A French Alfresco Wedding

I always admire people who are so incredibly organised that they can arrange a major event from a distance. Cases in point, our very own writer Emily and her new husband Lawrence, and today’s couple Alexia and Fabio. The pair live in Italy and planned a beautiful summer wedding in the South of France where the bride grew up, complete with alfresco dining under the trees, a Citroën 2CV and candle-lit dancing.

The couple married in August 2015 in an historic temple in the village of Vézénobres, Les Cévennes, France. Their intimate reception took place at Alexia’s grandmother’s house, a place very special to her as she grew up here, and inspiration for their romantic, Mediterranean wedding came from the house and its garden, and also the beautiful French countryside surrounding Vézénobres.

“We were inspired by the landscape of the French mediterranean region; the meadows, the valleys along the streams, the gardens and cultivated terraces bordering the villages, the hamlets and the isolated farmhouses. We were also inspired by my grandmother’s house, a very old and simple, traditional house with a very big Mediterranean garden.”

Photography by Rossini Photography

These photographs are by Rossini Photography. As well as capturing the joy of the bride and groom, they are a beautiful record of the village architecture and beautiful countryside. The photographs in the corn-field are particularly lovely.

“We highly recommend this photographer. He is a young man and works with his wife. They are very professional and also very friendly, extremely talented and their pictures are truly beautiful. We also did our engagement session with them before the wedding, and they turned out really beautifully. They really know how to capture the spirit of a moment.”

Alexia, a pharmacist, and Fabio, a retail company manager, live in Fabio’s native Italy and planned the wedding from a distance.

“We didn’t hire an event planner. My husband and I organised everything from Italy with the enormous help of mostly my mother but also my father, who grew up in the area and therefore have many contacts.”

“We met in Paris in 2009 at a joint party by our business schools on a boat called Péniche that navigates on the Seine. Fabio is Italian and I am French. After two years of a long-distance relationship I moved to Italy. In 2013 he proposed during a magical evening in the centre of Rome. It was in October 2013 and we finally got married in June 2014 (civil) and August 2015 (religious).”

The bride wore a bespoke long-sleeved lace wedding gown with a full skirt by En Compagnie des Perdrix which suits her petite frame very well. She met designer Marielle Maury at a local fair and worked with her closely to ensure the gown was exactly as she wanted. It looks so light and easy to wear, just right for an August wedding, with a long yet delicate veil by Raimon Bundó.

“The designer Marielle Maury is a young French designer. She was not famous but I met her during a fair and I immediately saw her talent and the high quality of the materials she used. Together we designed my ‘dream dress’ with long lace sleeves, a silk gown and a bare back. I could choose everything – my own lace from many samples, the shape and materials of the dress which made it very unique.”

“While I was getting ready, I wore the silk nightdress that my great-grandmother had made for my grandmother’s wedding night. During the ceremony I wore my great-grandmother’s ring.”

I’m a big lover of floral crowns, and this delicate creation with its pink flowers is so, so pretty. It was made by florist CréaFleurs, who also put together the rest of the wedding flowers which included the delicate lavender synonymous with Southern France.

“I wanted a bouquet with Mediterranean flowers with blue, pink and purple colours. I love thistles and small flowers. My crown of flowers was made with the same flowers as the bouquet. We also made a big flower wreath for the back of the car.”

“Our wedding took place in the South of France in a small town called ͞Vézénobres in the region of Les Cévennes. The ceremony took place in a temple in the centre of the village. The Protestant religion is strongly established in this region. The Huguenot Protestants used to hide in the mountains of Cévennes so as not to be persecuted and killed by the Catholic church.”

“The temple we chose therefore had a lot of historical meaning. The dinner and party took place at my grandmother’s house. This house was really special for me because I grew up there as a young girl and it is where three generations of my family have lived. Having it at my grandmother’s house was symbolic to my very big and close-knit family.”

The lovely little flowergirls had mini flower crowns and mini bouquets, and wore short, lacy dresses to complement Alexia’s. I love the little outfits of the page-boys, who wore summery outfits from Les petits Inclassables.

The Mediterranean colours of the flowers were reflected in the dresses worn by the bridesmaids. Don’t they look summery and fresh? Alexia asked the bridesmaids to choose their own gowns to suit their own personal style.

Fabio wore a custom-made suit from Italy, looking cool and smart with a grey waistcoat, white bow-tie and grey pin-stripe trousers. His groomsmen added a touch of colour to the ceremony, wearing pastel trousers with their tuxedos and bow-ties. After the ceremony, they changed into polka-dot ties gifted to them by the newly-weds.

During the ceremony, the couple exchanged simple bespoke white gold wedding bands from Italian jewellers Gioielleria Romagnoli.

“We engraved our initials on the outside of the ring to make it special and unique.”

The newly-weds travelled to the family home in a quintessentially French Citroën 2CV, decorated with a lovely floral wreath.

“A friend of my father lent us is old 2CV car. It’s a typical French car of the 60’s.”

The garden of Alexia’s grandmother’s house looks absolutely magical. I love the idea of dining underneath the trees, and the styling is very pretty and simple with white tablecloths, simple metal furniture and flowers and candles dotted around. By night it was illuminated with strings of bulbs and tea-lights.

“The dinner and the party took place in the garden. We used the surrounding vegetation to decorate the venue. We put flowers, balloons and many candles around the pool and on the tables, and we suspended small LED lights in the trees. We also suspended a garland of light between the trees above the tables to make it romantic. We created a candy bar with different flavoured ‘confetti’ which are usually candy-coated almonds and are an Italian wedding tradition.”

Favours were bow-ties for the men, and sandals for the women. There was also a photo-booth with polaroid camera, so each guest could take home a pictorial souvenir of the day.

Following French tradition, Alexia had a first dance with both her father and her new husband. With her father, she danced to ‘Earth, Wind and Fire‘ by Fantasy, and the emotional ‘Always‘ by Bon Jovi with Fabio.

The party continued until early in the morning, a part of the day which Alexia names as her favourite.

“When you dance with all the guests until six o’clock in the morning, at this moment, you realise that everybody is really enjoying your wedding.”

“We had a DJ for the dinner and the party. During the ceremony and the aperitivo we had live music, a gypsy group typical from the region.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Hire a wedding planner!! You will save time, money and your wedding will take place exactly as you planned it.”

What a beautiful wedding! These photographs really evoke the warmth of a French summer’s day so well, so thank you Rossini Photography for your lovely work. Sending so many congratulations and thanks to the couple, Alexia and Fabio, too.

With love,

Ele xx