An Enzoani Bride + Her Elegant, Intimate French Garden Wedding With Chinese Traditions

I’ve got the pleasure of sharing something wonderful with you today; a simple, chic and intimate affair held in the wonderful gardens of a French château. Sit back, and drink in this wedding.

Please meet Eirene, a doctor and investment banker Thomas, who married on 4 August 2018 at the beautiful Le Pavillon de Musique de la Comtesse du Barry, Louveciennes, France. The couple wanted a small, intimate affair that wove together their Chinese heritage and Thomas’ French roots. An outdoor wedding in the grounds of Le Pavillon fitted their brief perfectly.

Photography Matt Penberthy

“Our main aim was to just enjoy the day, celebrate with close friends and have good food and wine. I have always wanted a wedding abroad in a place with good food and where better than France? Le Pavillon de Musique de la Comtesse du Barry was one of three château-like venues we visited around Paris (important to us as Thomas’ family and friends are from there).”

“We fell in love with it instantly as the size was just perfect for our party of 80 and the gardens were beautiful. We could immediately envisage our ceremony outside and using all parts of the venue for cocktails on the terrace overlooking the surrounding scenery and the Eiffel Tower in the distance before moving inside for dinner and ongoing celebrations. Another bonus is the venue is owned a charitable foundation so all hiring proceeds would go to the foundation.”

The simple, chic tone of the day was perfectly set by Eirene’s choice of gown, ‘Logan’ by Enzoani, which she found at JS Couture in London’s Marylebone. I love the sleek, fitted silhouette and structured bodice which spills out into a dramatic puddle train.

“I was obsessed with lace dresses and my entire Pinterest board was full of strapless lace dresses. I tried on about a hundred but could not find the perfect lace. I finally went dress shopping with my mum who did not like lace and made me try on a completely plain crêpe dress which caused a complete U-turn. I went back to JS Couture (which had a previous favourite lace version) and found the perfect dress, without the lace, from the same designer.”

To complete her gown, she added a slim, sparkly Enzoani belt and a customised Enzoani Cathedral-length veil with a statement lace trim taken from another dress, ‘Larissa’.

“I wore diamond earrings – a gift from my mother-in-law – and a Tiffany diamond pendant necklace – my first Valentine’s gift from Thomas.”

Her dainty blush, satin pumps, embellished with crystals, were Roger Vivier‘s ‘Flower Strass’ and for scent she wore Chloé Absolu De Parfum, bought on the same trip when they found the venue.

The couple worked with French event planners Vanessa & Caroline Créatrices de Mariages and it was important to include both Chinese and French influences in their wedding weekend.

“We are ethnically Chinese (I was born in the UK, Thomas in France). A usual Chinese affair is on a grand scale and a banquet inviting family, friends and extended family. We wanted to honour our heritage and had a traditional tea ceremony on the second day before a traditional French breakfast/brunch where we had our caterer from the wedding day provide picnic baskets full of delicious French pastries, quiches and desserts.”

Unbelievably, Thomas and Eirene first met when they were tiny, 26 years ago.

“Thomas was five and I was a newborn so we didn’t remember each other when we met in the present day. We reunited (without knowing it) in our London church. Things moved quickly from Thomas being mean and teasing me to where we are today.”

The couple returned to France where Thomas, eventually, managed to propose.

“Vive la France et le Champagne! It’s a cute story of misunderstandings but we eventually got there . It started off with a weekend trip to Reims where Thomas had planned a lunch at Les Crayères. I wanted to go visit the Champagne house Canard-Duchêne for a cellar tour afterwards.”

“Once I make a plan I like to stick to it and my number one pet peeve is being late. The tours were on a strict timetable so I started to get a little antsy during the meal which, although very lovely and tasty, seemed to be going on forever! The reason it was taking even longer than usually was the staff were expecting Thomas to propose in the restaurant and were giving him lots of opportunities – they must have thought he was chickening out.”

“Thomas had wanted to propose in the gardens outside however the heavens started to open so he tried to delay for a little longer – which only led to more anxiety on my part. We did eventually go for a leisurely stroll outside where the gardens were beautiful and he got me up the stairs leading towards the château before dropping down on one knee. And of course I said yes! We did eventually make it to Canard-Duchêne and celebrated with some Champagne-tasting.”

The flowergirls looks charming in their pure white Matchimony gowns, finished off with blush bows and the pageboy breaks my heart; he is so cute in his tiny Monsoon shorts and waistcoat combo.

Flowers played a big part in the romantic look of the day. Whilst the bridesmaids carried single stems of roses, Eirene’s own bouquet was luxe and wild. The bouquets, centre-pieces and the flower circle which was used in the outdoor ceremony space were designed and made by Esther Lamarche.

