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FILMMAKER & PHOTOGRAPHER | Saara Vuola

  • 1 hour ago
  • 4 min read


Saara Vuola is a Scandinavian filmmaker and photographer based in Italy, and sees her work as visual poems from your wedding day. Her work features an artistic style with natural colors and a touch of humour. She captures both destination and local weddings across Europe, using an artistic and candid approach with strong storytelling. Saara Vuola focuses on building genuine relationships with her couples, often maintaining contact for years after their wedding day.


Tell us about your business!


I am an artistic and candid wedding filmmaker and photographer. Behind all my work is me, Saara, a Scandinavian girl based in Central Italy. I document destination weddings all over Europe, majority of them being in Italy; but also local and intimate weddings in Finland, Italy, Switzerland and France.


What would you like couples to know about you?


Since I am one artist behind the camera and all my work, I only do either photography or filmmaking; I don’t do both at one wedding. Luckily I love the opportunity this gives me to collaborate and work together with other visual artists, since I won’t be the only one doing everything!


I’m Finnish, but I grew up in Switzerland, France and Finland, spending a few months in the US too as a child. Now I have found home in Italy, in a small village close to Rome. I love Italian culture, its laid-back authenticity, strong sense of community and obviously the fresh food and historic architecture. Because of my multicultural background, I speak a few languages fluently (English, italiano, francais, suomi) and be surrounded by them and international settings like destination wedding often are.


In Italy, I often become a translator between couples and Italian culture, which I am happy to do because I understand and see both sides.


Where are you based?


I’m based in Italy!


Do you travel for weddings?


Yes!


How would you describe your style?


I make visual poems at weddings. I aim to make something you need to pause to look at, and want to go back to, and possibly find something new each time. You see your memories and feelings reflected, light bended and your loved ones present as themselves. Like you do in poems. My own favorite films and books are the same, they let me reflect and discover new things each time. They last the test of time.


What is your most memorable career moment?


Impossible to pick one! I’ve been lucky to get to document couples who want all to do things differently; they want to create something memorable and unique both for themselves and their guests. This means each wedding has been memorable in their own way for me!


How would you describe your working style?


Two key things come to my mind:- Before the wedding, I always want to know the couple well, in order to tell their story. - On the wedding day, I am present and calm. Many couples have thanked me at the end of the day for my calmness and for being easy-going on the day. I’m not someone who is loud and visible; instead I love to blend in the crowd and have a chat with a guest.


Do you shoot digitally, on film or both?


Both! You can get a cinematic digital wedding video, or a Super8 one, or a wedding video that mixes both mediums.


Equally in photography: I shoot on a mix of digital and film. I sometimes also scan my own film photography, in order to have ultimate control over the colors.


Where would you love to travel to for work?


Take me to the UK anytime. It inspires me how the sky and weather moves and never stands still there. Also, my birth country France. Any venue where there is a lot of green and nature around is my dream venue. A backyard wedding anywhere in Europe. A wedding on a wild Scandinavian island. At the Mediterranean sea, where the sea sparkles. Indonesia would be a dream too! The geographical location doesn’t really matter that much when the venue/surroundings have charisma and are special.


Who is your dream client?


My dream clients are the type of couples I’ve always worked with: extremely kind, want to do things differently and appreciation for unique, artistic expression! They want to create something personal  and therefore meaningful, for themselves and their guests. 


It’s funny to call couples clients, I prefer to call them ‘couples’ because I often develop genuine relationships and connection with them, a communication that feels more like a long conversation instead of a supplier-client hierarchy. 


How do you select music for your films?


I always select it based on the couple’s music taste and what musicians were playing at the wedding; what best reflects the memory and the feeling of the day. I also often include sounds from the day: a friend’s funny comment, laughter and how the surrounding nature sounded like: birds, cascades, waves.


What is your advice to couples getting married?


There are no rules! Forget all the ‘shoulds’ and how things are usually done or should be done. Instead; Start dinner with cake! Have a swim with your wedding party on the morning of your wedding! Or a boat day before the wedding. A bride can wear pants. Instead of reception dinner, have brunch? Wear a hat instead of a veil. You can have the most stunning French chateau behind you and still want portraits taken in long green grass next to it if you think that is more romantic and natural. Make your own selection and interpretation of traditions and leave the unnecessary out. Do whatever you want, it’s not that serious!





Saara Vuola Weddings


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