Thomas and Hannah's Romantic Château Wedding in France by Danielle Veitch

Yesterday I jetted you off to Costa Rica, well today I am taking you on a romantic trip to the Dordogne in France for the gorgeous wedding of Hannah and Thomas. With Hannah growing up in France and Tom being half French it seemed only right that they got married there. They got lots of help from their friends and family, making the most of the fact that a lot of them could speak French, which really helped with the planning. They made the day as fun and laid back as possible while keeping the grandeur of the Château, celebrating all things they love about France, mainly the amazing food and drink. This is a wonderful wedding, heart felt and full of love and laughter, all captured by Danielle Veitch

Our wedding day was relaxed and laid back, surrounded by our loved ones. Everyone was very happy, and it was a joyful celebration filled with love and laughter.

Hannah and Thomas were married on 24^th August 2024 at Château Lagut situated in the Dordogne region in France. ‘We decided to get married in France because it holds a special place in our hearts. Hannah grew up in France, and Tom is half French, so about a third of our guests were French. We absolutely love France, especially the beautiful Châteaux in the Dordogne region. The stunning scenery, wonderful weather, and delicious food made it an ideal location for us. We hired out a Château for four days, which gave us the flexibility to choose our own suppliers and personalise our wedding to our taste. We had 130 guests. We had quite a long engagement which meant I had time to plan the wedding. We booked the venue two years before the wedding, so I planned the wedding over about 1 year.’

How they met
We met about ten years ago, we both played basketball at the University of Sheffield.

The proposal
We were due to go travelling for a year in 2022 and we organised a leaving party with our close family and friends. Tom proposed just before the leaving party started in my parents’ garden at sunset. It was perfect as we were able to celebrate our engagement with all our loved ones (and it also meant that Tom didn’t need to carry the ring around South and Central America!)

How did you allocate your budget?
We had to identify the most important aspects of our wedding and allocated a larger portion of our budget to these key areas. Our priority was for our guests to have great time, so we focused on food, drink and music.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
We splurged on food and alcohol which is only normal when getting married in France! Our family all got involved with the planning – our mums and Hannah’s sister are all fluent in French and were brilliant with the planning and so we didn’t need a wedding planner which saved on cost. The ceremony was family-led with Hannah’s uncle being the officiant, her aunt playing the piano and our bridesmaid singing. Hannah’s cousin is also a wedding makeup artist and did her hair and makeup.

How did you choose your photographer?
We were so lucky when it came to our photographer. After we got engaged and whilst we were on our travels, Hannah entered a competition to win our wedding photography. On Christmas day, while in Australia, we got a message from Danielle Veitch, who is the most incredible wedding photographer, to say that we’d won her wedding photography competition. It was the best Christmas present!

The dress
My dress was by Madi Lane, a very talented Australian bridal designer. My accessories were quite special – my veil was my grandma’s wedding veil which has been worn by all the women in my family. My necklace was also an antique piece gifted to me by my grandma. My shoes were Asos (after having tried many different shoes which weren’t as comfortable!)

The suit and bridesmaids
Tom’s tuxedo was Ted Baker. The bridesmaids were all given a colour palette so they could choose their own outfits to suit them.

Theme or colour scheme
My colour scheme was sunset colours – mainly shades of pink and red.

Flowers
I had dried flowers. I ordered the bouquets from a cute flower boutique in Sheffield. All other flowers used for decoration and confetti were dried by my mum, some friends and me.

Decoration
I had a lot of dried flowers, some pampas and lots of fairy lights. We also used a local decoration hire for napkins, tablecloths and various bits of decoration. We were also lucky to have a very talented family friend decorate the ceremony pergola with a beautiful homemade flower arrangement.

Food
We ate a lot! We had themed stalls where food was being made in front of our guests, such as trout gravlax and foie gras blinis. Our starter was Japanese-inspired beef tataki with tzatziki as a side. Our main was a speciality of the Dordogne region – duck breast and dauphinoise potatoes. We had a selection of mini desserts and local cheeses. A ‘café gourmand’ which included mini cheesecakes, raspberry shortcakes and mille feuilles. One of our family members brought 20kg wheel of parmesan cheese which guests enjoyed with Sicilian crackers (during the wedding and months later too!)
Our caterers prided themselves on ethical and locally sourced catering. They sourced their products from nearby farms and suppliers, supporting local businesses, and minimising the impact on the environment.

Wedding cake
We had a three-tiered wedding cake, beautifully decorated with fresh and dried flowers. The top tier was a chocolate cake with praline, white chocolate and raspberry filling. The second tier was a vanilla cake with white chocolate and pistachio. The bottom tier was a chocolate cake with raspberry and dark chocolate filling.

Entertainment
We hired a DJ who arrived at the venue in time for the ceremony, he prepared music for our cocktail hour and our meal, then got everyone dancing and stayed with us until 5am. To keep the energy going, he even brought his own espresso machine and fuelled himself on coffee throughout the night!

Who supplied the stationery?
One of my bridesmaids, who is a talented graphic designer, created most of our wedding stationery. She designed our beautiful invitations, featuring a stunning drawing of our venue.

Where did you go on your honeymoon?
We spent the most incredible three weeks travelling around Sri Lanka for our honeymoon. We fell in love with the country and Sri Lankan people (and food of course).

Personal touches
I made all macramé keyring favours by hand for all our guests. This took quite a while as you can imagine! I also dried flowers for the table decorations and ceremony decoration.

Special moments
Walking down the aisle with her father was an incredibly special moment for Hannah. Seeing all our guests for the first time, including those who travelled from Australia, New Zealand, and even Colombia to celebrate with us, was truly heart warming.
One memorable highlight for both of us was entering the dining area with all our family and friends waving their napkins and cheering us on. We got lost in the moment and did a few laps of the barn, dancing our way to our chairs. Another unforgettable highlight was listening to our close friend sing “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros during our ceremony.

Advice for other couples?
Don’t worry about the details, focus on your priorities and the rest will come together. Don’t be afraid to ask your family and friends to help you, they loved playing a part in planning our wedding and we couldn’t have done it without them.

Biggest surprise
While it may not have been a surprise in the traditional sense, we were truly overwhelmed by the outpouring of love from our friends and family. We couldn’t have been happier with how the day turned out, and that was all thanks to the incredible support from our guests and the fantastic work of all our suppliers.