“She was recommended by our event planner Vanessa – we trusted her completed. The only instructions were lots of greenery, white and light blush and nothing too structured and tight.”

The beautiful August weather meant that the couple’s plans to wed outside could go ahead. The ceremony space, set in an avenue of trees, was marked out with simple white chairs and floral posies and the dramatic floral circle which acted as a focal point and backdrop. Eirene walked down the aisle on the arm of her father, whilst Elvis Presley’s ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ was played on the harp.

The ceremony was led by Pierre Therond from Love Gracefully and included a touching reading from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

“Pierre helped with our vows. We had planned to write our own vows but in the end decided to leave it to a professional.”

“The French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once wrote:

‘L’expérience nous montre qu’aimer ce n’est point nous regarder l’un l’autre mais regarder ensemble dans la même direction.’

‘To love is not to stare in each other’s eyes continually, but to look together in the same direction.'”

Thomas’ gold wedding band was from Browns whilst Eirene found hers at Doyle & Doyle in New York.

“I had gone on a girls’ trip to New York and wanted to look at wedding bands from Anna Sheffield where my engagement ring was from but I felt the band was too thick. On the last day my sister wanted to pop into Doyle & Doyle when browsing and there I found the perfect, delicate, diamond eternity band.”

Thomas chose to wore a slick blue dinner jacket and bowtie with a contrast trim, from Arket France.

“He wore J.M. Weston shoes, a T.M. Lewin bow tie and pocket square and Tateossian cufflinks gifted to him by me.”

I’m in love with the bridesmaids’ sleek and elegant open-backed gowns in blush from White by Vera Wang, which echo the bride’s own style so well.

“I gifted a Russian ring necklace set from Posh Totty Designs to my bridesmaids.”

Love My Dress favourite and Little Book member Matt Penberthy was tasked with catching the day on camera. I adore those sunset shots, and it looks like he made full use of the spectacular features of the gardens. Matt is based in the UK but is a keen destination wedding photographer, so please make sure you visit his Little Book listing to find out more about him and his modern, timeless style.

“Matt had such a lovely dynamic on the day and helped us really enjoy the experience. Thomas and I are usually quite camera shy! He was so enthusiastic and inventive and the shots were all beautiful. We loved how Matt’s style was so natural.”

After a drinks reception held on the terrace, the newly-weds and their guests moved inside for dinner. Doesn’t the venue look spectacular dressed with roses, foliage and white and gold tableware? The invites and welcome sign were designed by the talented best man and printed by Strawberry Sorbet.

“He drew the venue encircled by a green halo on a light blush paper. The welcome sign was printed on canvas, displayed on a easel and decorated with greenery from the florist.”

The dinner was provided by Grand Chemin and the newly-weds chose to dine together at a sweetheart table.

“My favourite moment was probably the dinner where everyone was enjoying themselves and having a good time. We knew the day would be hectic so we had a sweetheart table where the two of us could actually eat and enjoy each others’ company as a newly married couple. We also had the best view of all the tables and our gorgeous singer.”

The dinner was provided by Grand Chemin and the newly-weds chose to dine together at a sweetheart table.

“My favourite moment was probably the dinner where everyone was enjoying themselves and having a good time. We knew the day would be hectic so we had a sweetheart table where the two of us could actually eat and enjoy each others’ company as a newly married couple. We also had the best view of all the tables and our gorgeous singer.”

Instead of a wedding cake Eirene and Thomas chose to serve one of their favourite desserts, made by Sugar Plum Cake Shop.

“We both love Fraisiers and although unconventional we knew we wanted one for our wedding. We asked Vanessa to find us someone who did patisserie and once we tasted a mini-version we loved it. We had two large Fraisier cakes topped with fresh roses.”

“The day was perfect, brought about by lots of communication with our lovely event planner who did not mind the constant barrage of emails and the fine details. I knew we had covered everything so that on the day I could really relax and know it would be perfect.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Do things your way – it’s your (as a couple) special day.”

“Do get an event planner. This way you can have as much input or as little input as you want. Even if you are very organised, your event planner has contacts who they have worked with and trust to deliver. A good one is worth every penny!”

“If you really want to do things alone, splash out for a day event co-ordinator. This way you can truly relax and enjoy your day.”

“Do add a few unique touches personalised to you as a couple.”

“Do stick to a budget but if you can, stretch if you need to – we did not initially allow for hiring of plates and cutlery but we fell in love with dinner plates. But bear in mind your budget. To make ours work, we didn’t do favours or stationery of the day.”  

Eirene and Thomas, what an exquisite day. Thank you for sharing it with us and thank you also to Matt Penberthy for your wonderful images. If you’d like to see more brides wearing Enzoani then please visit here, or head here for more destination wedding inspiration.

Ele xx