destination weddings in france Archives - Fête in France

Château wedding Southwest France | Château de Malliac

The beautiful countryside of the Southwest of France was the setting for Emmie & Jon’s French château wedding. The globe-trotting couple has lived in Beijing, Montreal and San Fransisco, but their true love is for France. The first time they visited our beautiful country together, there was an immediate connection. They kept coming back, and each time it felt more magical. It felt natural for them to host their wedding in the country they loved so much.The relaxed yet elegant château wedding venue they chose is located in a region known for it’s food and wine. The rambling property is surrounded by vineyards which produce wine as well as the region’s famous Armagnac. The château also has the feel of a family home with plenty of accommodations on site, so friends and family were able to stay together and enjoy the grounds for the four days of festivities.The château and grounds have several spaces perfect for a wedding weekend of festivities, which allowed us to create a different ambiance for each event: beautiful ivy-covered courtyards, a rehabilitated barn with two big high-ceilinged rooms, a swimming pool, and a massive garden.The bride was stunning in an elegant strapless Vera Wang gown and loose chignon updo, and the groom dapper in a black tuxedo and velvet slippers. After the “I dos” the bride added chic accessories for her reception look, donning puffy tulle sleeves, golden dangly earrings and letting her hair down.

The floral decor was inspired by fall colors with warm tones mixed with greenery. The bouquets, arch and flower arrangements all had a lot of texture, with an elegant combination of fresh and dried flowers.For the cocktail, we invited guests to another part of the garden, where they could spread out between the trees and relax on lounge furniture set up on the grass. A live band played folk and pop music to add to the perfect late summer ambiance as the sun set on the vines behind the domain.

The dinner took place in the main courtyard, under garlands of lights which created a warm and intimate ambiance. The couple enjoyed their meal surrounded by friends and family and their moving speeches. After champagne flowed for dessert, the bride and groom surprised their guests with fireworks, before leading them to dance late into the night.

Contact us to see how we can help plan your own French countryside château wedding!

As seen on Magnolia Rouge.

Planning & design: @feteinfrance
Venue: @chateaudemalliac
Flowers: @fleurs-de-mars
Photographer: @marionhweddings
Videographer: @moonandbackco
Hair stylist: @ciaracoiffure
Makeup artist: @sannimakeupartist
Caterer: @lacostetraiteur
Tableware and rentals: @maison_options
Band: @chelseychantelle

Wedding

Pink and Blue Elegant Château Wedding near Paris

This pink and blue elegant château wedding near Paris took place inside the grounds of the Domaine de Chantilly. Located just an hour away from Paris and dating back to the 14th century, the château and grounds feature beautiful French gardens, breathtaking backdrops for couple photos and a large selection of spaces for both the rehearsal dinner and their wedding day.

A romantic wedding venue near Paris

The rehearsal dinner took place in the former grand kitchen of the château, now transformed into a restaurant with vaulted ceilings and copper pots on the walls. For the ceremony and reception, the couple chose the Maison de Sylvie, an intimate reception venue hidden in the park of the Château.

A very French wedding, with a modern touch

The sunset ceremony took place in front of the arch opening to the garden which was gracefully decorated with roses of various pink shades. The wedding design revolved around a beautiful palette of pinks with touches of pale blue and blue & white chinoiserie style vases. Keeping with the decor theme, the bridesmaids wore light blue dresses and the groom wore a chic navy tuxedo. The bouquets were made with soft pink flowers, with added touches of purple orchids for the bridal bouquet.

The cocktail centered around café tables and high tables covered with light pink linens. The couple’s entrepreneurial project, Little Fancy, was of course a part of the drinks on offer. Guests were entertained by a jazz band and an illustrator painting their fashionable outfits.

The dinner took place in the main ballroom of the venue, with the head table in the middle below the grand chandelier. The table decor carried on the wedding design with blue linen tablecloths set with blue and white plates and low centerpieces with roses in shades of pink and a few orchids for a modern touch. The tables numbers and printed menus, printed in pink on pale pink cardstock, carried through the crest the couple had used on their invitations. Even the wedding cake perfectly matched the palette: pink on the inside but a white, blue and gold design on the outside inspired by the plates.

The evening continued with first dances and then the band got everyone on the dancefloor. The bride changed into a light pink tea-length dress and danced the night away with her groom, their friends and family.

Contact us to see how we can help plan your elegant French château wedding!

As seen on Carats & Cake

Planning & design: @feteinfrance
Flowers: @madameartisanfleuriste
Photographer: @eliaskordelakos
Videographer: Micka Films
Hair stylist: @ciaracoiffure
Makeup artist: @sannimakeupartist
Wedding cake: @synies
Tableware and rentals: @maison_options
Day-of paper : @studiofrenchblue
Entertainement: Swing It
Illustrator: @yohannpropin
Live Band: @fourkicksband

Inspiration

Clouds and Romance Inspiration Shoot at Château de Vaux le Vicomte

Vaux-le-Vicomte is a XVIIth century château built by the architect of Louis the XIV, Louis Le Vau, with traditional French gardens designed by André Le Nôtre and interiors by Charles Le Brun. It was built for Louis XIV’s finance minister, Nicolas Fouquet and served as a model for the Château de Versailles. The main ballroom, as wide as it is high (18m or 60 feet high), is a unique oval shape, with a black and white tiled floor and a painting on the ceiling that depicts a beautiful blue sky with white clouds.

