A Sassi Holford Silk Dress for an Intimate Destination Wedding in a French Chateau

Oh, I do love a destination wedding, and this one is a total showstopper. We’re heading to Gascony in France for an elegant, intimate, romantic wedding at a seventeenth century chateau. The gardens are a dream, and the whole stylish affair bathed in beautiful, warm light.

Our couple took their inspiration from their shared love of France, and from graceful and classic chateau style, to create a laidback day filled with Gallic charm and personal touches. Let’s take a look, shall we?!

Chartered Surveyors Lizzie and Simon celebrated their marriage on the 8 September 2018 at the historic Château de Mazelières, Gascony, France. They first met at a London bar, bumping into one another after Lizzie had initially refused to be set up with Simon (at his request!). Simon proposed on a secluded beach in Brittany, in June 2017, reading a poem he had written himself, before getting down on one knee to ask the all-important question.

Images by Rebecca Carpenter Photography

For her wedding dress, Lizzie made a beautiful choice – the champagne-hued ‘Olivia’ by Sassi Holford, with its classic ballgown silhouette (complete with pockets!), paired with a wonderful lace jacket. We do love Sassi’s timeless, beautiful designs here at Love My Dress, and the fit and attention to detail is second to none.

“It was the first dress I tried on. It stood out as it was champagne rather than ivory, and as soon as I tried it on, I just knew it was the one for me. I loved the simplicity and elegance of it, and the fact it had pockets!”

“Also everyone needs to know about bridal sample sales! Find out when your dream designer has a sample sale on and make sure to get an appointment. I never could have afforded a Sassi Holford dress off the peg, but managed to get an ex-runway dress for less than half the price!”

On her feet, Lizzie wore fabulous rose gold platform sandals from Dune London, and to complete her gloriously romantic look, a single tier vintage tulle veil from Sassi Holford, together with a new fragrance she had picked out for the wedding day, Chanel Coco Mademoiselle.

Lizzie and Simon’s lovely flowergirl was a picture in a blush pink lace dress from Monsoon, which she wore with a faux-flower headband and a sparkly handbag.

I love the soft colour palette of pinks and mauves in the wonderful floral arrangements for the day, by Valerie at Rosalbret Fleuriste.

“Our florist was recommended by the chateau. Valerie was amazing and did everything from a couple of photos, and then a brief chat (which my mum translated) the day before.”

Lizzie’s lovely, long hair was curled and braided by her sister, with the elegant addition of a sparkling tiara, which Lizzie borrowed from her Maid of Honour. Lizzie also wore pearl and gold drop earrings, which belonged to her grandmother and were borrowed from her mum, as well as a pretty bracelet from Bloom Boutique.

“My necklace was a gift on our wedding day from Simon. It’s a white gold chain, with a wishbone. We later added the ring with which he proposed (we designed my actual engagement ring together).”

Capturing all of the beautiful moments against the wonderful castle backdrop was photographer Rebecca Carpenter. We’ve featured her work on Love My Dress before, and as well as that, Rebecca is part of our most excellent directory of wedding suppliers, Little Book.

“Words cannot describe how amazing Rebecca was. She captured us, and the venue perfectly. Throughout the day Rebecca was there directing us, and making sure everything was captured.”

“The moment we turned up at the chateau, we knew it was the place for us. We both love dogs, and the moment we pulled up, FiFi the resident black Labrador appeared and continued to follow us around whilst we had a tour. We both wanted to get married abroad, and wanted a small, intimate, but relaxed wedding.”

Having got engaged in France, and spending both of our respective childhood summers in the south of France, it was a logical place to choose. In light of this, we opted for a French chic style, with the chateau being the main centrepiece.”

The bridesmaids wore fantastic, contrasting outfits – a delicate pale pink chiffon maxi dress from ASOS, and a blue Guipure lace jumpsuit from John Lewis, each with footwear from Dune London. Lizzie also gifted them bracelets engraved with their initials, from Bloom Boutique.

Simon and his groomsmen nailed the smart casual wedding look, with crisp white shirts, and blue three-piece suits from Ted Baker at Moss Bros.

