want to see more you can click here, where I collected a visual recap of what I saw in Yangon and Bagan. If you like the idea to falling deeper in the Myanmar mood before to scroll down to look at the wedding pictures, it could be nice to have a look to this photo-strip.

We personally met with Pam & Tavo in Bagan, the day before the wedding. We had a delightful lunch together in the Aureum Palace Hotel where they were staying (and where the ceremony would take place); then we decided to have a kind of pre-wedding shooting while breaking the ice. I mean, this was THEIR adventures fifteen-thousand-kilometers-far-from-home and they were going to share those intimate moments with an alien guy coming from Italy (me). I wanted to know a bit more of them, but most of all I really wanted to share with them something more about me, as I didn’t want them to perceive me as a stranger along their day. Suddenly, climbing a pagoda – barefoot – is something the permitted us to create a quick connection. It’s hard to explain. It’s like, sharing the same ground and experiencing the same thousand of history immediately under your feet we were building a kind of emphatic connection. Did you see Avatar and that stuff about the Tree of Souls?

You must try, as it’s epic.

Below those temples, we waited for the sunset, together.

The following day we meet in the afternoon, as the ceremony was taking place not far to sunset time. April is not the best time to visit Burma, as it’s probably one of the hottest months, but Pam and Tavo aren’t having other choices to be in their dreamy place than this. So we embraced the hot temperature, of course putting a lot of trust in the Aureum Palace beautiful pool. What I can say about the ceremony. Probably “WOW” could be enough.  I leave in Florence, so I’m usually immersed in art and history. But having the privilege to be there for a ceremony in front of those temples is priceless. What I’m trying to say is that’s a totally different mood you can live breath compared to Italy: a delightful sensation of well-being and serenity, and a feeling of complete harmony with surrounding nature. Hope you can understand what I mean looking at the photos. After some walk through the temples, the night had come, and they received two champagne goblets to have toast in front of the old Pagan Kingdom panorama.

We spent together also the last morning in Bagan, waking up early to reach a temple rooftop before the sunrise. This is a “must do” if you’re traveling to Bagan, and its’ probably something that will be forbidden soon (and we must hope so if we want to preserve that immense treasure from thousand years ago). Just the fact you can enjoy this incredible sunrise in the chilly air of the morning – a mix of nature, history, and magic, with air balloons surfing the sky delicately colored by the morning mist- is something that worth the effort to coming out from the bed when outside is still dark. If you can barefoot climb a temple to see it,  it’s a welcome extra that I’m happy I’ve been tried at least one time in my life. After sunrise, we moved trough the Bagan Market; there a lot of Burmese people flock hundreds of stalls, buying and selling as swarming ants in a huge underground anthill. The real soul of Myanmar is here.

We said goodbye on the market threshold and while I went to pack my bags they enjoyed alone the last days in their magic place. Pamela and Gustavo: my warmest thanks for making me a part of your intimate adventure. It was a true privilege being there with you. Myanmar has a special place in my heart now, and I really hope to have tho possibility – in the close future – to be there again photographing a wedding.  And fro you guys reading this boring stuff I wrote: if you’re a bit adventurous and you’re planning to get married or just to read your vows in some really magical place – where a breath of mysticism pervades its entire atmosphere – take Bagan in serious consideration. I’m sure you’ll be never complaining about your choice. Fra

Photos by  Myanmar Wedding Photographer    Francesco Spighi