Lucy & Oliver

HOLY SWOON this French Riviera wedding is just perfection. From the picturesque Chateau Saint Jeannet wedding venue to the romantic blush pink & white colour scheme, you'll be transported in to a world of pretty. Bride Lucy for one is a vision in her Temperley London gown. The frills, the appliqué detail and gorgeous swept back hair showing off the neckline will have you screaming bridal goals. As will her bridesmaids in their boudoir pink Ghost dresses. Don't you just love that name? Both Sebastien Boudot and Shoot Me Now Films tell the story of this gorgeous couple and their destination wedding beautifully, so sit back, relax and enjoy.

Venue

Lucy the Bride: Our wedding took place at the stunning venue Chateau Saint Jeannet on 24 June 2017. Finding our venue was tricky. It had to hold at least 120 people, be no longer than 30 minutes from Nice airport, have the wow factor as all of our guests had to travel from the UK and also reflect our style. Chateau Saint Jeannet was perfect and ticked all of our boxes. Only 20 minutes from Nice airport, could hold 300 people if we wanted to (if only the budget would allow!), and it certainly had the wow factor! The chateau owners don’t have many weddings there each year which was a bonus for us as it meant that they weren’t churning out weddings every day/weekend which made it so much special and exclusive to us!

Brides Gown & Veil

For me finding my gown was quite easy. I knew I wanted an iconic British designer, something light due to the hot weather, not too fussy and something that had a little ‘puddle’ behind me rather than a big train. I also wanted to feel sexy - I’m a young bride (27) and thought I need to feel my age! I chose a small veil so it didn’t hide too much of the back of the dress which had great detail and as the wedding was out side I wanted something easy to manage in case it was a windy day - I wanted as much less fuss as possible!

Shoes

I changed my shoes at the last minute. My dress kept catching on the pair of glitter Jimmy Choo’s and snagged the bottom of the dress. I only discovered this in my last fitting! It’s so important to have the right pair of shoes in all of the fittings and make sure you practice walking, not just a few steps but as if you are walking the length of an aisle! I tried everything to try and stop the catching by filing off some of the glitter, covering parts it in clear nail varnish but nothing helped - I didn't want to be paranoid about it on the day so I bought a new pair - no glitter, just a simple white leather pair which went it to the sale a week before the wedding. Any excuse to buy two pairs of shoes eh!

Make-up & Hair

My make up was done by Kelly McClain who is based in Nice and she was fantastic. She made me look so natural on the day but glam at the same time and the make-up held so well for the whole day. My hairdresser Anette Davidsson was recommended to me by Kelly as they work together all the time and make a great team!

Groom/Groomsmen

Oliver’s suit was from Richard James which we bought from a local menswear shop in St Albans., David Copperfield. The boys there were amazing and new the exact suit for Ollie when we said, “something light weight that won’t crease in transit and breathable” and hey presto they showed us the Hyde Travel Suit by Richard James. For the Groomsmen we found a very similar suit from M&S which matched Oliver’s to the tee.

Bridesmaids Dresses

Two of my bridesmaids wore the Pearl Dress in Boudoir Pink from Ghost. One of my sisters was pregnant for the wedding so we went for a silk chiffon maternity dress from Seraphine in blush which worked perfectly with the Ghost dresses. For my other bridesmaid Scarlett who is 11 years old, we went for a dress from Monsoon and for my flower girl, Anna who is 2, we got her dress from Marks and Spencer.

Jewellery

Our wedding bands and my engagement ring were done by our friend Raun Temprell who has his own jewellers, Temprell, in Nottingham. He is so passionate about the craftsmanship and the creation of bespoke jewellery that for us, he was the only person who we would go to. Oliver bought me some white gold and mother of pearl,earrings from Van Cleefs & Arpels to wear on our wedding day.

