The WED

"Did you have any pre-wedding events, like a rehearsal dinner or bridal shower?

We had a welcome BBQ on the estate’s vineyard on Friday evening. This was the best thing we did as it allowed everyone to get in the mood, and meet and chat so when the wedding day came people had done all the introductions. It also meant we relaxed more as we had already greeted everyone! At the BBQ we had a vinyl player DJ set-up, so people could choose their own records, this was a fun an interactive element for guests."

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"Where was your wedding? Why did you choose this venue?

We got married at the beautiful Bastide de Marie, which is situated in a tiny hilltop village called Ménerbes in Provence. We settled on France because I have always wanted to get married there (my grandma is French and my Auntie and Uncle live there, so we have spent a lot of time there). As a ‘typical’ girl, I have always romanticised my wedding, and I first saw this venue before we were even engaged by someone posting an image of the hotel’s cast-iron chairs – and I then went into a deep dive and found that they also do a small handful of weddings (it turns out they only do 4-5 a year, so we were so lucky to be able to plan our wedding there in only 11 months).

As soon as we were engaged, we went to visit it, and we knew it was perfect right away. It is one of those places where you can’t appreciate the beauty until you are there. It is magical, the interiors are beautiful and unique, it is calming and so chic. It’s the sort of place you almost don’t want to tell anyone about because it’s so special."

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"How many guests did you have? And what was the seating arrangement at the wedding like?

We had 70 guests (majority friends and then immediate family), we had 16 people on the top table which was fun, and this was a mix of the wedding party and other friends which we knew would get on well together. Then we had tables of 8 which was a nice amount, so people could get to know each other, we mixed them up a bit as people knew at least 4 people on the table or had met each other at our stag and hen dos."

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"What was the most memorable moment from your wedding day?

So hard to choose, but perhaps walking into the reception to Jubel on the Sax and doing our champagne tower, then my vail getting stuck on a tree – that was funny."

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"Did you have any special or unique elements (such as a signature cocktail or a fragrance) at your wedding?

We had a 1.2M disco ball above the dance floor, this was so impactful, and I am so happy with this last-minute edition! We also created a Wedding Newspaper which had our order of the day, fun stories, games and pictures, and then some unique small elements such as personalised picante cocktails from Lockdown Liquor, personalised match-boxes which had our puppy sat in a martini glass and scallop shells for olive oil which my auntie had collected for us."

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