The couple held their ceremony outside, in front of the chateau with its beautiful stonework and white window shutters. In the late summer sunshine, Lizzie made her way down the aisle together with her brother.

“My sister sung I’m Yours by Alessia Cara, accompanied by Simon’s Best Man, who played the acoustic guitar. As this was a blessing (we had to get legally married in the UK before we came out) our ceremony was officiated by one of Simon’s best friends.”

Lizzie and Simon wrote their own, incredibly personal, touching, and sometimes funny vows to one another, and here Lizzie kindly shares hers to Simon.

“You are the only person who knows me better than I know myself. My best friend, and the love of my life, I promise to always love you unconditionally. I promise to support you always, through the good and the bad. I promise to continue to keep pushing you to be the best version of yourself, and to be by your side if you ever fall. You are the strength I never realised I needed, and the joy I never knew I missed. I love you, and cannot wait to start the next chapter of our adventure as your wife.”

The couple also exchanged rings, which they chose from independent Kent jeweller, Richard Lukes, who had also made wedding rings for a number of friends.

“The moment we walked in and met him, we knew we had made the right decision. He made each of our rings from scratch, which means they are unique – just like us!”

“I loved the ceremony, particularly towards the end, after our vows, when Jon was playing the song he had written for us, and we were able to look around at all the people we love, in a beautiful place, as husband and wife.”

Following the ceremony, there were tasty homemade canapés – smoked salmon and cream cheese blinis, honey mustard sausages, and tomato, mozzarella and salami skewers. In keeping with the relaxed, intimate feel of the day, instead of a formal meal, the canapés were followed by a hog roast from Bulldog Bacon and Bangers.

“The hog roast company were amazing, and stocked us with ribs and sausage for our barbecue / pool party the next day.”

“My amazing sister made our wedding cake, which was a dairy-free lemon and elderflower sponge, with elderflower buttercream and lemon curd, decorated with edible lace. It didn’t just look amazing, it tasted divine!”

Lizzie made on-the-day stationery, including menus, herself, with a chateau logo designed by her brother, which she then had made as a customised stamp. The amazing chalkboard table plan and table names were designed and made by Lizzie’s Maid of Honour, with tables named in honour of some of Lizzie and Simon’s favourite places in the world.

“She then added a little bit of detail using rose gold paint on the table plan, to add our logo. The table names were amazing, as we came up with six of our favourite places, and she then found a recognisable silhouette and made it. We are now using them as chalkboards, and have given some to guests to keep!”

Tables were laid for an outdoor feast in the sunshine, with those brilliant chalkboard table names as centrepieces. Favours were hangover kits containing sweets, Berocca tablets, mints, crisps and painkillers, with boxes sourced from Amazon.

“The beauty and setting of the chateau meant that we didn’t need to do much in terms of styling the venue, as it was the centrepiece of the whole day! However, our lovely florist did add foliage to the fountain in the courtyard, and my mum painstakingly made bunting to decorate outside.”

“We then added simple flowers in homemade vases (jam jars accessorised with brown string and lace), plus fairylights and lanterns to keep the look very simple.”

 Speeches were enjoyed as the sun set behind an elegant old glasshouse decorated with cheerful bunting, and as night fell, Lizzie and Simon cut their cake surrounded by loved ones, before enjoying a first dance together, to James TW’s song, Please Keep Loving Me.

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Decide what you both want and stick to it. There will always be other people who want to get involved / make decisions, but fundamentally this is your day, and it should reflect who you are as a couple.”

“Cherish every second. The day goes far too quickly, so make sure you take time to enjoy it, and have a moment together, to look at what you have made happen!”

Lizzie and Simon, thank you so, so much, and of course, many congratulations.  Many thanks to Rebecca Carpenter, for her beautiful and sensitively captured images. What a wonderfully intimate day, and such an enchanting venue. Not to mention that dream of  a Sassi Holford dress. If you’d like to see more designs by this amazing British designer, do take a look here.

With love,

Laura