Once their wedding venue in France was booked, the couple spoke to a local registry office back in the UK in order to arrange their official ceremony which took place privately in the early spring. Knowing that the ‘official’ part of their wedding and requirements for their wedding in France was complete, the couple could then focus on preparing everything that they would need in order to enjoy their wedding weekend at Chateau du Bijou.
The couple and their families headed down to the South of France a couple of days before the wedding – so that they could set up and make sure that everything was ready and in place for what was going to be a weekend to remember – for everyone. Emma and David both got ready for their wedding in different parts of Chateau du Bijou; with plenty of bedrooms and space to get ready, they were able to relax and fully soak up the French atmosphere. Guests arrived and were greeted by rustic welcome signs, lanterns on logs and beautiful personal touches that Emma and David had thought about in order to make their guests feel happy and excited at their destination wedding venue. The couple had originally booked their wedding photographer, Frances Sales, thinking that they were going to get married in the UK, but when they realised they wanted to get married in France, Frances agreed to travel down and capture their celebrations at the rustic French Chateau.
The couple had planned to have an outdoor wedding ceremony, but due to the weather, the ceremony needed to be brought inside at the very last minute. Emma and David still got to say their vows under the rustic floral arch that they’d ordered, albeit, 45 minutes after their ceremony was due to start. Emma eventually walked down the aisle on the arm of her father, behind her lovely bridesmaids, to ‘I Wasn’t Expecting That’ by Jamie Lawson and her mother read an extract from Captain Correli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres.
Laura, one of Emma’s bridesmaids read the following poem, by an unknown author:
Marriage
by Anon
Marriage is about giving and taking
And forging and forsaking
Kissing and loving and pushing and shoving
Caring and Sharing and screaming and swearing
About being together whatever the weather
About being driven to the end of your tether
About Sweetness and kindness
And wisdom and blindness
It’s about being strong when you’re feeling quite weak
It’s about saying nothing when you’re dying to speak
It’s about being wrong when you know you are right
It’s about giving in, before there’s a fight
It’s about you two living as cheaply as one
(you can give us a call if you know how that’s done!)
Never heeding advice that was always well meant
Never counting the cost until it’s all spent
And for you two today it’s about to begin
And for all that the two of you had to put in
Some days filled with joy, and some days with sadness
Too late you’ll discover that marriage is madness
The couple said their vows in front of 75 wedding guests at Chateau du Bijou and celebrated their first kiss as husband and wife before heading outside in to the sunshine to celebrate their marriage with Prosecco and canapés. The newlyweds had decorated the glorious grounds of the garden at the Chateau with rustic wedding accessories such as a post box, lanterns, floral decor and a hanging Polaroid style photo booth which was enjoyed by Emma and her besties. There was also a ‘Pimp Your Prosecco’ stand and an amazing heart-drop guest book for guests get involved with, made by Emma’s father.
After a short while, guests were invited back inside the cool Chateau to enjoy a main course choice of either guinea fowl or lamb shank, followed by a summer berry and meringue dessert. David’s mother had made a selection of single tier, fruit, lemon drizzle and angel cake wedding cakes which were displayed on various cake stands and decorated with raffia, bunting, fresh flowers and iced figurines to look like Emma, David and their dog Sammy.
Guests were able to find their seat by looking at a truly original wedding table plan; a wooden board painted white, featuring frames, bunting, hearts and flowers. Their table names were all ‘ages’ of when Emma and David were little and featured corresponding images of the newlyweds as children. The couple had pre-asked their guests to send them a funny selfie before their wedding so that they could print Polaroid style place cards for each guest. Each table was also given a selfie stick and funny-mouth coasters with French translation to hold up so that they could create images for the bride and groom to hold in a very memorable photo album in the future.
Instead of wedding favours, the couple made two donations; one to the Dogs Trust, where they found their beloved dog Sammy, and the other to Friends of the Elderly. Each guest was given a keyring to represent the donation that Emma and David had made.
After dinner, Kanye West Sunglasses were distributed to guests as the evening party began – which ended up going on until 3am. The nelwyweds danced their first dance to ‘Thinking Out Loud’ by Ed Sheeran and they couldn’t have had a better experience at their dream wedding venue in France.