With all these elements together in a room, our inspiration was quickly found. Madame Artisan Fleuriste worked with a base of astilbes to create a textured romantic cloud, into which she incorporated roses in varying shades of pink. The floral arrangement was set atop modern see-through gold stands, as if it were floating above the table.

We layered different fabrics, mixing the colors and the texture of the linens to recreate the complexity of the sky painted above. Texture and color continued in the tableware selection, with scallopped charger plates and smoky blue cutlery for contrast. Gold accents kept the design elevated and château-worthy, and dashes of dark burgundy in the florals added a special dramatic touch. We brought in black and white medallion chairs and tall black taper candles to tie in the gorgeous flooring.

We used the same accent colors for the invitation suite: Crimson Letters pulled in a black envelope to contrast with her beautiful handtorn white paper inside. She drew gold leaf motifs and added strokes of light pink watercolor in the same shade as our roses.

Type A Society brought their A-game for the bridal styling. The most fashion-forward of the looks was a Said Kobeissy gown. The dress was the perfect mix of modern fashion and romance: the intricate design of flowers and sparkle fit so well with the ballgown skirt on top. The second look, by Chana Marelus, was beautiful and ethereal; our model bride looked like she could fly away with the light breeze coming through the château’s French windows. The third look, also by Chana Marelus, was a sparkly gown that reflected the light beautifully with a train worthy of a princess.

The talented Harold James ensured that our models were looking fresh and cool, despite the record-breaking heat wave.

Vendors :

Wedding

How to plan a wedding in France

You’re engaged! Amid the whirlwind of all of the wedding possibilities, the idea of a wedding in France pops up: an elegant Paris wedding, or a romantic château wedding, or a relaxed countryside wedding… Then you wonder if you can really make this dream work. And you take to the internet to start looking into how to plan a wedding in France.

The search often begins with French wedding venues – the where of it seems like a good place to start. When you’re doing a first dive into venue search, it’s easy to get swept away by visuals or submerged by the daunting task of sifting through different websites, but it’s hard to know the what to really look for .

And what if the best way to the where and an understanding of the what started with the who?

After an exasperating or frustrating start to their venue search our couples often are so excited to find us. And learn that we’re native (American!) English speakers. And that we’ve been wedding planning for a while now (more than 5 years… more than 10 years…) creating close to 350 weddings of every shape and size, including some very beautiful and logistically complex celebrations. This depth and breadth of experience helps us navigate you through the planning process with ease, and allows us to keep things cool, calm and on track.

We’d love to hear from you and help you figure out the what and the where of your wedding!

Wedding

Wedding weekend in Burgundy: Texas BBQ Rehearsal Dinner

We’re delighted to have this wedding featured on Carats and Cake and it was just the push we needed to write the next chapter of this exceptional 4-day wedding weekend. It was easy to find inspiration for the rehearsal dinner when the groom is originally from the Lone Star state and the bride is a champion horserider and manages a ranch outside of Fort Worth. After Day One’s “White Nights” theme Welcome Party, we headed deep in the heart of Texas for a rehearsal dinner bbq on Day Two.

We knew we needed to build all of the reception spaces, and that there would be a main tent for the wedding and brunch, and another tent for the rehearsal dinner. We wanted to make sure the feel of the rehearsal dinner was different but still coherent with the rest of the structures that would be on the property. Tipi tents were a perfect solution for both the rehearsal dinner and tent village we built to host some of the wedding guests.

The tipi structure hit just the right note of rustic and the design we selected with Madame Artisan Fleuriste made it festive, pretty and inviting. Details like horseshoe escort cards (collected from the bride’s ranch, naturally), state of Texas shaped cookies and a University of Texas groom’s cake. And what would a Texas-themed rehearsal dinner be without barbecue? The team from Melt totally delivered on the true Texas bbq experience, hanging out by their custom made smoker under a popup tent to keep dry. The native Texan and Paris-based smokemaster wowed the crowd, many of whom said it was the best bbq they had ever eaten!

Inspiration

Top 2019 Wedding Trends for your wedding in France

Color
Blush, nude, and ivory will always have their place in wedding decor, but the 2019 wedding trend we’re most excited about is color! Inspired by runway set design as well as interior design, we’re seeing boldly-colored flowers work their way into wedding floral design and rich jewel tones into tableware and rentals.

Blue and white
A welcome change from the classic white or gold-rimmed tableware, the blue and white motifs we’re seeing are both a modern and romantic twist for your wedding tablescape.

Pampa Grass

Pampa grass and dried flowers are changing up the traditional textures we’ve seen in wedding floral design. These materials can quickly veer into a bohemian vibe, so if you’re planning a more sophisticated wedding, be sure to incorporate some rich and glamorous blooms such as roses and orchids.

