8

Jul

2022

Luci and Xavier’s Sage Green and Pampas Château Wedding in France by Jérémy Boyer

Happy Friday everyone, I hope you are all well and happy and ready for the weekend ahead of us. We have yet another busy weekend ahead. Dexter is at a school sleepover this evening, 60 children sleeping in the school hall….what could possibly go wrong!!!! Tomorrow is another busy day and then Sunday we are off to Nottingham to go to the theatre and to take Dexter for his first DJ lesson! Very exciting! How about you? Are you off to any weddings at all? Maybe you are getting married? One couple who did get married are Luci and Xavier, who tied the knot in May this year in a stunning Château in France. They wanted a relaxed day but full of laid back elegance. They filled their decor with plenty of pampas and sage green, white flowers. The whole day looks amazing; the decoration, venue, outdoor dinning: all exquisite! Big thank you to Jérémy Boyer for the amazing images.

We threw tradition out the window in many ways, but also embraced the bits that suited us. It was guest eccentric, we wanted everyone to have the best time and show them how much we appreciated their efforts to be there, creating the perfect relaxed, informal and fun wedding that we’d dreamed of.

Luci and Xavier were married on Date of wedding: 1st May 2022 at Château de Brives, France.  ‘We knew we wanted to get married in France, but to secure a date for 2022 we had to decide quickly – it was peak Covid (late 2020) and so many weddings were being postponed. At the time we weren’t allowed to travel and within France travel was restricted regionally, so we decided to pick a venue close to Xavier’s parents so they were able to view it on our behalf. It was an easy decision, we all fell in love with Sarah and George (the owners) just has much as Château de Brives. We didn’t view the venue ourselves until 9 months before the wedding. We had 100 guests and it took 18 months to plan.

How they met
I (Luci) was a client of one of Xavier’s close friends, Jordan. A few months after working together, Jordan asked if he could set us up, telling Xavier it was not to be a ‘pump and dump’ situation. We got married 3.5 years later.

The proposal
We’re a very sociable couple, but Xav is never the one to make a plan. So, to surprise me, he proposed to me on a random Monday evening. After I finished working from home, he led me into the living room with my eyes closed, where he’d put flowers, candles and had our favourite song playing. After he proposed and we’d called our families, I changed (out of my gym gear!) as he’d booked our favourite restaurant, which was also were we’d had our first date.

How did you allocate your budget?
The three things that you remember the most from every wedding, food, drink and the band were our priorities, as we wanted to show everyone a good time.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
Catering, they were expensive but so worth it! The food was French heaven, and during the reception they put on two ‘culinary shows’, one of which included the chef flambéing prawns in Cognac for the guests to enjoy. We saved on the details and stationery because I am a graphic designer, so I was able to do it all myself.

How did you choose your photographer
Our amazing planner Josh made a couple of suggestions, and we chose Jérémy Boyer for his candid and natural style.

The dress
Dress: Suzanne Neville. Shoes: Loeffler Randall. Veil: Made with Love.

The suit and bridesmaids
Suit: Custom made by Suited & Booted Dubai. Dresses: Pretty Lavish Bridal.

Theme or colour scheme
Sage green, white and lots of pampas!

Flowers
Orchids, Pampas, white flowers and roses, eucalyptus.

Decoration 
For the ceremony, pampas lined the aisles, with fabric draping from the tree and jam jars with flowers hanging down. On the table we had minimal arrangements in different sized glass vases and candles to vary the height along the long tables. We had lots of details throughout the day such as tambourine wedding favours and orange peels with our wedding logo in the cocktails!

Food
Starter: Seared scallops. Venere rice, red fruits reduction
Mains: The butcher beef, pepper cognac flamed sauce, over roasted potatoes, seasonal vegetables
Dessert :Bite sized Lemon & Ginger tartelette / Vanilla & mango pannacotta / Caneles de Bordeaux

Wedding cake
We had an ice cream bike instead

Entertainment
We had a band throughout the day, a two piece sang for our ceremony, a three piece for the reception, then a full band and DJ for the evening.

Who supplied the stationery?
Designed by myself and printed by Century Studios in UK.

Personal touches
All of the stationery and details. I stamped orange peels with our wedding logo. We wrote the names of all our guests on tambourines for place names and favours. We also put a Polaroid style image under every menu of each guest with both or one of us in the image.

Special moments 
The sun shone for us all weekend, meaning we could utilise the grounds of the venue as planned. Seeing my vision come together and everyone we love enjoying themselves in one place was just priceless.

Advice for other couples?
Take a step back just the two of you to absorb it all, we did this but I wish we’d done it more, the day flies by at double speed! Make sure the wedding party know what they are doing, I gave everyone a weekend plan to avoid being asked questions all weekend. Get yourself a good planner, Josh Tully Management was worth EVERY SINGLE PENNY.

Biggest surprise
Our amazing celebrant, Lisa Lister, created a personal ceremony for us, she took the time to get to know us in the lead up to our wedding via questionnaires and Zoom calls. We’d discussed the structure of the ceremony but what she said on the day was a complete surprise. It was so personal, funny and unique.

 

 

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