Good morning all – how are you fairing up after the weekend? Are you any closer to being organised for Christmas? Today’s intimate French chateau wedding is truly stunning. The Provençale setting, the soft autumn light, the bride’s beautiful bespoke scoop back gown and olive branch circlet are all completely swoon worthy…what a way to start the week!
Our jet setting couple met in London, got engaged in Adelaide and tied the knot in the South of France. Pharmacists’ Michael and Noogie wed on the 3rd September 2015 at Le Chateau des Demoiselles, near La Motte, Provence.
“Michael and I wanted a relaxed, minimalistic theme to the wedding, so decorations were kept elegantly simple. We decided very early on that we wanted a small wedding party and the opportunity to spend a week with our family and friends appealed to us immensely. Our approach to the wedding was to keep it as simple as possible.”
Photography by Sebastien Boudot
“As the wedding was so small and intimate, we considered our closest family and friends as our honorary wedding party. As such, my sister and two closest friends were not restricted to any particular dress style. I just asked them to wear something bright and colourful and, as it turned out, it was even better than I could have planned it! All three women wore fresh flower crowns in their hair. I felt that it was a nice, simple touch to help them stand out from the other guests.”
“We wanted our favours to be something our guests would keep and actually use to remember our wedding day. I came across this adorable shop on Etsy called ‘House of Bec’ where I got beautiful butter knives hand stamped with ‘Spread Love’ and our initials. The owner, Bec Stern, was an absolute gem and I would truly recommend her to anyone.”
“Our photographer was Sebastien Boudot – He is AMAZING! Michael came across Sebastien’s portfolio online and it was exactly what we were looking for. His style of photography is timeless and classy and his use of light for his portraits was what really appealed to us. We exchanged emails leading up to the day and even we were surprised at how easy the whole process was!”
Noogie wore a pair of pale pink Dune sandals on her toes and her crowning glory was an elegant olive branch and pink lisianthus circlet.
“My sister made me a flower crown which suited my wedding dress perfectly!”
Noogie’s beautiful scoop back gown was a bespoke creation by Adelaide dressmaker Janet Oguilere, with Noogie’s sister Quyen sourcing the lace for the dress from Taiwan (you can read about the buying process on Quyen’s blog.)
“I’d never actually tried on a dress like this before the wedding but I found myself constantly coming back to it. It was simple and understated and I loved the low cut back and the lace details. Janet was warm and friendly and we worked on the design together. It was a labour of love!”
The arranged all of their own flowers themselves using local blooms…
“As we were in France, there were fresh flowers everywhere. In the end, we made the bouquet ourselves as well as the button-holes for our immediate wedding party.”
“I met Michael (who is from Manchester), in London in 2012, six months before I had to return to Australia. I don’t think either of us realised how much we meant to each other in such a short period of time, but somehow it all made sense. A whirlwind romance was followed by a long distance relationship and a year and a half later, in January 2014, Michael moved to Australia. Michael proposed while we were having a picnic on a beautiful spring day in September. It was a simple, spontaneous proposal that personified our characters perfectly.”
Le Chateau des Demoiselles (meaning ‘Castle of the Dragonflies’) is a beautiful 19th century guesthouse surrounded by an acre of olive trees, rosebushes and Mediterranean flora, set in a further 300 hectares of vineyards.
“We chose Le Chateau des Demoiselles because we had both travelled to Provence on a holiday a few years earlier and absolutely adored the region. Having the chateau for the entire week also allowed family and friends to relax and enjoy a holiday together, rather than just coming together for a day. The venue was in fact so beautiful that we didn’t want to alter it too much – it was already perfect just the way it was. When it came to décor we wanted to keep things relaxed and simple.”
“On the day itself, our photographer Sebastien Boudot was friendly, easy going and very relaxed. Sebastien has a wonderful ability to capture the most beautiful shots without being intrusive or difficult. To be honest, we felt completely ourselves and natural with him. We could not have wished for better photos and he delivered above our expectations.
