Romantic Spring Destination Wedding in Paris

Escaping to Paris with the one you love? That's about as good as it gets. But do it with makeup guru Sanni Sorma and photo genius Ian Holmes by your side, and you'll get a destination "I do" with pin-worthy moments from start to finish. It's just the ticket to wrap up this Wedding Wednesday, and the pretty goes on in the gallery right here.
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From The Bride... Nobody can deny that marrying your best friend is one of the most special moments in life...but having the opportunity to marry him in Paris in undeniably the most romantic thing in this world. At least it was for me…

Everyone asks, why Paris?

I should start by saying it was not a life long dream for me to wed in Paris. In fact, I had visited Paris as a teenager and wasn’t a huge fan. But, when I met Tim (hubs), I learned very quickly that traveling to Paris was on his bucket list. So, I knew we would go there together at some point and was curious to revisit the City of Lights as an adult! The thought never crossed my mind that we would one day marry there.

We looked into venues all over California and nothing clicked. We were waiting for that place we would walk into and just “know”, because everyone told us that would happen. After nearly a year of searching, I was beginning to feel like we were going to turn into that couple who was engaged for life. Then, one day while searching the Internet for new ideas, I came across a wedding photo of a couple in Paris and fell in love. At that point, I knew there were no other options. Voila, our search had ended.

Six short months later, we arrived in Paris with 48 of our closest family and friends. While we did hire a wedding planner, we did most of the work ourselves via the Internet & I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised at how well things turned out! Thank you Style Me Pretty for all your inspiring posts!!!

Our adventure began on Friday evening with a group picnic at Champs De Mars, where we enjoyed baguettes, cheese, fruit & wine. Then, we all hopped on a double decker bus for a private tour of the city. It was fantastic! Everyone sat up top and took in the scenery of Paris while catching up with old friends and making new ones. We had the bus drop us off at Hotel Balzac, where we continued the party over cocktails.

Saturday, we met our guests in the 12th Arrondissement where we set off on an evening cruise of the river Seine. We were blessed with great weather and a beautiful sunset. Truly, there is no better way to see the sights of Paris.

It seemed like Sunday arrived in a flash! Tim and I decided to do a first look so we would have more time to celebrate with our family and friends. We rented a classic Rolls Royce for the occasion—and I quickly learned how hard it was to get in and out of a car in a wedding dress! We visited the Louvre and a couple other locations for photos before stopping at a café for a quick pre wedding cocktail.

From the moment we stepped into our venue, it was magical. I found Maison Des Polytechniciens online while searching for a reception location & was blown away by the intricate details of the interior. Tim and I also really wanted a small intimate wedding & we were lucky enough to get the entire venue to ourselves. Therefore, we decided to host both the ceremony and reception there.

Paris was everything we had dreamed of and more. What we loved most was that we were able to spend quality time with each and everyone one of our guests over the weekend. We got to enjoy watching my Mom experience her first trip to Europe, hear stories of friends reconnecting with their husbands over their travels, and got to witness the magic of Paris through my 8 year old cousin’s eyes. And, just as we hoped, by the time we hit the reception, all 50 of us were family.

The night ended with us sneaking a quick trip to the Eiffel Tower for a photo, while our guests took a dance break from dinner. We came back, ate croquembouche, and then cabbed it to the nightclub Queen to dance…because what else would you do in Paris?!
Vendors
Photography: Ian Holmes | Wedding Planner: Bride & Adair Currie | Floral Design: Dairing Events - Adair Currie | Wedding Dress: Pronovias | Cake: Dalloyau | Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Makeup: Sanni Sorma | Hair: Sonja Stein | Groom's Attire: Anthony Franco | Transportation: Classic Rents | Boat Cruise: Canauxrama | Groom's Shoes: Cole Haan | Bus Rental: France Tourisme | Invitations & Paper Goods: Heather O'Brien | Ceremony & Reception Venue: Maison Des Polytechniciens