Inspiration

When Jonny and Morgane at M&J Photography send us weddings, they never fail to make us weak at the knees. Their soft, romantic and natural style seems to lend itself perfectly to destination celebrations and so this gorgeous French Chateau wedding is a real feast for the eyes. Even more so because Camilla the bride styled everything so beautifully and Lou of Marry Me In France planned everything to perfection too. Camilla wears Needle & Thread, their embellished dresses are just so striking. Camilla's gown is the perfect blend of slightly bohemian, vintage-esque sparkles and it suits her to a tee. Enjoy this elegant, stylish wedding day, and look out for the gorgeous florals...

The Photography

Camilla the Bride: I think we booked M&J Photography the day after we got engaged; even before we had a wedding venue! I’d seen their work before (i.e. stalked their Instagram) and it was just so beautiful and was exactly what we were looking for. We didn’t want to spend ages posing for formal photos and M&J totally got the balance between capturing all the right moments whilst being completely unobtrusive.

The Venue

We settled on France as Philipp is Austrian, I’m English and we met in Italy, so we thought it would be a good halfway-house, and with great weather! Neither of us speak French well so we enlisted the help of Lou Ham from Marry Me in France to help turn our dream into a reality. After researching tons of venues, Lou suggested the Romantic Chateau in Lot and we instantly fell in love with the lovely, bright chapel (which gave the ceremony some gravity without being overbearing or filled with iconography), the pretty courtyard and cool barn.

The Bride

As a lawyer-turned-wedding planner I am a pretty decisive and organised person so most decisions were easy, but the biggest challenge was finding a wedding dress. I generally dislike clothes shopping and I discovered I was pregnant just after we got engaged so was under pressure to find the perfect dress before I had a huge bump. It was also really important to me that the dress was comfortable; I didn’t want to feel weighed down or restricted and it needed to reflect the relaxed and fun nature of how we wanted our day to be. Then, when I was about 7 months’ pregnant, Needle and Thread launched their bridal range and I fell in love with one of their dresses, ordered it online and it was perfect. It was just the right combination of relaxed bohemian and antique, which was fitting as my wedding jewellery by Sophie Breitmeyer features antique diamonds. My shoes were completely glittery Jimmy Choos and, amazingly, were one of the comfiest pairs of heels I’ve ever owned and allowed me to dance until 3am! I can’t wait to wear them again!

The Décor

I am not a huge fan of bright colours and tend to favour neutrals over pastels so decided on simple white bridesmaid dresses. Our wedding colour scheme was fresh but classic – bright white, grey, silver, green and (because it was peak lavender season in France), lavender. These colours were carried through from our stationery, to the ushers’ ties, to my bridal ribbons, to the cake.

The Flowers

Thanks to my great friend Emily Wisher Artisan Florist, I had lots of good advice about which flowers to choose and how to display them. Jenny Moss created a classic white and green bouquet for me, which was tied with hand-dyed silk ribbon adorned with silver leaf. For my bridesmaids I thought I would mix it up a bit; rather than having mix-matched bridesmaids’ dresses, the bridesmaids all carried different bouquets featuring a single type of flower or foliage. I love the trend for floral arches and Jenny made a stunning floral arch above the entrance to the courtyard. For the tables we had simple, potted herbs and flowers which gave the barn a really beautiful scent. We even brought some French lavender and herbs back with us for the garden of our new home and now every time I see them or use them in cooking, it reminds me of our wedding day.

The Entertainment

Apart from M&J Photography, the other supplier we booked even before the venue was the band, Brightlights. We wanted to make the most of the weather by having our bar and dancing outside and they were hands-down the best band we’ve ever danced to!

The Food

If there’s one thing France is known for it’s the food (and wine!), so we were spoilt for choice when designing our menus. We had arrived last May, for a tasting at Dave and Robbert’s house and the end of a long and monumentally wet day of failed venue-visits. Their warm hospitality and fine food totally won us over and saved the trip! We decided on sharing platters of local flavours to start, followed by guinea fowl and a fresh lemon tart. The only downside to getting married in France was that we weren’t able to squeeze in a trip for cake tasting with Stephanie The Cake Lady (surely one of the best things about planning a wedding?!). Luckily there was enough left for us to take a whole tier on our honeymoon in Provence (although it didn’t last long!).

The Wedding Planner

Being a wedding planner, I didn’t need convincing that we needed one ourselves. In addition to helping us to find our venue and recommending many of our suppliers, Lou from Marry Me in France made sure we didn’t lift a finger on our entire wedding weekend. She made the whole process an absolute dream and I would recommend her to anyone getting married in France!
Fern Godfrey

Written by Fern Godfrey

Venue: The Romantic Chateau | Wedding Planner: Marry Me In France | Bride: Needle & Thread | Jewellery: Sophie Breitmeyer | Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Entertainment: Brightlights | Cake: The Cake Lady | Headpiece: Colette Malouf | Styling: Camilla Maryse | Bridesmaids: Reiss | Ribbon: Lancaster & Cornish | Groom & Groomsmen: Ted Baker | Stationery: Emmy Designs

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