This week’s Real (French) Wedding is Delphine and Mika’s vintage-chic celebration, shot by Pascale of Au temps d’une photo last year in the South of France. With a little (!) help from their friends, Delphine and Mika mix-and-matched their personal style, humor and love of vintage into a gorgeous party that was 100% them.
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!
Weddings in France have had a complete design revolution since I first started planning weddings here in Paris “way back when”. At the time, French weddings were pretty traditional, and DIY weddings- at least in the “Martha Stewart Omnimedia” sense- had yet to catch on. But catch on they have. For more than a year or two, French brides have been bringing their own Frenchie flavor to the DIY wedding table. It’s whimsical, romantic, unique and above all else- stylish.
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.
It still amazes me how you can be in the absolute thick of vibrant, bustling Paris one moment, and then less than 30 minutes later you can find yourself in the heart of the sleepiest, most picture-postcard French countryside. This really comes in handy when I’m working with wedding clients like Dana and Arnaud- who were both a little bit country/ a little bit rock-n-roll. The natural solution for them was to have their wedding ceremony in a church just a stones-throw away from the Eiffel Tower, and then move the whole party out of town- to a quaint little village just 20 minute south of the Paris péripherique.
We carried this City-meets-Country vibe throughout the entire evening, contrasting the vibrant tastes and colors that you’d expect to find in a fashionable bistro on the Faubourg St. Honoré (the dinner menu was designed by the bride, who happens to be a food blogger) with the champêtre ambiance of a country manor. Friends and family representing over 12 different countries flew into town to share the day with these guys- something that definitely gave their quadrilingual Toastmaster a run for his money. Glückwünsche! Congratulazioni! onnea! Tillykke! Félicitations to you both!
photo © fred marigaux
photo © fred marigaux
photo © fred marigaux
photo © fred marigaux, cake by sugarplum cake shop
photos © fred marigaux
photo © fred marigaux
photo © fred marigaux
