It is a little change to the regular scheduling today with a country style wedding at Chateau de Graville to the South of Paris, captured by Sylvain le Lepvrier. Aurelie and Alexandre met during our first year studying at European Business School, where it began as a standard friendship but soon changed into something else.

The couple choose to get married near Alexandre countryside house and they planned a country-style / bucolic wedding. Aurelie especially wanted to make as many things as possible on her own, including a lot of DIY elements for the tables. It was important for them to remind everyone that they were not only near a castle but rather into a forest.

The couple therefore we decided to use a lot of wood, of vintage objects, flowers... Inspiration was not hard to find, especially in Pinterest which soon became Aurelie number 1 website, followed by tons of wedding blogs either in French or in English.

The couple take us through their big day: "For some suppliers we asked for help or recommendation from relatives. This is how we found the DJ, the amazing florist (who is actually friend with a relative) or the Wedding car. As for the caterer we decided to test several we found on the web and one we had the chance to try the year before. This is actually the one we went for!

For other suppliers such as our photographer, the wedding dress or the Brunch caterer we crossed the web and chose with a list we established for each partner (depending on the general feeling we had, price of course and moreover how we enjoyed talking with them). We almost always went for the ones we felt good and reassured with.

The wedding dress was from Laure de Sagazan and Alexandre wore a blue suit from French tailor Hartwood. The tie, white shirt and shoes also were from Hartwood. The cuff links were Paul Smith.

On the day the big unknown was the weather. The wedding was at 3pm and it rained (heavily) from 6am to 2pm. But when Alexandre got to the church waiting for the Bride to join him the rain stopped and we even had the chance to have some bits of blue sky from time to time.

We got prepared each in a different place and did not speak to each other before the ceremony. Aurelie enjoyed the time with her mother and best friend, while Alexandre managed to put the final touch to the reception place (balloons, flowers...).

The wedding ceremony was definitely a success. Aurelie thought the music was going to be just okay (as we only planned to have a CD) but Alexandre and his family had set up a surprise: a Gospel band was there. Aurelie entering the church and realizing halfway to the altar that a (great) gospel group was singing is definitely one of the best memories of our life.

After the ceremony everyone headed to the Chateau de Graville were we enjoyed the reception, dinner and party.

We remember many things of the day but if we had to choose the most memorable moments we would go for: enjoying our friends during the entire night (chatting, laughing, dancing...), our parents speeches, the video our best men and bridesmaid shot and the few moment we shared together when all of the sudden we had a minute without anyone talking to us!

We did not face any particular issues planning our wedding in France, other than finding the right people to create the perfect wedding we wanted. We were thrilled with our photographer, caterer, florist for instance but kind of disappointed with the DJ or the Brunch caterer.

It is important to find people you can trust so that you can rely on them completely and not worry about anything during the day. Be careful with the weather as, especially if you do not get married in the very South, rain can happen any day... Always have a back-up plan in case of rain..."

Wedding Suppliers:

Wedding Photographer: Sylvain Le Lepvrier | Wedding Venue: Thomery church (77) | Wedding Reception Venue: Chateau de Graville (77) | Wedding Dress: Laure de Sagazan | Bridesmaid Accessories: Bow Ties "Le Colonel Moutarde" | Grooms Outfit: Hartwood suit | Grooms Shoes and accessories: Hartwood shoes and tie, Paul Smith cuff links | Bride/ Groom Gifts: Ameliste wedding list | Wedding Rings: Cartier for the Engagement ring and the Groom ring. Messika for the Bride ring. |
Caterer: "Honfleur Traiteur" | Brunch Caterer: "La Caravane Dorée" | Wedding Tent: " Plein Air Evenement" | W edding Celebrant/Officiant: Father Prieux | Wedding Guest Accommodation: hotels in Fontainebleau including "L'Aigle Noir", "Le Napoléon", "Ibis" "Mercure" "Le Victoria" or "L'Hotel de Londres". | Wedding Decorations: DIY mostly