Gascony Wedding by Polly Alexandre Photography
First things first, this three-day French countryside fête captured by Polly Alexandre Photography has redefined the romance category for me. How you ask? Simple – hand written letters as invitations. Classic, personal, yet an oh so chic touch – be still my hopeless romantic heart. Of course that was just the first of many reasons I fell in love with this intimate occassion – from the parasol-carrying, blush-wearing bridesmaids to the Bride’s incredibly romantic lace cap sleeve dress to the picture perfect countryside setting, it all makes for a full gallery of romance redefined.
Click here for the FULL wedding!
From Polly of Polly Alexandre Photography… The couple rented the private village of Castelnau des Fiemarcon in Lagarde, Gascony, France, and held a three-day celebration for their wedding. Kate is definitely up there as one of the emotional brides I have worked with, and the day was an incredibly moving, emotional, fun and relaxed celebration. The beauty of a destination wedding is being able to spend so much time with family & friends and here they all stayed with the couple in the little houses in the village. The night before their wedding was a BBQ (Click here for photos!), and the day after held a wonderful meal and tour of a private vineyard with wine tasting. I love the pretty little French soaps and beautiful booklet that greeted us on arrival — a custom guide to the weekend’s festivities, who was staying where and what was happening. Each morning a little bag of fresh French pastries were left outside our rooms … the perfect pick-me-up with with a cup of steaming coffee. It was an absolute pleasure to work with Mike and Kate, and I wish them lots of love for the longest, strongest and happiest marriage together and many years of dog-owning joy!
From the bride… Mike and I wanted our wedding to be personal and decided that we would do away with some of the formalities of traditional weddings and do it “our way” instead. Our invitations were handwritten letters to our guests, we didn’t have wedding favors or a wedding cake and, instead of a guestbook, we took Polaroid photographs of all of our guests at sunset and asked them to write their messages on the back. We chose not to hire a wedding planner and instead, managed to find all of our suppliers in France with the help of the manager of our venue, Didier, who was fantastic. We also had a lot of help from our friends. The husband of one of my bridesmaids created our table plan, table numbers and little personalized information packs that we left for each of our guests on their beds. My mum created a beautiful pagoda out of white muslin for the aisle, which she made using shepherd’s crooks, ribbon and tiny vases filled with heads of white roses. Our family helped us with the mammoth supermarket shop that was required to ensure that 60 people had enough food and drink for three days! One of Mike’s ushers drove to the bakery at the crack of dawn on the wedding day to ensure that everyone had fresh croissants for breakfast. It was really touching to see everyone pitch in.
The wedding day itself was completely perfect. One of the highlights for me (apart from marrying Mike!) was opening the beautiful and thoughtful presents he had bought for me. They were presented to me in a huge white box wrapped in ribbon. Inside there were four individually wrapped presents: something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. The something “blue” was a blue leather passport cover engraved with my married initials. The something “old” was a first edition of Captain Correlli’s Mandolin, an excerpt of which was read during our ceremony. The something “borrowed” was a photo of Pearl, a dog we look after for one of our friends, framed in a vintage silver frame. (I imagine that this sounds very strange, but we have Pearl to thank for meeting our brilliant wedding photographer, Polly Alexandre.) Finally, the something “new” was an amazing pair of diamond earrings, which I wore that day. The rest of the day went without a hitch. Our ceremony took place on the hillside in the afternoon, and after dinner and the speeches, as the sun set, we drank Armagnac under the pagoda that my mum had created. One thing that Mike and I really wanted was for our wedding day to end with a proper party. Since we had the whole village to ourselves, there was no “closing time” as such, and that certainly helped! I am proud to say that Mike and I were amongst the last ones standing at 5 a.m. the next morning! I always thought that people exaggerated when they said this, but I can honestly say that the day I married Mike was the best day of my life.
