Anna & Will

This elegant, totally timeless wedding from French venue Chateau de Lartigolle is simply stunning. It's all about classic tailoring, simple seasonal blooms and local food and the result is just magical. Anna's Pronovias dress fits like a glove and with her hair pinned up, her bone structure looks incredible. Groom Will cuts a handsome figure in his J.Crew suit too, and the pair just look so happy and in love. The photography from Darek Smietana is gorgeous as well, his images have captured that glowing, soft French light to perfection and we also love the emotions portrayed too. It's a real pleasure to share this lovely wedding with you all this morning.

The Bride

Anna the Bride: Pronovias has the most beautiful wedding dresses and I was looking for a dress which is both simple and elegant, kind of Audrey Hepburn style. My dress is from Collection 2016. Princess-style satin wedding dress with dropped waist. Bodice with strapless neckline, decorative bias band at the waist, front and back. Skirt with pleats and side pockets, where you can keep your iPhone, very useful ;) Anna's look was completed with hair designed by Annie Salmon.

The Groom & Groomsmen

Will the Groom: Anna decided that black tie would be the best choice for the groom and groomsmen. We really wanted to have a sophisticated yet classical look to the wedding, which we thought contrasted really well with the refined elegance of the venue. We were very happy with the choice of tuxedo. J.Crew on Regent Street have an excellent formalwear section and the quality of material and tailoring is much better than other premium high street brands. For shoes, Dolce & Gabanna are always the go to choice for black tie!

Chateau de Lartigolle

There’s something very special about Chateau de Lartigolle - Chris and Emma Newton and Nick Austin have created a fairytale venue that you feel privileged to experience. The Chateau itself is set in the rolling hills of the Gascony countryside and it’s an idyllic setting for a Summer wedding, with the place becoming even more magical in the evening with the warm still air and fairy lights in the trees. We wanted the weekend to last forever.

The Food

The catering was done by Nick Austin and Emma Newton alongside their team. They focus on simple rustic food made from the best local ingredients such as wild mushrooms, duck, foie gras and Toulouse sausages. Canapes were duck on blinis, local foie gras on toast, pea veloute and herring and salmon on pumpernickel bread with caviar. We had wild mushroom tart to start and a rack of lamb for the main, with a local patisserie making a traditional croquembouche for dessert.

The Entertainment

We had a band from Toulouse called Les Tonton Funkeurs who played a lot of funk and soul classics who were lying in wait in Lartigolle’s secret underground party cave. It was important for us to have a good quality band and they totally delivered. We also had a local magician from Toulouse who did some pretty impressive close up magic during the wedding reception.

The Photography

Darek was our choice from the beginning. We just took one look at his webpage and his work captured exactly what we wanted. Natural photography done in a really unique way. Some of the portrait work he’s done in countries like Syria and Burma is really touching and it’s that kind of thing that really sets him apart from other wedding photographers. What I appreciated most of all about Darek was that he was a really great friend to us on the day, giving us gentle encouragement and sage advice when we were feeling a bit stressed. Also, he doesn’t have any hidden charges and true to his word, sends you all the photos in a beautifully wrapped gift box and a monogrammed wooden USB drive. Really impressive and thoughtful touches.

The Decor

The flowers and decor were designed and styled by Emma at the chateau. Colour scheme was in blue/lilac colours, these are the most delicate colours and very summery at the same time. It is a good idea to consider the season and the type of flowers available at that time. It will help to identify the colour scheme. The bridal bouquet was in combination of white colour and lilac colours in order to keep a bit of a contrast between the dress and the flowers. The Bridal bouquet flowers were white hydrangea/white peony/ lilac sweet pea and lilac thistle. For the main arrangements on tables, aisle and the altar area we chose white and blue hydrangea, as well as blue delphinium and lavender on napkins under twine and tiny arrangements were randomly placed on tables.