A Pronovias Gown for a Romantic French Chateau Wedding

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Hi everyone, what have you got planned for this weekend? I’m incredibly excited as I’m travelling up to York to meet Lyndsey, one of the lovely Love My Dress team, and enjoy afternoon tea at Betty’s. Thank goodness Lent is over so I can have a couple of their cakes. What a treat we have for you today. Today’s couple are Emma and Simon, who married at Château Rigaud, Bordeaux, France on 10 September 2016. This French wedding was captured by one of our absolute favourites, Julie Michaelsen Photography. I love Julie’s talent for capturing hazy, romantic scenes to perfection, and these images of the French countryside and wild flowers in the September sunshine are superb.

There’s something about France – the long, long rows of grape vines, the hazy late-summer light, and the ancient châteaux are soothing, calming and timeless. Julie has caught their essence in her photos of Emma and Simon’s wedding. The couple, both accountants, met in London and moved to Hong Kong together a year later. They had a ten-month engagement after Simon proposed on The Peak, Hong Kong, and chose a four-day destination wedding at Château Rigaud. They wanted to marry in Europe so that their friends and family, particularly Emma’s grandparents, could attend.

“A destination wedding meant we got to spend more time with family and friends. Château Rigaud is known for their incredible food and wine and the fabulous staff organise amazing wedding weekends. We hired the beautiful château for four nights and loved every bit of it, from the welcome cake and Champagne on arrival to canoeing on the Dordogne to our wedding day and wonderful post wedding BBQ on the lawns of the château.”

Photography by Julie Michaelsen Photography

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Love My Dress founder Annabel was in Barcelona last week for bridal fashion week, where she was guest at the launch of the sublime new Pronovias 2018 collection – in fact, we’re sharing that collection on Love My Dress this afternoon. Pronovias is a label coveted, loved and adored by many of our readers, including bride Emma, who wore a Pronovias gown with a sweetheart bodice, illusion lace neckline, deep V-neck back and a figure-skimming skirt. Emma purchased her gown from London boutique Teokath.

“I can’t recommend the ladies at Teokath enough – their service far exceeded anything else I’d experienced in Hong Kong and London. Kelly made us feel so relaxed and nothing was a problem for her; she actually ended up picking the dress out for me! As we were getting married outside, I didn’t want anything too big. I love lace and liked the feminine shape of the dress while the long train made it feel bridal.”The bridesmaids were the epitome of elegance in their draped Ghost gowns in oyster. Their colour really lets their pink and white bouquets sing. Their hair was adorned with more flowers, as was the gorgeous little flowergirl’s.

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Emma kept her hair and make-up natural, with her blonde hair kept in long, soft waves and caught back with a simple beaded hairpiece and veil, both from Teokath. The stylist, Laura Cawte, also caught back the bridesmaids’ hair into low buns which set off their gowns really well.

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She added a pair of nude court shoes from Christian Louboutin, the generous gift of her mother-in-law, and accessorised with a Carat London bracelet which was a wedding gift from Simon and jewelled Carat London chandelier earrings, her ‘something borrowed’.

“My cousin Laura was originally going to be a bridesmaid but had a baby boy, Toby, just weeks before the wedding so couldn’t come to France. The earrings were her way of being part of our big day.”

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All of the flowers were put together by the resident florist at Château Rigaud, Heidi at Flowers In The Vines. As well as the beautiful bouquets and rose buttonholes, she advised wreathing foliage around chandeliers, adding rustic flowers to the seating plans and even placing delicate flowers around the canapés. The table flowers were arranged in old wine boxes to honour the Bordeaux location, a detail that I really love.

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The ceremony was held outside in the shade of the trees, with a fabulous view over the surrounding vineyards. French pizazz was added with live music played on the accordion whilst guests took their seats, before Emma walked down the aisle with her dad to the sound of Pachelbel’s Canon in D.

Simon looked handsome in his suit, brought over from King’s Tailor in Hong Kong, paired with brown leather shoes and a blush-pink tie.

