Real Weddings, Advice, & Inspiration

Catalyst Wedding Company highlights weddings by and for game-changers. We seek to amplify and empower voices and viewpoints that are usually missing from the Wedding Industrial Complex. We're a community of badass wedding professionals who love all things funky, fresh, diverse, unique, and personality-driven; we convene twice yearly for (un)convention, a collaborative workshop, styled shoot, and dinner party. We're also the publishers of Catalyst Wedding Mag, a resource for couples looking for inspiration and affirmation that doing things differently in wedding-world is not only ok, it's wonderful!

It was fifth of August 2013 when I first saw her. We both work for the same organization, and she was giving a speech regarding a subject that I was completely aware of, so I actually had planned not to be there. When I saw her, I couldn't help but sit and watch the flawless way she spoke about something she enjoys and listen to the sound of her voice. Some days later, I found the courage to send her an e-mail (she did not have Facebook or any social media, which I found weird!) inviting her do have lunch with me. After that, we could not stop being together.

Although we travel a lot, Paris is a destination we still hadn't been to. We were reluctant, thinking that the city might be hard for non-French speakers, and we were also under the impression that Paris could be snobbish. How wrong we were — after a week there, we fell deeply in love with the place.

The 13th of May was a very special day for us. We spent a very romantic day together, had an amazing dinner, and exchanged our vows of commitment after I gave Gisele a ring.

Our photo shoot was really comfortable. To be honest, we wanted some professional photos of us, as most of the pictures we had we did not enjoy much. Also, we are kind of shy in front of cameras. With Pierre, we were able to relax and act like if it was a regular day on our trip. It did not feel like posing or anything artificial. I liked crossing the streets and having the feeling that we had the entire city just to ourselves since there was almost no one there. It was calm and peaceful.

We will move in together next semester, and we plan on getting married, or getting a civil partnership, depending on where we are since we will move abroad.

Words by Luiza, as told to Amber Marlow. Pictures by Paris Photographer Pierre Torset

black and white image of lovers in Paris

Engagement photos on the streets of Paris

wintertime engagement photos in Paris, walking down cobblestones

engagement photos in Paris by a turquoise doorway

Paris engagement session with paris apartments in the background

PARIS PHOTOGRAPHER PIERRE TORSET

Paris photographer Pierre Torset says: "After traveling and shooting the world for a few years, I decided to go back home and use my skills for people coming to Paris from all over the world! Loving portrait, fine-art & candid photography, I feel grateful every day to be a photographer here, using the beauty of Paris to create vibrant and stunning pictures with you!"