Hannah wore Monique Lhullier to get married to Sam at Chateau Camon in France.
Sam popped the question on a freezing weekend city break in Copenhagen. We knew we wanted to get married within the year but instead of a London wedding we wanted something a little bit different. My mum and step-dad own a house in the south of France so that, paired with the fairly reliable weather, made it seem like an obvious choice.
We got married officially on Friday 18th September in my family’s local Marie in Ventenac-Cabardes then said our vows in front of family and friends on Sunday 20th September 2015 at L’Abbaye-Chateau de Camon, France.
Read the rest of Hannah's story by clicking through the gallery...
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
1
Unknown
Deciding to get married in France wasn’t exactly a hardship, but finding the right venue proved more difficult. We wanted to get married in France, mainly because my mum and step-dad have a house just outside of Carcassonne, but also because we feel so relaxed when we’re out there.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
2
Unknown
The chateau wasn’t easy to find - my mum searched through a list of 26 to find it. While we knew we wanted something traditional with some rustic charm, we quickly learnt that French wedding criteria isn’t the same. Camon had it all and meant we could hire the whole place out for the entire weekend.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
3
Unknown
We found the traditional French jazz manouche band on YouTube and convinced them to drive down from Marseille for the day. A promise of lunch and a glass of red wine helped.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
4
Unknown
Despite deciding early on that I didn’t want a lace wedding dress, the team at Browns Bride found the perfect Monique Lhuillier dress that suited both me and the venue.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
5
Unknown
I never liked the idea of having all of my bridesmaids in the same colour so picked out a simple dress from J Crew and gave them free reign to pick their own colour and styles.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
6
Unknown
Since the wedding was in France we felt it was only fair to have a giant after dinner cheese board (complete with my mum’s homemade fig chutney). We also traded an iced wedding cake for a French croquembouche that doubled up as a sweet treat with after dinner coffee.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
7
Unknown
Sam’s ushers were given free reign to pick their own suits bearing in mind the French weather which crept up to 26 degrees on the day.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
8
Unknown
We wanted our guests to feel relaxed so while we were having our family photos taken they entertained themselves with games of croquet and cooled off sitting by the pool.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
9
Unknown
Being obsessed with flowers, I really wanted our flowers to have the natural, relaxed aesthetic so called on the talents of Gali M Atelier Fleuriste in Toulouse to interpret the other-worldly charm of the venue.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
10
Unknown
Katie and Peter at Chateau Camon were pretty relaxed when it came to kick-out times, so after dinner we hired a French DJ to play our favourite early nineties classics until the early hours of the morning!
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
11
Unknown
One of our favourite parts of the chateau was the secret garden. Hidden behind the monk’s hall it was the perfect spot to put our feet up for 5 minutes in between our vows and the wedding breakfast.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
12
Unknown
We commissioned Eleen from Gal and Fellow to create something unique for our wedding invitations. Needless to say she didn’t disappoint, despite spending hours negotiating the complex folding process.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
13
Unknown
We wanted to take a bit of London with us for the day, so ordered our eco-friendly wedding rings from Lila in East Dulwich - a nice reminder of where we bought our first house together.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
14
Unknown
One of the most memorable moments of the day was getting ready and hearing our guests arriving, clinking their miniature glass bottles of lemonade to the soundtrack of French jazz.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
15
Unknown
My shoes were classic Jimmy Choos, bought at a sample sale before I’d even found my wedding dress. Four inch heels, covered in glitter and unbelievably comfortable - it was meant to be.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
16
Unknown
Our photographer Andreas Holm had been recommended to us by some of our friends and colleagues. Lucky for us, he was willing to travel up from Malaga for the weekend. His first words as he walked through the chateau doors: ‘my eyes are bleeding, it’s so beautiful’. Praise, indeed.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
17
Unknown
The dressing up suitcase was my favourite part of planning the wedding, even though we only got a few polaroids back from the night, the addition of glow sticks, glow-in-the-dark ears, animal masks and French-themed props went down a storm.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
18
Unknown
Even though I never wanted to take my dress off, for the evening I removed the bustle skirt, hooked up the train and traded my veil for a hair clip I’d found in Zara two days before we flew out to France. The best last-minute panic buy of my life.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
19
Unknown
There was something really special about getting married outside, under blue skies, at the end of September - even more so considering it was cloudy on the days either side of the wedding.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
20
Unknown
Despite being in France we traded Champagne for bottles of the local Blanquette de Limoux for the drinks reception and served our favourite Clos du Gravillas, a local sweet wine, alongside our Eton Mess dessert.