Wedding Photographer: Polly Alexandre Photography / Wedding Venue: Castelnau des Fieumarcon / Wedding Dress: Suzanne Neville / Shoes: Christian Louboutin / Hair + Makeup: Antonia Krieger of Elle au Naturel / Bride’s Robe: Matinee Kimono by Agent Provocateur / Groom’s Suit, Shirt + Tie: Stowers Bespoke / Groom’s Shoes: Dolce & Gabbana / Flowers: Le Jardin des Fleurs / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Whistles / Bridesmaids’ Shoes: Halston Heritage / Stationery: Smythson of Bond Street / Band: RLS Animation / Catering: Fabrice Biasiolo
26 Comments about “Gascony Wedding by Polly Alexandre Photography”
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What beautiful, unique and romantic dresses!
You can wipe that smile off her face! I believer her! Also where did she get those fantastic shoes?!
Oh my gosh -- renting a private village? What a dream! Also, that robe is to die for!
Ooh la la, le swoon! That Polly Alexandre does it again (and again, and again...)
That robe is lovely, I think it is $700!
Yeah, a private VILLAGE?! Dying. Just dying.
Where did this bride buy those gorgeous parasols? they are trully heaven!! Please let me know
very, very nice, nice light pastel shades to everything, beautiful.
Where is that robe from!? It is GORGEOUS!!!!! The whole wedding is beautiful as well :)
Loved reading the brides story!
this one is a beauty! LOVE the bridesmaids dresses.
I would LOVE to know the style number of your gown. I absolutely died when I saw it - it's perfect! If you wouldn't mind emailing the info to me I would be so grateful! (offerman@mc.edu) Also, where did you get the parasols from? Best wishes!
Wow! These pictures are STUNNING.... The bride and the wedding dress strikes me as "CLASSIC BEAUTY"
My son was looking at the shoe and said, "Is that a 'cake' shoe mommy?" lol He's used to everything around me being made out of sugar, hahaha!
Oh God! This is the perfect dress!!! I would also like to know the style number of this gown. Meagan if you know this please let me know!!! maria_diplan@hotmail.com Tks! Best Wishes Ever!
Stunning! I love all the lace details throughout the wedding. So fitting for the location.
Stunning and vibrant as always from Polly!
That robe is AMAZING! I wish I had $900 in our wedding budget right about now :-)
Love the robe!! In fact just put one on hold at my Agent Provocateur to go and have a look at tomorrow. Your whole wedding looks stunning - a real inspiration thank you :)
@AliciaA720: The shoes are Christian Louboutin.
@MM: The robe is the Matinee Kimono robe from Agent Provocateur.
@Gabi, @Meagan, @Maria Diplan: I've sent an email out to find out about the parasols and Suzanne Neville dress number. Hopefully we hear back soon. Thanks for reading, everyone!
what elegant and flattering bridesmaid dresses!
Hi everyone! Thanks for featuring this wedding SMP! Loved reliving their day...
I can answer the question about the parasols: Kate got them from an online boutique who shipped them direct to France for her. http://www.enchantedweddingboutique.co.uk/boutique/prod_918128-Emma-Lace-Wedding-Parasol-White.html
I will get back to you later on the dress. Polly xx
Really, really pretty wedding! The bride looks so gorgeous and happy! I absolutely love the bridesmaid's dresses!!
So pretty!
The brides and her bridesmaids.. all classic beauties! :)
Hello again everyone! The dress style is Maiden by Suzanne Neville.
Love it! Beautiful ceremony!
Hi Noel,
We did post a message regarding the dress being requested by one of your site visitors, but having spoken to our web chap he thinks it may have been picked up by your spam due to the'link' he gave me! (Sometimes technical people make me swear...)
@ Gabi - @Meagan and @Maria Diplan - Suzanne Neville 'Maiden' gown in a delicate ivory french lace over silk satin with a fitted bust, lace straps, and a soft fishtail skirt with train. The dress is on view on our website and is available through all Suzanne Neville stores and stockists.
I hope this helps, and should you require any more information, please hit the contact button on our website.
Many Thanks
Katherine
PR @ Suzanne Neville