Its Friday, it's nearly the weekend, and that can only mean I simply have to add to your already good mood with this truly very glamorous and completely and utterly GORGEOUS wedding on Love My Dress 🙂
Jessica and Christian tied the knot on 1 August this year at Chateau La Durantie in the Perigord Vert region of the Dordogne. I loved these photographs immediately, largely because they depict an elegant Bride who is perfect for Love My Dress and who has the most gorgeous smile in the world! 😉
Jessica's gown that was perfectly fit for her French Chateau wedding was from Fairytale Couture in Putney; "I wanted a princess style dress without any fussy lace or sequins on, the style I went for was simple in design with minimal beading and looked simple but elegant."
Special thanks to Wandsworth Wedding Photographer, serving the Home Counties, UK and Europe, Jay Rowden for submitting this beautiful wedding to Love My Dress; "Jay Rowden used to be a colleague of Christian's, and was the only option for us as not only is he a great person with the right attitude, but his photographs are truly world class. We feel privileged to have had him on the day."
Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2010, Jay Rowden
The quite stunning Chateau La Durantie venue was to serve as backdrop for the couple's desired 'rustic' and 'elegant' day…
The Groom wore a bespoke tonic blue suite and brilliant white shirt, with red lining and button hole details made by ‘Dress 2 Kill’ on the Cut, London SE1. His best man and head groomsman also got their suits from Dess 2 Kill
"I am tall at 5’10’’ so I had smaller kitten heels from faith in cream satin with a peep toe and a satin rose at the front. To be honest I didn’t want to spend a fortune on heels because I knew you wouldn’t even see them in that dress! I also got a pair of white satin ballet flats for dancing in but never actually used these. Both shoes were reduced to £30 in the faith sale!"
"The bridesmaids chose whatever they wanted – no colour theme and the groomsmen what suit they wanted. We asked the gents not to wear a neck tie. It worked out well , everyone looked colourful which is what I wanted, a multi coloured wedding!
Fortunately for me one of my bridesmaids is a professional make-up artist and did my hair and makeup for free using MAC and Benefit. I had beige, taupe and cream eye shadows with massive false eyelashes. For the ceremony I had a pale lip, for the photos I had a rose pink lip colour and for the evening
we went to bright red lips. Benefit high beam is amazing my skin was literally glowing!"
"My veil was a full length cathedral veil covered in swarvovski crystals, from Fairytale couture. I didn’t have any tiara I wanted the sparkling crystals on the veil to be the main thing and wanted the keep the look as clean as possible. I originally thought a shorter style veil would suit my large dress but the shorter ones ruined the silhouette and the long one really suited the design. The jewels were from Swarvovski."
I really love how the hydrangea and lavender have been paired together below…
"The bridesmaids, mums and I wandered around the chateau gardens the morning of the wedding with wicker baskets and gathered lavender and hydrangea flowers for the bouquets and button holes. We made them ourselves in the bridal suite using white ribbon to tie them all up. My lovely friends did the flowers in the marquee using wild flowers and ivy from the grounds to decorate the centre of the tables and the candle sticks. I wanted a rustic feel to the flowers and I wanted it to look beautifully natural and not too “proper”."
What a beautiful Bride! Clearly bursting with pride and excitement as she prepares to meet her Groom…
"We asked all the grooms men and bridesmaids to pick something they would wear again. Even though I had the big white dress etc we wanted it to feel casual. The bridesmaids chose whatever they wanted – no colour theme and the groomsmen what suit they wanted. We asked the gents not to wear a neck tie. It worked out well , everyone looked colourful which is what I wanted, a multi coloured wedding!
We just wanted to make sure the day felt as rustic as possible, in every way…"
"We got our rings from Blue Nile – the online jewellery store. We designed them ourselves and got a great price on them because they don't have shops and rent to pay. I can't actually recommend them enough because they give you gemstone certificates and educate you online in to how to pick your diamonds and rings. Amazing!"
"We hung lots of photographs of myself and Christian and various friends and family on some string using mini pegs on a hedge near the marquee…"
What a cute idea for an outdoor wedding!
A marquee with simple white linen compliments the simple, rustic feel of the day…
Don't these hydrangeas look beautiful in Jessica's hair towards the end of the day? They have a look of that lovely rustic quality that Jessica so desired on her day…
"We didn’t have a cake as we wanted to do things differently. We opted to send off 50 wish lanterns into the French sky at around 10pm instead. Everyone loved it."
Words of Wedded Wisdom…
"Barter down everything for price – NEVER pay full cost for anything. Don’t feel you have to stick to the usual form of matching colour themes and everyone in the same suits, it’s your wedding and it can be whatever you want it to be. Sometimes non matching stuff can look effortlessly chic!
Rope friends in to help, getting everyone to do the marquee decorations meant they were kept busy and felt involved the morning of the wedding!
Use the internet, the colourful lanterns for the trees where we got married only cost £30 for 24 and they set the scene beautifully! Don’t feel scared about hiring “ self catering” venues which don’t have the benefit of readily available hotel staff. Our venue had literally no staff so we had to hire them in but this was half the fun! It works out cheaper as well if you barter everyone down!"
LOVE that silhouette shot at the end there, how romantic!
Huge thanks to Jessica and Christian for sharing their wedding day style, and special thanks once again to Wedding Photographer Jay Rowden for so kindly submitting this beautiful wedding for sharing with our readers :) Jay has done such a wonderful job of capturing this couple's special day on to camera and creating a visual memory for Jessica and Christian to smile over for years to come.
Enjoy your Friday morning everyone and check back at 12-noon for details of how to get your hands on some absolutely beautiful Flo and Percy jewellery, especially created by designer Kirstie Taylor for one very lucky Love My Dress winner – as part of our 1st Birthday celebration giveaways! 😉
Much love,
Annabel xXx
♥
Annabel View all Annabel's articles
Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.
