A Destination Wedding on 35mm Film at Victoria Hoi An Beach Resort: Ash & Jemma

Why we shot this destination wedding on 35mm film

Digital is sharp, clean and reliable, and we love it. But film remembers differently. On 35mm, the Vietnamese sun turns to honey, skin tones glow, and every frame carries a soft, grainy warmth that feels less like a photograph and more like a feeling you can hold in your hands. For a destination wedding, where the whole point is a day you will want to relive for the rest of your lives, that sense of nostalgia is everything. Shot on film, Ash and Jemma's day looks the way it actually felt: golden, unhurried and full of love.

The morning details

Every film roll begins with the small things. A boutonniere of pink and yellow against a pale linen suit, coconuts engraved with Ash & Jem waiting for guests in the heat, the quiet details laid out on the grass before the day begins.

A first look by the sea

With the East Sea shining beyond the resort's balustrade and the palms swaying overhead, Ash and Jemma met for the first time that day. There is nothing staged about these frames, just two people, the ocean, and the soft grain of film holding the moment still.

An aisle through the palms

At Victoria Hoi An, the walk to the ceremony winds through a garden of tall palms toward the water. On film, that green and gold light is something you can almost feel on your skin.

Vows beneath a wall of flowers

Ash and Jemma exchanged their vows outdoors, in front of a bold arch of red and orange blooms with the sea stretching out behind them. Family and friends who had travelled across the world sat close, a celebrant guided the words, and the coast of Hoi An held the whole scene in warm afternoon light.

The kiss, and the bouquet

Then the vows were done, the bouquet full of colour, and the two of them married at last, laughing in the sun with the sea at their backs.

Just married

Bridesmaids in chocolate silk, groomsmen in linen, everyone glowing. The kind of wedding party that feels more like a family reunion in paradise.

Golden walls, golden light

Victoria Hoi An's sunlit, colonial-yellow walls are made for film. A few quiet frames of Jemma alone, and the two of them together, in that impossibly warm light.

A party under the lights

As the sky darkened, a ceiling of fairy lights came on, the heart-shaped sunglasses came out, and the celebration ran late and joyful into the warm Hoi An night. Film flash, bubbles, dancing, this is the part no one wanted to end.

Victoria Hoi An Beach Resort: a destination wedding by the sea

Set on a private stretch of beach between Hoi An's Ancient Town and Da Nang, Victoria Hoi An Beach Resort & Spa is one of central Vietnam's most romantic places to marry: French-colonial architecture in warm yellow, gardens of palms, and a long beachfront that faces the sunrise. For overseas couples, it pairs a true resort wedding with easy access to Hoi An's lantern-lit old town. A few things we have learned photographing weddings on this coast: the dry season, roughly February to August, gives the calmest seas and clearest light, and an afternoon ceremony leaves you the golden hour for portraits and a warm evening for the party.

Film destination wedding in Hoi An: FAQ

Love this look? See more of our film wedding photography, explore what a destination wedding in Vietnam involves, or view our work as a Hoi An wedding photographer.

Location: Victoria Hoi An Beach Resort & Spa, Hoi An, Vietnam. With heartfelt thanks to Jacob Gordon Photography for inviting us to be part of Ash and Jemma's wedding. Film photography: TIMO Wedding.