Florist/Decor/Styling

Six weeks before the wedding our original florist cancelled on us. As you can imagine I was beyond annoyed... I spent so long, taking trips to Saint Jeannet, Skyping, endless emails discussing what we wanted and came up with a beautiful plan - albeit in hindsight was probably very over the top. Thankfully Oliver, the level headed person he is, just told me to get a grip and stop complaining, “we’ll find someone better.” Which we did. The very next day we found Vanessa at D'amour et de Déco. Her style was exactly the same as mine so I trusted her implicitly. A simple brief and she did us so proud! In my bouquet I had pink and white peonies - I wanted it to look neat and tight - it was actually a lot larger than what I was expecting but I thought it looked great especially in all the photos! The bridesmaids were slightly more relaxed looking, with roses and peonies and a bit of eucalyptus. Scarlett and Anna (my younger bridesmaid and flower girl) had flower balls with roses which worked perfectly and looked fun! On the tables the pinks and white colour theme went so well with the grey linen and bronze vases. I didn’t want the tables to be too cluttered with flowers as I wanted lots of candles but also didn't want to take away from the most amazing view into Saint Jeannet from the dining terrace. I think it’s nice to get that balance when your surroundings are just so beautiful. We also had fans made by Fantastica with our logo printed on them which we handed out before the ceremony. I am so glad we did them as they made great dancing props!

Ceremony

For our ceremony we had two readings. Oliver’s mum did the ‘First Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians’ and our two friends read an edited version of Everyboy’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) by Baz Luhrmann which they tweaked to personalise to us which made it a bit light hearted.

Caterer & Cake Maker

Parfums et Saveurs did our catering who were unbelievable. We insisted on bigger and lots of canapés during the cocktail hour, as we did speeches before dinner and then went for a light meal for the wedding breakfast. As it was so hot we didn’t want to serve anything to heavy or stodgy. Starter - Crispy king prawns with fresh mint and petals of vegetable in citrus sauce Main Course - Roasted farm chicken with herbs from provence, flavoured with thyme and garlic, mashed purple potatoes with truffle oil and sing onions and seasonal vegetales Dessert - Platter of mini deserts In the evening we had a crêpe station next to our macaroon cake so people could help themselves to what ever they fancied.

Wedding Planner

We didn’t have a wedding planner as such as I’m such a control freak and because we were on a budget but we did have Marie Christine Lescure who acted as our wedding co-ordinator on the day. She received all the vendors and made sure everything ran to plan on the day. She was so helpful in the lead up to the wedding, checking in to make sure that I had sorted everything.

Stationery

All of our stationery from invites to menus, table plan, order of service etc were done by Lilac & White. We went for their stardust style which was just so simple, modern and elegant. They were so good to deal with and dealt with our requests so quickly.

Favours

In lieu of favours, we made a charitable donation on behalf of all of our guests to families that were affected by the Grenfell Tower fire.

Photographer

Our photographer Sebastien Boudot was absolutely amazing! I was really struggling to find a photographer who fit our style but Sebastien captured our day so perfectly and I was speechless when the photos came through. It was important for us to not have too many staged photos, we wanted him to capture the atmosphere of the day which was done so flawlessly. I actually found him on Pinterest and although he’s an international wedding photographer is based in the South of France.

Videographer

He had me at “I don't make wedding films, I tell the story of people and places” Daniel Armitage of Shoot Me Now Films was absolutely the right fit for us - I wanted a cinematic, modern, classic film which complimented Sebastien’s style and Daniel was absolutely the best person we could have chosen. I introduced Daniel to Sebastien once I booked him and they actually had a lot of mutual friends and worked so well together on the day. I hope they continue to work together because they were such a delight to be with on the day. Daniel is based in Darlington in the North East of England but travels all over.

Entertainment

For the cocktail hour and during the dinner we had The Phly Boyz who apart from Oliver and I (obviously!) I think made our wedding. They really set the vibe and had everyone dancing on their chairs, throughout and after dinner. The top table became a stage and it was impossible for anyone to stand still during their set. They perform as a quartet and can roam around the room and plonk themselves anywhere, on chairs, on tables, where ever there’s a spare surface to stand on. They performed all the classics and current tunes... I honestly can not think of a better band! In the later part of the evening we had a DJ, Jonathan from Ephemere Evenement who was amazing, he made sure that he had a list of ‘must haves’ and ‘definite noways’ beforehand to make sure we were happy with all of the music being played - he managed the rest!

Transport

We arranged coaches for our guests to and from the venue and we used Hervouet Group who were based in Nice.