An Art Deco Inspired Couture Gown + Celestial Headpiece for a French Chateau Wedding Filled with Old Hollywood Glamour

How would you like a little jaunt to the idyllic countryside of South West France today, for the spectacular chateau wedding of two self-confessed Francophiles?

There is so much to inspire and delight here, not least of which being the way that our couple took things they love – classic French cinema and old Hollywood style, as well as their beautiful rural venue setting and celestial and Art Deco motifs – and wove them through their day. Meet Jen, an Art Director and Designer, and Shane, who works in financial compliance. They celebrated their marriage on the 7 September 2019 at Chateau la Commanderie, Plaigne, in the South of France, where they spent their day outside making the most of the dreamy, late summer sunshine.

Photography by Claire Macintyre

“We always dreamed of a relaxed yet glamorous South of France wedding. We got engaged in January 2019 and both loved the idea of getting married as soon as possible. We fell in love with Chateau la Commanderie online, and took the plunge and booked it without visiting it first! It was the perfect size for both sides of our family to stay for the week, and had multiple locations for the ceremony, drinks and dinner. The number one reason we chose it was the drop dead gorgeous tree lined avenue for our ceremony. It was even more breathtaking in real life.”

“There were oh so many points of inspiration! We are admittedly both Francophiles, although Shane is the only one of us who is properly fluent in French. We adore old French movies and my personal style icon is Brigitte Bardot. I’m used to art directing and designing quite elaborate projects, but for the wedding, I wanted to keep things relatively easy to achieve (if you don’t count planning a wedding abroad in 8 months!).”

“The overall aesthetic was a mix of old Hollywood glamour, celestial iconography with a dash of rock ‘n’ roll, all set in the French countryside. We definitely had a little bit of fun with the styling. I designed my own dress, and it was inspired by art deco and old Hollywood glamour.”

“I adored the natural, soft tones of the chateau and grounds, and this was reflected in the bridesmaids’ off-the-shoulder taupe sparkling gowns. The boys’ suits were relaxed in shape and a light oatmeal colour with a subtle texture that fit in perfectly with the surroundings.”

I just love Jen’s glamorous, vintage hair and make-up look, with Hollywood inspired waves styled by Jen herself, and make-up by Jen’s sister Pam, who is a MAC trained make-up artist.

Jen was an absolute bombshell in her couture gown by Dublin-based De Stafford Bridal, with its classic, figure-hugging silhouette, delicate pearl shoulder straps, Art Deco inspired bodice embellishment and detachable tulle overskirt.

“It was a dream working with Kathy de Stafford. She was the first person I spoke to about the dress that immediately understood my vision. She brought the dress to life with such skill and ease. Her attention to detail and openness to tweaks and design changes was incredible. The best part was she was just as excited as I was throughout the whole process.”

“My first step was to narrow down the style of dress I wanted. I researched just about every dress designer I found on Instagram and Pinterest. I went wedding dress shopping with my mom and sisters and found some beautiful dresses, but none of them had all the elements I wanted.”

“I sat down and sketched out my ideal dress, brought it to Kathy and she made it a reality! It was honestly a dream come true. I loved the silhouette and fabric of the dress, it hugged in all the right places and was so comfortable. The Art Deco inspired embellishments added that extra touch of magic. I had a detachable tulle overskirt that made the dress feel so dreamy, it diffused the light beautifully. I removed it for the evening and it made it much slinkier – two looks in one!”

Jen’s shoes were from ASOS, and her out-of-this-world headpiece was a bespoke creation by Jennifer of The Beaded Gem, inspired by one of my favourite classic Hollywood costume looks – the incomparable and fascinating (have you seen the documentary?!) Hedy Lamarr and her celestial head-dress for the 1941 film, Ziegfeld Girl. To go with this, Jen also wore a pair of starburst drop earrings by Latelita.

“My veil was from Kathy de Stafford, and was a simple, tulle cathedral length veil. When paired with the tulle overskirt, it made it quite dramatic. I wore my favourite scent, the same I wear every day, which is Flowerbomb by Viktor & Rolf – sweet and subtle.”

Loved ones enjoyed pre-ceremony drinks around the chateau’s pool before taking their seats within a majestic avenue of trees to await the arrival of the wedding party.

“Shane and I met through friends and bonded over a mutual love of music, Twin Peaks and Harold and Maude. We’ve been together for 7 years, had many adventures in that time, including travelling the world, buying our house in 2017, and co-parenting our dog Lily (the sweetest golden retriever on the planet). We got engaged the day after my birthday in January 2019 at the top of Slieve League in Donegal, Ireland, and our engagement lasted only 8 months.”

Jen was accompanied down the aisle by her father, Larry, to the song Into My Arms by Nick Cave, performed by Jen’s friend Síle Ní Dhúbhgaill, who is a singer and harpist.

“We had our legal ceremony in a registry office in Bray, Wicklow, in August and then had our mutual friend, Sal officiate the chateau ceremony. She had never done it before, but was the perfect choice. She works in costume and managed to track down a bishop’s mitre to wear!”

The bridesmaids made their way down the tree-lined aisle first, wearing sequin and tulle maxi dresses in a soft shade of taupe by Maya at ASOS, with ribbon belts and star headbands from eBay.

