For those that feel a little rain will ruin your big day, allow us to showcase the prettiest villa wedding that just so happened to be a backup plan. For it was a flawless ‘Plan B’ that quickly had this couple covered, meaning the ceremony moved indoors (which turned out totally romantic) and they forwent alfresco for covered candlelight. It’s incredibly beautiful and truly convincing that love can brave any storm and we’ve got it all captured by Brosnan Photographic in The Vault!
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From Brosnan Photographic…Allison and Tim chose to get married in the South of France at a beautiful private villa just outside Grasse. Unfortunately, as the weather turned to rain the morning of the wedding a quick back up plan was put into place and the ceremony and reception were moved to covered areas in the pool house which actually worked a treat. By the end of the day the sun came out for a beautiful sun setting session. France offers amazing light for portraits.
From the Bride… Our journey began as neighbors when Allison, the bride, was 11 years old and Tim, the groom, was 13. We first officially met playing ‘Man Hunt’ in our neighborhood, and years later in high school Tim AIM messaged Allison “Will you go out with me ;)” and our love story began! A huge part of our journey together has revolved around adventure and travel. Between living in New England, New York, Florida, and Sydney Australia we have made countless homes but have always known our true home is wherever we are together. We have traveled around the world creating our love story, so an intimate destination wedding was a natural choice for us. The romance, color palette, and timelessness of the South of France drew us to the location. Our venue, Villa Le Castelet, nestled into the hillside of the Cote d’Azur surrounded by olive trees, vineyards, and citrus trees with stunning views of the valley, became the stunning backdrop for our celebration.
Planning our wedding while living in Australia was daunting, but we found the perfect company in Marie-Emilie and her team at Mon Plus Beau Jour to ease the stress. Marie-Emilie captured our essence in all the details, seamlessly organized our perfect day, and helped gather the literal Dream Team of wedding vendors. We could not have celebrated our wedding with such joy and effortlessness without the help of Marie-Emile, her team, and all the vendors we had the pleasure of being surrounded by on that day.
We chose the talented Christina from Brosnan Photographic to photograph our wedding. Christina’s photographs encapsulate the soft and romantic light that the South of France provides and each image is quite possibly more beautiful than the next. Her calm nature and approach left us feeling relaxed, which led to stunning photographs portraying our true selves. Sebastian from MotionCraft Creative complimented Christina’s photography with artistic and masterful cinematography…and let’s not forget his video drone that stole the show! Sebastian’s unobtrusive approach allowed for great candid moments.
We have the absolute best friends and family who flew from all parts of the world to celebrate our love, and we are forever grateful to everyone who took this journey with us. We spent an unforgettable week at Villa Le Castelet together, every day filled with sunshine. However, rain storms rolled in the morning of our wedding and we lost power in the afternoon while my ‘maids were getting their hair done (!), but that didn’t stop us! Who doesn’t like dancing in the rain?! They say you can’t untie a wet knot, so we channeled positive energy to create an even more beautiful day than originally planned.
Marie-Emilie swiftly and seamlessly put into place our “rain plan”. Our lovely florists, Studio Mondine, transformed a covered terrace on the villa property into a whimsical and romantic ceremony venue. White chairs lined with greenery complimented the stone walls of the terrace, leading to a perfect arbor of greenery to complete the intimate space. It was important for Tim and I to personalize our ceremony, so having Tim’s father as our celebrant allowed for the dialogue to be candid, thoughtful, and full of memories. We hand picked instrumental songs – including the theme song of “Gladiator”, our favorite movie, which was perfectly executed by a pianist and violinist while Tim stood with his groomsmen. “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles played as I turned the corner arm in arm with my dad, and quite literally the sun came out from behind the clouds at that moment. It was epic and magical.
Cocktail hour was held by the pool and our ears were filled with the angelic voice of Lizzy Parks accompanied by her talented musicians. Scrumptious canapes and cocktails by the spectacular team from Chef a Domicile were served in a wonderfully bright and fun set up by Mon Plus Beau Jour with a fresh fruit market stand as our escort display.
Our dinner was held downstairs under another stone clad terrace that was transformed into the most elegant, romantic, and intimate setting thanks to our dream team. Every detail was in place with stunning floral arrangements of blush, cream, soft greenery and a pop of yellow complimented by candlelight and filled with love! We were lucky to spend the week eating delicious meals prepared by Lori and her team at Chef a Domicile, and even more lucky that Lori and her staff were more than caterers. They were friends, helpers, and joy bringers and the beautiful meal they served for our wedding was the perfect culmination of all their efforts. We for-went a traditional wedding cake and instead “cut the cheese” – our cake was made of cheese wheels. The perfect late night snack – am I right? Parfait!
Let’s not forget the party! DJ Thomas Dusseune brought down the house spinning music from all decades to create the perfect atmosphere. Our first dance transitioned from Otis Redding into Michael Jackson -inviting the dancing machines that are our friends and family to the dance floor! It was the perfect ending to this magical adventure. Our friends and family cannot stop talking about every single vendor – from the food, the decor, the flow, the detail, the music – it was all a hit. As Marie-Emilie put quite eloquently “Rain cultivates growth in all things” and our wedding day, although full of rain, cultivated growth in our friendships, our love, and our marriage. We know that we will continue grow together with joy, romance, and of course adventure.
Photography: Brosnan Photographic | Cinematography: MotionCraft Creative | Event Planning + Design: MON PLUS BEAU JOUR | Floral Design: Studio Mondine | Wedding Dress: Mira Mandic | Bride's Shoes: Harriet Wilde | Jewelry: Swarovski | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Joanna August | Catering: Lori's Catering | Hair + Makeup: Daniel Chavey | Calligraphy: PCB Home | Lighting: Mix and Light | DJ: Thomas Dusseune | Groom's Attire: Joe Black | Venue: Le Castelet | Second Photographer: Studio Brown | Veil: Mira Mandic | Vocals: Lizzy Parks
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