White and Gold Wedding Inspiration in a Luxe French Chateau

Melissa Hammam
May 18, 2022
Categories: Photo Shoot, Seasonal Wedding Trend, Summer, The Blog, Wedding Style

It’s elegance all the way at this luxurious French chateau wedding. Oui Mon Coeur and Katy Lunsford planned and designed a day filled with gilded details and chic touches. A light and airy palette of neutrals, combined with the natural beauty of the venue, makes this the perfect inspiration for modern brides. Images by Katy Lunsford tell a timeless love story overflowing with French style. Blooms by Veronique Lorre add to the ethereal quality of the day, get lost in all the lovely in the full gallery.

From Katy Lunsford… A historic Cognac chateau, nestled amongst endless vines in sunny, unspoiled South West France, is the setting for this luxe white and gold editorial. The chateau, which opens its doors to weddings this summer, has undergone an epic transformation over the last 5 years, taking it from near-uninhabitable to the beautiful, luxurious home we see now. Owner, Jules Berry describes finding the chateau as a sleeping castle, the ruins of a French fairytale chateau, with heaps of history, hidden behind padlocked gates in the Cognac region of the Grand Champagne. She fell in love with the beautiful light flooding the property from all angles, and decided to restore the beautiful building to her former glory – but taking it so much further. Marrying modern comforts with timeless French style, the chateau is filled with gorgeous antique French furniture, gold roll-top baths, gilded mirrors, and glittering chandeliers. It is tastefully decorated in light, neutral tones, which creates a luxurious, yet contemporary chic space. Taking on such a restoration was no mean feat – especially such a historical building, in a foreign country, and involved some serious challenges, including creating a replica spiral staircase to allow access to the tower rooms, which before this could only be accessed by crawling across a narrow roof ledge. (You can follow their fascinating renovation story on Instagram @restorethechateau). 5 years later, No. 3 The Chateau emerges as the most magical of wedding venues, with a show-stopping edge of sleek luxury, as soon as you enter those now-unlocked gates.

For this editorial, we wanted to create something that would adequately showcase this stunning new venue, without distracting from its already gorgeous interior. We chose a classic all-white color palette, with hints of gold, to complement the opulent interiors and appeal to both the modern and more traditional bride. A truly fantastic team of France-based vendors pulled together to create magic, by marrying more classic wedding ideas played against modern and chic twists, but always with a luxurious aesthetic. France-based planner and stylist, Ajna of Oui Mon Coeur, tells us more: “To bring depth to an all-white color palette, we played with varying shades of whites and neutrals with soft gold accents to create a luxe feel. We also layered in a lot of different textures to create visual interest – from blind-embossed letter-press patterns on pillowy handmade paper, to carefully placed floral lace appliqués on sheer illusion sleeves, to put white linen tablecloths layered with diaphanous silk runners, and sumptuous ivory and gold brocade napkins paired with gold-rimmed Limoges china. Our gorgeous bride Andrea wore a couture gown by Daalarna Couture in a classical silhouette – channeling a hint of Grace Kelly – with long sleeves for a late September wedding. Her more traditional cathedral-length veil and exquisite Lena Rom headpiece play against modern pearl-drop earrings. Her look is finished with luxurious Freya Rose shoes, with stunning crystal-embellished heels. The intimate ceremony is performed with the golden limestone of the chateau as a backdrop. We chose a traditional arch shape, to echo the repeated arch shapes on the chateau façade, but updated the look with a triple-arch. To give it a modern twist, talented French florist Veronique Lorre left the central arch frame mostly bare, with clusters of larger, white statement blooms, and then covered the two smaller side arches in a modern single variety Limonium, dotted with white roses throughout.” Florist Veronique Lorre tells us more about the inspiration: “we envisioned this classical all-white wedding with a twist of modernity. We designed a triple-floral-arch statement piece to create a light, elegant and romantic ceremony backdrop that naturally echoes the arches on the chateau.”

For the cocktail hour, our couple sips signature cocktails mixed by the French Barmen by the stunning modern pool, before moving on to the romantic dinner setting. Dinner is overlooking the Cognac vines on one long, curved table with arches covered in feathery Limonium every few meters, installed as a method to hang sparkling crystal chandeliers above the open-air dinner tables. Candlelight glittered off the chandeliers and pale gold champagne awaited the guest’s arrival. Veronique Lorre tell us, “We kept the same inspiration for the reception as the ceremony – re-purposing the same arches and flowers from the ceremony – with cloudy floral arches that seem to ‘float’ over the long table and bring a whimsical, ethereal, yet intimate atmosphere to the dinner. A refined, romantic mood was infused in the centerpieces, featuring a mix of all-white hydrangeas, vases of dahlias, and arrangements in golden French-style pedestal vessels beautifully blended with garden and spray roses, while taper and pillar candles bring a magical, intimate atmosphere at night.” As the sun sets over the vines the couple sneaks away for a romantic golden hour shoot amongst the Cognac vines, and as dusk falls the candles are moved to the stone steps to create a romantic evening setting for their first dance under the stars.

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