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Simon’s uncle, a priest, flew over from New Zealand to bless the wedding, which included a lovely ritual to symbolise the joining of two families.

“We did traditional vows, however our priest (Simon’s uncle) told a wonderful, heartfelt story about his parents’ marriage and the love they had for each other, specifically the support his mother gave to his father all through their lives together. He also invited both of our parents to put a hand on our respective shoulders to symbolise the coming together of our two families and our parents’ commitment to support us in our marriage.”

Emma’s ring was from Steven Stone, Cheshire, chosen to complement her engagement ring and its tapered baguette diamonds, whilst Simon’s was chosen at Boodles in Chester. The ceremony reading was ‘Blessing of the Hands’;

These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes; tears of sorrow, and tears of joy.
These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children.
These are the hands that will help you to hold your family as one.
These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it.
And lastly, these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged, will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.

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Photographer Julie Michaelsen travelled over from her base in England to shoot the day, from Emma and her bridesmaids getting ready in the château to the outdoor ceremony and dancing in the evening. I adore the shots of the château, the vineyards and the lavender, so evocative of a typical French scene.

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The wedding was planned with the help of Marcia, resident planner at the château. They chose this beautiful venue having been inspired by their first holiday together in South Africa touring the winelands.

“We wanted something rustic and romantic with a relaxed feel. The château is a feature in itself so there wasn’t a huge need for styling but the Rigaud staff added some beautiful touches such as vintage chalkboard and mirrored signs, foliage around the old chandeliers in the wedding barn, old wheelbarrows filled with Champagne bottles. It looked beautiful and was perfect for the venue and location.”

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After the ceremony the guests toasted with Champagne and canapés made using French produce served from a rustic outdoor galley. I love the simple blackboard menu boards, created by Château Rigaud’s staff. One of the reasons Simon and Emma chose the château was for its fantastic food and judging by the menu boards it looks simply wonderful. Their beautiful rose-scattered tiered naked cake was also provided by the venue.

“The venue is known for its excellent food and they certainly did not disappoint; the food and wine was a real highlight for us. The bar staff later created amazing mojitos for guests which were very refreshing on such a warm night. We knew that guests were staying in hotels and were unlikely to want to take things home with them so we had a relatively small, vanilla sponge cake that was eaten throughout the night.”

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The château was resplendent dressed up with rustic-inspired touches.

“Our beautiful white and gold invitations were from an Australian company called Little Peach Co. We used Château Rigaud’s resident staff to do the wonderful blackboard menu and seating plan as well as the signs for our flip-flops and mojito bar and I did the place cards myself using plain cards and a gold pen.”

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The evening party was a highlight for the couple, and their band, The Dukes of Havoc, drove all the way from Kent to play for them. Their first dance was Billy Joel’s ‘Just the Way You Are‘.

“It’s an old classic and we liked the fact that people old and young would all be familiar with it. It also represents how we feel about each other. Obviously, the ceremony was very important to us, but the best part was when the formalities were over and we could just relax and have fun on the dance-floor with friends and family.”

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Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Things will happen that were not in your plan but just go with it. Once the day is upon you, just relax and enjoy it.

A seating plan tip: as we had people travelling from New Zealand where Simon’s from and the UK where I’m from, we wanted people to get to know each other better so we mixed everyone up for the dinner. Many people told us that it was such a great idea and they had made some new friends and many had exchanged details with people they had met on the day!”

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Sending so many thanks to Julie for sharing her lovely photographs with us, and congratulations to Emma and Simon. Is anyone else planning a vineyard tour to Bordeaux now? Wishing you all a lovely weekend.

Ele xx

Credits & Thanks

Eleanor Crossland

Eleanor Crossland View all Eleanor's articles

Ele lives in the Lincolnshire countryside, close to the beautiful coast. A qualified Pilates teacher, she loves fitness, yoga, Pilates and has a healthy addiction to baking, writing and travel.

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