Elegant Spring Wedding in Normandy, France
I knew I was going to love this wedding with all my being when I laid eyes on the images from Ines DiSanto, but then I read the Bride's story and I fell head over heels. That's when I realized my words could never possibly do this wedding justice. Their story will pull at your heart strings and then make you smile from ear to ear (the Groom did his Bride's wedding day hair!), so it goes without saying this gallery is one worthy of your entire weekend.
From the Bride…Our story has been a lifetime in the making. I was only ten years old when I met the boy I would one day marry. We were brought together under trying circumstances when both of our fathers had passed away. Tom and I were introduced on a particularly painful day during a funeral, but were still able to find comfort, strength, and love in each other. Since that bittersweet day in our childhood, we have experienced so many beautiful things and our relationship has flourished. We truly believe that our meeting was fate, perhaps arranged by our loved ones above. After fifteen years together, we are so happy to finally be married.
We genuinely wanted to capture this feeling of innocence and enchantment on our wedding day. Our hope was that the occasion would be an enjoyable and unforgettable experience for our intimate group of guests. And in order to satisfy our wanderlust and honor our European heritage, we knew we wanted to say, “I do” abroad. The result was a destination celebration in a small town in Normandy, France.
We planned every detail, large and small, ourselves. I was lucky enough to know enough French vocabulary in order to communicate with vendors and make arrangements. My sister-in-law picked flowers and made the boutonnieres. My mother organized the flower arrangements and set the table. And my talented husband not only hand carved a beautiful wooden box to hold our vows, but he also did my hair the morning of the wedding day! And of course choosing our reception venue, which also doubled as our accommodations for the week-long celebration, was an easy decision to make because the historical château and grounds were absolutely stunning.
However, I must admit that our wedding would not have been possible without all of the wonderful locals who helped us tremendously. To our luck, we found an incredibly generous priest who agreed to marry us in a striking 12th-century church. Not only did our priest give us a wonderful ceremony, but he also revealed to us that he had decorated the church especially for us, admitting his other passion besides his spiritual work of course, included interior design. A friend and local hotel owner lent us his common area for cocktail hour and provided delicious treats ranging from champagne to macaroons. And besides the decorations and extraordinary food supplied by our amazing caterers from Honfleur Traiteur, all of the flowers, the wedding cake, and other small touches were provided from the local shops in the area. Also worth mentioning is our incredible photography team, Lmvisual, who truly captured every treasured detail of the entire event and perfectly portrayed the beauty of the area. It was honestly touching to see how much the whole town cared about our special day and their hospitality and generosity were tremendous. My advice to other couples planning a destination wedding would be to simply be nice and respectful to the people you seek help from because kindness is usually rewarded.
Our wedding completely exceeded my expectations and I will remember it as the happiest time of my life. But most of all, I will remember the feeling of love shared by all, which truly took on an energy of its own. And as our mothers like to say, our fathers shared in our special day because on the morning of our wedding day, the warm sun broke through the notorious rain clouds of Normandy and the wild flowers on the property bloomed overnight.
We genuinely wanted to capture this feeling of innocence and enchantment on our wedding day. Our hope was that the occasion would be an enjoyable and unforgettable experience for our intimate group of guests. And in order to satisfy our wanderlust and honor our European heritage, we knew we wanted to say, “I do” abroad. The result was a destination celebration in a small town in Normandy, France.
We planned every detail, large and small, ourselves. I was lucky enough to know enough French vocabulary in order to communicate with vendors and make arrangements. My sister-in-law picked flowers and made the boutonnieres. My mother organized the flower arrangements and set the table. And my talented husband not only hand carved a beautiful wooden box to hold our vows, but he also did my hair the morning of the wedding day! And of course choosing our reception venue, which also doubled as our accommodations for the week-long celebration, was an easy decision to make because the historical château and grounds were absolutely stunning.
However, I must admit that our wedding would not have been possible without all of the wonderful locals who helped us tremendously. To our luck, we found an incredibly generous priest who agreed to marry us in a striking 12th-century church. Not only did our priest give us a wonderful ceremony, but he also revealed to us that he had decorated the church especially for us, admitting his other passion besides his spiritual work of course, included interior design. A friend and local hotel owner lent us his common area for cocktail hour and provided delicious treats ranging from champagne to macaroons. And besides the decorations and extraordinary food supplied by our amazing caterers from Honfleur Traiteur, all of the flowers, the wedding cake, and other small touches were provided from the local shops in the area. Also worth mentioning is our incredible photography team, Lmvisual, who truly captured every treasured detail of the entire event and perfectly portrayed the beauty of the area. It was honestly touching to see how much the whole town cared about our special day and their hospitality and generosity were tremendous. My advice to other couples planning a destination wedding would be to simply be nice and respectful to the people you seek help from because kindness is usually rewarded.
Our wedding completely exceeded my expectations and I will remember it as the happiest time of my life. But most of all, I will remember the feeling of love shared by all, which truly took on an energy of its own. And as our mothers like to say, our fathers shared in our special day because on the morning of our wedding day, the warm sun broke through the notorious rain clouds of Normandy and the wild flowers on the property bloomed overnight.