We love looking back through our photos because Sebastien captured the day perfectly.”
Michael looked very stylish in a navy Burberry suit and a white Oliver Spencer shirt with a 1950s inspired tie in a lovely shade of olive. Our groom wore a pair of handmade leather sandals from luxury Italian brand Santoni and completed his outfit with a pocket square and wrist watch from Muji.
“In keeping with tradition my father gave me away. In addition, we thought it was a nice gesture for both of our mums walk down the aisle as well, so that they could enjoy the experience too. We walked down the aisle to ‘Bloom’ by The Paper Kites – the melody and lyrics are beautiful.”
Michael and Noogie kept their vows to one another a secret and surprised each other on the day…
“Put simply, our vows were very spontaneous and honest, which was what we loved about them. They encompassed the time we have already spent together and what we love most about one another.”
Our couple opted for two readings, a verse from 1 Corinthians and a reading written by Noogie’s father.
“My dad wanted to share a few of his thoughts about the meaning of marriage and love and, as English isn’t his first language, he wrote it in Vietnamese and my sister and I translated and summarised it into a short reading. It is a very fond memory that our dad was such an integral part of our ceremony.”
Michael and Noogie’s delicious wedding breakfast was provided by Le Chateau des Demoiselles with our couple opting for a croquembouche as their wedding cake; a traditional French dessert consisting of a cone shape tower of choux pastry balls bound together by caramel. YUM!
“In addition to our favour knives, I also bought tiny, assorted jars of Beerenberg jam – a local specialty where I am from in South Australia, to add some extra sweetness to the day! Our favours were unique and personal and we were so pleased that everyone loved them.”
“My favourite part of the day was the speeches. It’s so rare to have an occasion where everyone can speak so openly and honestly about their feelings and we felt truly loved by everyone’s sentiments! Our wedding vows to each other will always make me smile too. Michael’s favourite memory was of the sun setting over the vineyards as we were having our wedding reception with our guests, seeing their smiling faces and everyone having a fantastic time.
It was so special to us that our family and friends made such a big effort to travel long distances to share the day with us. We both feel incredibly lucky and humbled by that gesture alone.”
“Our dear friend Thanh kindly made a video for us so that we could share the day with friends and family who were unable to attend the wedding. We truly adore watching it and reliving the day all over again. She made such a fantastic video that we think she should quit her day job!”
Words of Wedded Wisdom:
“I know everyone says it, but it’s true: just relax and enjoy the day! We found it helpful knowing what we could compromise on and what we couldn’t – and for both of us, our family is imperative. It’s easy to get caught up with every single detail of the wedding, but knowing that we and our families will look back on this holiday together fondly helped keep things in perspective.
Once we knew that we wanted a small, destination wedding all the rest of the planning fell into place, and thankfully, we were fortunate to have the help of my sister Quyen and Thanh to see it all come together!”
Congratulations Michael and Noogie! Thank you so much for sharing your big day, so full of warmth and love, on this cold winters day and to photographer Sebastien Boudot for the stunning images. If you’d like peruse other beautiful French weddings, please do follow this link.
Wishing you a wonderful week!
Annora x
Photographer – Sebastien Boudot
Film – Captured by a friend of the couple
Venue + Catering – The Chateau des Demoiselles, La Motte in Provence, France
Wedding Dress – Bespoke gown crafted by dressmaker Janet Oguilere, Adelaide, Australia
Headpiece – Fresh flower crown created by the sister of the bride
Shoes – Dune
Accessories – Earrings borrowed from the bride’s mother
Bride’s Scent/perfume – Santal 33 by Le Labo
Groom – Burberry suit + Oliver Spencer shirt and tie + Santoni leather sandals + pocket square and wristwatch from Muji
Florist – Arranged by the bride
Rings – Blue Nile
Stationery – Minted
Favours – Personalised knives by House of Bec purchased via Etsy
Hair & Makeup Artist – Applied by a friend of the bride
I LOVE first looks so much! There is a beautiful intimacy to these images that is so delicate. Xx