The couple wrote their own vows, with Jen composing hers in advance, whilst Shane ad-libbed on the day and spoke from the heart. Jen has kindly shared her vows with us here – thank you!

“Shane,  you’re the Harold to my Maude, the Agent Cooper to my Audrey, the Serge to my Jane, the Kenny to my Dolly. Thank you for being my best friend, my biggest supporter, the best dog dad on the planet, for bringing peace and calm to my life, but also fun and laughter, and making the ordinary days just as fun as our biggest adventures .”

“Thank you for teaching me not to take myself so seriously, for loving me, flaws and all. For all that you do for me and how you do it. You’re the kindest and most thoughtful person I’ve ever met. I promise to encourage you to follow your dreams: Of owning your own bowling alley, buying our very own French chateau, having a garden big enough for 10 more brothers and sisters for Lily. I promise to love and care for you, to always be honest with you and to be a true and loyal partner to you. I love you.”

Jen and Shane exchanged rings during their sweet ceremony, with Jen choosing a 1920s French Art Deco ring from Empress Fine Jewels, whilst Shane chose a gold Claddagh ring from Tommy Moore Jewellers in Dublin.

“The readings were read by Shane’s brother, Garry, and mother, Colette. We chose these readings as we felt they were both beautifully written, both sentimental and apt for our wedding ceremony. Garry read Dance Me To The End Of Love by Leonard Cohen, and Colette read If There’s Empty Spaces in Your Heart, by Ernest Hemingway.”

I love Shane’s relaxed, summer wedding look – a three-piece suit in a shade of pale oatmeal from River Island, which he paired with a white shirt and horse bit loafers from Aldo.

“Shane wore his late father, Tommy’s vintage gold watch, and a pair of vintage ‘K’ cufflinks we found in an antique shop in London.”

The magical, afternoon sunlight bathed everyone in a golden glow that was just perfect for post-ceremony photos, and Jen carried a magnificent bouquet of huge, pastel coloured dahlias, delicate gypsophila and fragrant eucalyptus, made by local flower farmer Dominique (sadly, no further details provided).

“Rebecca, the owner of the chateau recommended Dominique. We visited her home and small flower farm, had tea and chocolate with her and her cat! We chatted through options to see what would be in season in September, and went for a neutral/soft pink and green palette.”

After finding and securing the chateau for their day, the next thing Jen and Shane did was to book their photographer and videographer; Provence and French Riviera-based Claire Macintyre.

“I found Claire via Google images, and soon realised all the images I was pinning to my Pinterest boards were hers. I emailed her immediately and knew it was meant to be when we chatted for the first time on the phone. We have so much in common, and she was just a delight to work with. Claire and her husband, Barrie, also produced our wedding video and we are just so pleased with it.”

As well as holding their ceremony outdoors, Jen and Shane also chose to have their reception in the garden, too, with the beautiful chateau as their backdrop.

After drinks by the pool, everyone sat down to dinner prepared by Au Fin Palais, which began with a lobster medallions, a salad of scallops, zest and julienned vegetables, and mango sorbet, followed by vegetable and forest mushroom risotto.

“We opted to go for croquembouche with rich chocolate sauce. The caterer presented it in the typical French manner – with large sparklers. Our guests loved it.”

“Jen: My favourite part of the day was probably the ceremony. The light was golden and beautiful, everyone was so relaxed and it was intimate and filled with love and laughter. The dinner was also just so fun, the sun went down as we all gathered around by candlelight and enjoyed each other’s company.”

“Shane: The ceremony was so special. I got to not only share it with my wife, but also share the moment with all our friends and family. Our close friend was the celebrant, which made it all the more special for us.”

As evening fell and it was time to dance, wedding band (and friends of Jen and Shane) Squarehead played, and the happy couple enjoyed their first married dance together, too.

“Our song was was I Only Have Eyes for You by the Flamingoes. It’s a haunting love song that’s the perfect tempo for a slow first dance. It’s one of our favourite songs, old school and romantic. The ‘shoo-ops’ get us every time!”

Jen designed all of the stylish, celestial inspired stationery herself, including a table plan decorated with branches of eucalyptus. Eucalyptus was also threaded down the centre of the long dining table laid with crisp, white cloths, and on place settings, too.

“We planned to keep decor simple as the natural backdrop was already so beautiful. We had gold candelabra with pink candles, and the floral scheme was focused around huge dahlias and eucalyptus bought from a local flower farmer, and beautifully assembled by my talented cousin, Emily.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“While it’s fun to enjoy planning the details of the day, never lose sight of why you’re doing it all. What you, your partner and your guests will remember most is the feeling you had on the day – not the tablescapes!”

“Focus your planning on the aspects you actually care about. For us it was the venue, the dress and that our guests could relax on the day and feel well looked after. We somehow managed to achieve all that.”

Jen and Shane, congratulations and very best wishes to you, as well as massive thanks, too. I’ve so enjoyed this glimpse into your day, with all it’s sweet and thoughtful touches, and that celestial headpiece is the stuff of dreams!

We do love a dreamy French Chateau wedding on Love My Dress, and we have lots more to enjoy right here, so dive right in!

Until next time.

With love,

Laura