Married in a private ceremony six years ago, it was finally time to celebrate with their loved ones and when they did so, these two pulled out all the stops. The most stylish of all? The wedding dress, custom designed by the Bride herself (a new career is calling Mrs.; it’s GORGEOUS). But it’s just one magical moment of many from this film by Zen Film Works that captivated my attention and never let go – enjoy!
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From the couple… If we had to tell you one thing about us, it would be that we are so thankful. Thankful that we’ve been brought together and that whatever obstacle that has been put in our way we have overcome together. As many of you know all too well, it’s been hard and difficult at times and we’d do it all over again if it brought us to this very moment. After six years of being married, we are so excited to finally have a wedding and to celebrate it with you all!
When Paul and I began to plan the wedding our first vision was France, history, Chateau Versailles and romance. So we planned a two week holiday traveling around France visiting various Chateaux all around the country – nine to be exact! We learned a lot in the process because we thought we wanted this pristine chateau just like Versailles, but the more chateaux we saw, the more we envisioned somewhere steeped in history. We wanted it to be in someone’s cherished home and not just a museum and we also wanted a local village to not feel so isolated with just having a chateau for our wedding. We felt that instantly when we saw Chateau de Saint-Loup in Saint-Loup-Lamaire. So much so that without even going into the actual chateau, Baharak began to cry because she just knew that this was where we were actually going to get married after all these years.
Now that our beautiful chateau was chosen we began to think about where we were having the ceremony and reception and this would play a huge part in the colour scheme and style of the wedding. We wanted the wedding to feel romantic, ethereal, simple and elegant on the general scheme. As we had a naturally beautiful Chateau with beautiful grounds and gardens to work with, it was easy to establish that theme throughout. We wanted to keep the colour palette light and airy, choosing mostly white, antique pinks and some speckled gold for the flowers and decor and into the night we wanted that romantic candlelight feeling as we were dining in the garden.
The most unique element to the wedding for us was that this really was a family wedding. Baharak wanted her family to play a huge part of our wedding as everyone lives so far apart and this was not only our wedding, but a huge family reunion for her. As her family had a broad range of skills, she asked many of her family to participate at her wedding. Her mother owns salons in the US with her two sisters, so her mother did her hair and her Aunt Barbod did her makeup. Baharak’s brother was her Man of Honour and her two cousins were standing beside her too. Her Uncle Patrick officiated the ceremony. Her mother and father walked her down the aisle and both gave her away. This was important because six years ago, only Baharak’s parents were present for our secret civil ceremony, nobody else. It meant a lot to them to give their daughter away amongst family and friends. During the reception Baharak’s other cousins belly danced and break danced for the guests.
Baharak and I included a lot of our own work and details into this wedding. The menus were created and made by us. All the signs at the wedding were handcrafted by Paul. The biggest handmade detail was that Baharak hand made both of her wedding dresses and her veil. She created both dresses in a month and half, and her veil was created the night before the wedding.
Another unique element, as we had nobody present at our civil ceremony, was that we wanted to have something showcased in our home always that reminded us of all the people that shared our big day. We therefore had a custom made wedding certificate hand painted with a picture of the Chateau and beautiful calligraphy, with space for every guest to sign it as witnesses of our marriage. This is now hanging proudly in our home.
My wedding gowns and veil were made by myself. I chose to make my dresses as I had tried on many gowns off-the-rack and had felt that these wouldn’t feel very special as someone else was wearing the same design! I wanted a one of a kind ‘Baharak Nekessa’ dress. I wanted the dress to be simple, elegant, timeless, but a little bit edgy. I did not want to put any embroidery, applique or anything that would deter from the draping on the dress, as that is my favourite thing to do. I decided I would highlight this with my veil which had unusual glittery speckled dots in ivory all over in tulle. My wedding dress was made in Silk Chiffon. A lot of people won’t have known that the entire top of the dress is one piece of fabric that carries on from the front, drapes to the back and comes back to the front and to the hem. The night before the wedding I sewed my veil together in half an hour. My second wedding dress, for the evening, was entirely sewn by hand! The beaded fabric was so delicate that on any machine the needle just kept breaking! I wanted to party so I designed a dress that was fun and sexy for the night.
My biggest piece of advice to a bride-to-be is not everything is going to go as you had planned. In the end it doesn’t really matter and only you will know when something isn’t right. Just have fun and enjoy the moment, because it really does go by so quickly!
Photography: Claire Morris | Cinematography: Zen Film Works | Event Planning: Chateaux Avenue | Floral Design: French Flower Style | Wedding Dress: Baharak Nekessa (bride) | Cake: Stephanie Guerin | Invitations: The Dandelion Patch | Bride's Shoes: Christian Louboutin | Catering: Le petite France | Make up: Tanaz Salon | Hair: Tanaz Salon | Groom's Suit: Reiss | Venue: Chateau de Saint-Loup | Music: DJ Toma Toma