Wedding

Wedding weekend in Burgundy: White Nights party

The elegant wedding weekend in Burgundy started with a welcome party two days before the big day. The theme was “White Nights”, the famous (at least to the father of the bride) 80’s movie featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines. Guests were instructed to wear white, and the color palette for the decor was inspired by the colors of the summer night sky in Saint Petersburg.

As you probably know by now, the weather did not at all cooperate. The party, which was supposed to take place around the château’s beautiful pool, was moved inside the main tent. Despite the change of location, guests had a fantastic time and most importantly were warm and dry, with plenty of delicious food and drink.

Wedding

Summertime garden wedding in Normandy

2018 gave us incredible summer weather – even in places that have a bit of a reputation for being rainy. So it was with great delight that for L&A’s Normandy summertime wedding we had an abosolutely perfect day.

Preparations took place at the chic seaside Grand Hotel in Cabourg and then guests were brought inland to a beautiful private garden tended by the indomitable Madame & Monsieur Noppe. Their gardens, a labor of love over the past +25 years, was the site of the ceremony. During the planning, we had spent hours one day searching out the perfect spot based on the amount of space needed, the position of the sun and the amount of shade!

Guests enjoyed another part of the gardens during the cocktail hour and were then led to the rustic-chic reception space, where beautiful tables set with Lily Paloma’s gorgeous centerpieces brought the garden feel inside. A gourmet meal was served including the Norman traditions of a trou normand (palette cleanser) of apple sorbet and apple brandy, and of course a delicious selection of cheeses. Given the couple’s backgrounds, American (on the bride’s side) and French (on the groom’s side), they had not one, but two wedding cakes: a tiered wedding cake, with sugarpaste decoration inspired by the floral motif on the bride’s dress; and a traditional French croquembouche, or tower of cream-puffs held together with caramelized sugar and always presented with sparklers and great fanfare!

The couple deeply wanted to encourage conversation between the two sides of the family, so to overcome the language barrier there were two interpreters present at the wedding to translate the speeches in real time and help facilitate conversation with the guests. The couple also had the wish to have dancing take place outside. Any open-air plan is sure to make a wedding planner nervous – even moreso in a region that’s known for being green and lush (=rainy!) Fortunately it was clear, sunny and warm in the days leading up and on the day, allowing the dancefloor and band to be set up under the stars.

The wedding day was just one of three days of celebrations organized for the couple and their guests. To kick things off, a welcome dinner was planned at a Michelin-starred restaurant in the charming town of Beuvron. And to cap off the festivities a next-day brunch took place in the elegant ballroom of the Grand Hotel. All in all a perfect wedding weekend for this lovely Franco-American couple!

Wedding

Elegant wedding weekend in Burgundy

We’re always curious as to how our couples find us – sometimes it’s through a simple google search, or via a wedding blog feature – more and more it’s through Instagram. But we’re always the most excited when they come to us on recommendation from venues or vendors we’ve worked with, or from former clients. And so it was that Constance and Nick contacted us for their chateau wedding in Burgundy.

We’re starting off with a post about the wedding day, which was on the third of a spectacular four-day wedding weekend. By this time, guests had gotten to know each other and were used to the less-than-ideal meteorological conditions. As with the previous days, back-up plans had to be called on (yes, the gorgeous ceremony setting was a plan B!) But as with the previous days, the sunny disposition of the bride & groom and the warmth of their families and friends more than made up for a bit of rain.

For more of the story, check out our feature on Style Me Pretty and stay tuned for future blog posts!

Wedding

Fairytale château wedding

Christina and Sam knew they wanted a French fairytale château wedding and part of the adventure was finding the place that was not too big, not too small, but just right for their celebration.

After a scouting trip where we visited several lovely wedding venues in the French countryside, the couple selected a beautiful Loire Valley castle for their wedding in France. Since the Loire Valley is an easy trip from Paris, the couple decided to organize a welcome event in Paris at the historic Au Pied de Cochon brasserie on the Thursday before the wedding, allowing guests to enjoy a day of sightseeing in Paris the next day. Bright and early on the wedding day the intimate group of guests met at the Paris Montparnasse train station for a quick 1-hour TGV ride to the Loire Valley. The wedding party had checked in to the château the previous night, and the bride and bridesmaids preparations were already underway when the excited guests arrived.

The skies were grey and there were definitely a few raindrops that fell during the day, but fortunately the weather held and the ceremony took place outside with the impressive castle facade as the backdrop. The couple even had a few lovely rays of sunshine as they took photos around the grounds after exchanging their vows.

The reception took place in the château’s grand hall with its elegant vaulted ceilings. The color palette featured pastels in pink, blue and lavender, which touches of silver and black to keep it sophisticated. A menu featuring French delicacies – foie gras, locally sourced poultry, a French-style croquembouche wedding cake – and lots of local Touraine wine.

Featured on Style Me Pretty