Location: Loire Valley, France
Setting: Chateau
Wedding season: Fall
How long did the couple plan the event: 1 year
Number of guests: 160
Wedding theme/style: Garden style, classical.
Carrie is a marketing consultant who grew up in Baltimore, and Paul is a software engineer who grew up all over France. Paul and Carrie moved to NYC in 2012 and finally met in 2019 through the dating app Hinge. They went on their first date to a bar in Bowery and quickly started seeing each other almost every day. After three months of dating, they traveled to Denmark for Paul’s friend’s wedding and continued traveling together ever since. During the pandemic, they escaped NYC to Baltimore, where they spent every minute together. Life was surprisingly easy, and they knew it was meant to last. Three years later, Paul proposed while on a trip to France.
The overall wedding vision was inspired by the Loire Valley region, the gardens, and the natural surroundings of the Château de la Bourdaisière, paired with Carrie’s personal feminine style–she loves bows and pink! Since Carrie and Paul live in New York now, they wanted to combine a bit of NYC elegance with a more relaxed countryside atmosphere. The feeling of their wedding was very natural and effortless.
Their wedding’s theme was influenced by classical French toile patterns and flower markets. The floral work by Les Ephemeres played a key role in the aesthetic of Carrie and Paul’s wedding. Chloe paired local-grown vibrant summer florals in pinks, peaches, and corals inspired by the in-season gardens.
“Carrie tried to keep things natural, elegant, and timeless,” said East Made Co, the wedding planner. The bride wore an Aire Barcelona wedding gown with a bateau neckline and plunging V-back with a bow and scalloped edging. Her veil was cathedral-length and featured blush floral appliqué. The makeup look was natural and timeless, the hair was styled in a loose twist updo, and the bouquet is a lively mix of dahlias, cosmos, and zinnias in shades of pink, peach, and yellow, embodying summer’s floral bounty.
Paul wore a blue suit paired with a white shirt, a pink tie, and a vibrant boutonnière that matched Carrie’s bouquet and the wedding’s floral theme.
The venue inspired many floral decisions: Château de la Bourdaisière has over 400 varieties of dahlias in its garden, so the florist wanted to incorporate bright colors and dahlias into the wedding design. The venue also has a mix of old medieval touches and modern finishes, which inspired much of the organic meets modern design.
The stone entrance arch on the property was the perfect place for the ceremony, and Chloe provided terracotta potted plants to create a feeling that flowers were creeping up over the arch. “Working in an estate such as La Bourdaisière is always an immense pleasure because both the architecture and the environment allowed me to explore new creations and installations while respecting the site.” shared Chloe.
After their ceremony, Carrie and Paul found a quiet moment to themselves in the château’s garden. They walked hand in hand, Carrie’s veil and gown trailing gracefully, savoring their first steps together as a married couple. Later they joined the guests for a cocktail hour.
Interesting fact that Château de la Bourdaisière hosts a tomato festival every September and grows numerous varieties of tomatoes in its gardens. Chloe incorporated baby tomatoes into the floral arrangements for the ceremony and the reception centerpieces. “I was inspired by the client’s request for floral decorations and by the venue. All arrangements were created with only locally grown blooms,” said Chloe from Les Ephemeres.
The cocktail hour featured a French market-style seating display, with vases and buckets of flowers and calligraphy signs for guests to find their seats. It also included 3 separate bars, which was such a fun touch for guests.
With so many people traveling from different countries, the couple tried to communicate as much as possible in both English and French. “It was so fun to see our family and friends speaking with each other even if they didn’t speak the same language,” the bride shared.
The band trio who played for cocktail hour formed a second line, New Orleans-style, and led guests in a parade to the reception, which was across the back lawn of the Chateau.
The reception’s setting was illuminated by three slender chandeliers draped with foliage and blooms, casting a soft glow over the evening festivities. “To highlight the vaulted reception area, made of light-colored limestone stone and bathed in light through large windows, we scattered native trees and branches. The tables, delicately laid and set, were decorated with countless flowers as if naturally growing in a French garden.” described Chloe from Les Ephemeres.
The newlyweds had 2 cakes: one that was more traditionally “American wedding cake” and a Croquembouche, typical for French weddings. “A few freshly picked native shrubs and foliage rounded off the display, along with a few tomato plants and armfuls of annual flowers grown in our garden,” said Chloe.
The dinner featured a four-course meal with live music: “We had never heard our band play live and were blown away by their talent. When the lead singer started singing our first dance song, we both looked at each other and said, “Wow! They are amazing!” shared the bride.
After the band finished playing, guests partied until the early morning with a DJ. An incredible fireworks display, timed to music, pulled all of the guests outside. “The view of the Chateau, fireworks, and everyone pausing to enjoy this show was one-of-a-kind!” said Elizabeth, the wedding planner.
Advice from the couple:
• Pray for sun.
• Trust your wedding planners and vendors.
• Have fun and try not to stress. There might be a lot of stress leading up to the wedding as you’ve put a lot of time and money into planning a perfect event, but anything that happens on the day is going to be what it is, so just go with the flow, and approach everything with humor and love.
• We promised each other to stay together as much of the night as possible, and we ended up together about 80% of the night, so we shared many moments, dances, and laughs together. We were also able to find a few moments to escape and just enjoy being married and pause to take in the whole day—I would definitely recommend this!
FLORAL Les Ephemeres | PLANNING & DESIGN East Made Co | ASSISTANT PLANNER Oui Mon Coeur Weddings | PHOTOGRAPHER Taylor & Porter | VENUE Château de la Bourdaisière | BAR Esprit Cocktail | CAKE & CATERING Frédeville Traiteur | MUAH Makeup by Joleen | DRESS Aire Barcelona | SUIT Enzo Custom | STATIONERY Vidhi Dattani Design | CALLIGRAPHY Jess McSweeney | RENTAL Maison Options France | TRANSPORT Cars Millet | BAND Funk Mode | DJ Flo Angevil | COUPLE Carrie White, Paul Miard
