Stephanie & Jeff | Six Senses Con Dao Island

Six Senses Con Dao Elopement Wedding Vietnam

Stephanie and Jeffrey invited me to Con Dao to photograph their Vietnam wedding elopement at the stunning Six Senses. It was the first-ever wedding to be held at Six Senses Con Dao!

A few weeks earlier, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had taken their family holiday at Six Senses Con Dao, so we knew we were in good company with their choice of wedding venue. The design was created by acclaimed architect AW2 in collaboration with the renowned owner/developer Indochina Land and has just received the prestigious Best Hotel and Tourism Resorts Design Award at the 2012 MIPIM Awards in Cannes.

After an intimate ceremony at their Six Senses Residence, we ventured down into Con Dao village for some pictures in the old prisons and surrounding countryside before returning to the resort for sunset on the beach.

Features & Award Winner

Fearless Photographers Award Winner + featured in Asia Weddings & Honeymoons Magazine & Photobug & TWN Magazine

Con Dao Vietnam

Con Dao Islands, also known as Con Dao National park, is an archipelago of 16 mostly uninhabited islets. Off the southern coast of Vietnam, each of which offers expansive beaches shaded with evergreen trees. Great for savvy travelers looking to escape bustling city life, the main island also boasts miles of coastal roads.

Con Dao served as a prison island for political prisoners during the French colonial era when it was known as Poulo Condore. In later years the Saigon regime imprisoned opponents of the regime in the infamous cells known as the “tiger cages”. The old prison buildings are still standing and are open to the public as is a small museum tracing the island’s history.

The prison system is not unlike the prisons in Phu Quoc except that Viet Cong was held here during the American war. The prisons in Phu Quoc were for the regular North Vietnamese Army. Being traitors to their own country (The Republic of South Vietnam) the conditions in Con Dao was especially harsh. Surprisingly jailers and former inmates live here in peace.