Megan & Joshua

This is a true fairytale wedding folks so I am going to start it just as every fairytale should.... Once upon a time a truly gorgeous Australian couple met. Megan is a dance teacher and Josh a professional rugby player and together they said their I Do's at the breathtaking, fully restored Chateau les Carrasses in the South of France where they now live. I can only describe the chateau as a beautiful Disney-like princess castle. Of course every princess should have a dream gown to marry her prince in, and Megan's Lace fishtail Pronovias dress is simply divine. But the fairytale doesn't end there, she was also gifted a fabulous pair of Christian Louboutin slippers lovingly inscribed on the soles by her beau. This wedding is so luxurious, so classy and. Simply. Stunning. I think I could happily talk about its chic French styling, neutral colour palette, stunning backdrop and beautiful blooms all day, but I will just let the gorgeous images captured by Modern Vintage Weddings speak for themselves. You're going to LOVE it and this adorable couple.

The Dresses

Megan The Bride: I had had several appointments with Sydney Couture Bridal Designers however none of their dresses seemed to blow me away. The Pronovias dress I chose was incredibly comfortable and made me fee really confident. Which made me realise I could not justify spending the exorbitant price for a couture gown if an off the rack dress made me feel just as comfortable. My veil was made by my Mum, shoes from Christian Louboutin from Paris and accessories from Samantha Wills Bridal. The girl's dresses were a little bit more difficult as 2 of the bridesmaids were overseas and trying to guess what sizes made it hard. I had a limited time to shop around because of my short stay in Sydney. I never really had in mind a colour until I stumbled across their White Runway dresses. 

Groomsmens Fashion

All the suits were by The Black Label in Sydney. Brendan and his team were great getting them organised and sorted in such a short period of time. Josh decided he wanted a different style and jacket colour as something a little different.  Originally the boys suits were blue to match Josh's jacket however I had to make a quick colour change to black after we had decided to go for navy bridesmaids dresses - The teal blue and the navy just did not work - so had to make a quick decision to change. 

Venue

I had never really considered an overseas wedding (even though we live in France) - I have always had the idea of getting married either at home or on an Australian farm. However after having taken my bestfriend out to the Chateau for lunch on her visit to France in 2014 (just after Josh and I got engaged) - she made the suggestion to have the wedding there - and that was it. We made the decision!  We chose to have the ceremony at the front of La Serre (the glasshouse) because of its stunning unique design and beautiful feature of the Chateau's grounds. It is said that Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (the man who designed the Eiffel Tower) also designed this Serre. Just the Chateau building itself was a spectacular backdrop for a reception on the Terrace. The "Disney like Castle" building pops out like an Oasis in the middle of the rolling green vineyards that surround the property. Our guests were blown away by the beauty of the restored Chateau including the stunning accommodation rooms. 

Wedding style/theme/colour scheme

I think the best way to describe the style of our wedding is a mix between rustic and shabby French chic. We used a lot of decorations and furniture sourced from local brocantes (second hand stores/markets) which gave the venue that rustic/shabby feel. The colour scheme was to blend with the Chateau so we used neutral/natural colours including whites, browns, peach with burlap textures. The style suited the vineyard setting of the Chateau and also the area of France where we live. We wanted our guests to enjoy a relaxing and authentic 3 day experience in the south of France which means so much to us. 

Flowers

Flowers used in my bouquet were peonies and roses. I had picked these flowers simply because they are my favourite types of flowers for wedding bouquets and were in season.  

The Ceremony

Our ceremony was a simple civil ceremony. 2 of the bridesmaids read a passage from Victor Hugo - one read it in English and the other in French, we also had a friend recite a poem. I walked down the aisle to Latched by Sam Smith (acoustic rendition by Sofia Landgren) and our 1st Dance was Real Love by Clean Bandit.

Entertainment

Words can not describe how happy we were with Brightlights and Sofia, all our guests were commenting how wonderful they were! They really made the evening! 

DIY

We were limited with the access to wedding suppliers in the area of France so a few things were sourced by ourselves:  A lot of the furniture and decorations for the pre-wedding day BBQ The guest gifts: Of local cheese, wine, bread and quince paste  Signage: For menus, tables names & buffets  Table runners 

Photographer

During the decision process of choosing whether to hold the wedding in either France or Australia, I did some quick google searching for "English wedding photographers in France" out of curiosity to see what supplier options we had. I stumbled across David's website (fell in love) and booked marked it. When we confirmed Chateau Les Carrasses at the venue our event coordinator also supplied David's details as an option. We had narrowed down the photographer list down to 2 options but the more and more I looked at Dave's website the more and more I fell in love with his style and the ambiance of his photos just suited exactly what we were looking for. Boy... did we make the best decision EVER! Everything from our first email, our catch up FaceTime sessions, the day before the wedding, preparations on the day, the wedding night to the day David left (even our social media banter now post wedding)... has been an absolute delight. Not only did we have a photographer who captured the wedding in perfect photos, we made a friend. 

Advice

We were limited with the selection of local suppliers for theming and decoration, so we had to source some items from overseas and make alternative choices.  Some key tips for planning a wedding overseas:  Make sure there is a sufficient network of suppliers in the local area  Be aware that a lot of little job tasks will pop up in the last few days - so be prepared for it  Try and stay onsite at the venue the night before guests arrive  Book great music acts - this is the KEY feature to any wedding Our wedding website was a great help!