It looks like vintage weddings are here to stay on both sides of the Atlantic (hallelujia!), BUT  it’s up to you to make the look your own. If you just can’t imagine yourself drinking out of mason jars or batting around bunches of balloons at your vintage wedding, take a page out of Delphine and Mika’s book and 1) keep it simple: select a few vintage pieces that work well in your wedding location- (i.e.: if it doesn’t make sense to have a big ole Remington typewriter in the middle of a field- don’t bring one!), 2) keep it personal: Delphine always loved the rose and peony patterns in vintage Liberty of London fabrics, so she used that as the foundation of their wedding look, 3) keep it chic: well, these images speak for themselves!

For more fun photos of Delphine and Mika’s big day, take a look at the Au temps d’une photo blog!

Like the late 18th-century French “Marvelous Ones” that undoubtedly inspired the line, the pretty packages of sweet eye shadows, luscious lipsticks, and flower petal blushes are a delicious mix of femininity and decadence that we Ladurée lovers have come to expect.  The collection is slated to launch in Europe in the fall, followed by the U.S. at the end of 2012.  Until then- we can only dream…

I’ve decided to highlight some of these weddings in a new feature- Vrai Mariage du Mercredi - Real (French) Wedding Wednesday.  Sometimes these will be my own clients’ Paris-based weddings, but more often it will be weddings from other parts of France. I thought it would be a great way for parisian party readers to find inspiration for adding that petite touche française to their home-grown celebrations.

The first Vrai Mariage du Mercredi is Benjamin and Mariette’s, which took place in a little village in the South-West of France in the Poitou-Charentes region. Their country wedding, shot by American destination wedding photographer David Blair,  is so sweet and charming- I actually felt jealous that I hadn’t been invited (never mind that I don’t even know Benjamin and Mariette - #thatsbesidesthepoint). Take a look at all of these great ideas for a French country wedding:

Even if French Country isn’t your thing- you know you love this French Country, right?  For more images from this beautiful villa wedding, be sure to take a look at the davidblairphotography blog.

photo © myfrenchcountryhome.com

While in the U.S. the holiday season has been over and forgotten about for nearly a week now, things are still going strong here in France.  This week, on January 6th, France will celebrate the Epiphany, the day the 3 Kings arrived to see the baby Jesus.  Here in France, the Epiphany is celebrated with a Galette des Rois- a special “kings cake” made of layers of puff pastry and filled with chocolate and pear, apple, or the more traditional frangipane (an almond-flavored paste).  Although pretty yummy by itself,  the highlight of the Galette des Rois is finding the fève.  The fève is a small, ceramic figurine which is baked inside the cake. Typically, the cake is sliced, and the youngest child in the household gets to determine who gets which slice.  Whoever finds the fève in their slice of cake gets to wear a paper crown and be King (or Queen) for the day.  I can imagine that in the U.S. a hard, pointy figurine baked into a cake would be considered a safety risk, but that’s not at all the case in France, where you’ll see lines of galette-hungry customers snaking out of  bakeries across the country.

If you want to take part in the festivities, why not try this simple Galette des Rois recipe at home? A quick search on ebay pulls up a small (and pricey) selection of French fèves, but you can also do like they do in New Orleans and bake a small plastic baby in your “King Cake” instead. You can find the mini babies at any store that sells baby shower decorations. Vive le roi et vive la reine!

- © parisian party, january 2010