Rigaud Wedding's Rock- it's official!

How exciting is this, Kate and Greg's wedding from back in May has been featured on uber sophisticated top UK wedding blog  Rock My Wedding

Big love and thanks to:

Kate and Greg for sharing their amazing wedding photos and taking time to write such kind words about the planning, preparation, the big day itself (and for giving me a super sweet little mention!)

Very talented photographer Amy of Especially Amy who captured all these beautiful images.

Adam over at RMW for putting together such a lovely feature.

Team Rigaud; who totally Rock! Official!

Around the World

With summer flying past in the blink of an eye I thought I better update the blog so there are four to come in quick succession before we get into the second half of the season weddings starting this Saturday! 
Lisa and Andre came to not one but two wedding planning weekends so by the time they returned for their wedding in June it felt like seeing friends again. Groom Andre is from New Zealand and with a lot of their guests making quite lengthy journeys to join them here in France the theme of travel was carefully woven into the styling of the wedding.  The table plan was a big vintage style map of the world with carefully pinned luggage tags which featured not only the guests name but also where they had travelled from which was a lovely touch.  The place settings were amazing and featured hand made booklets with maps, the menu for the evening and a handwritted personal note to each individual guest from the bride and groom, all the hard work and effort to make these certainly paid off as they were greatly admired by everyone.  
Lisa's mum Elaine was heavily involved in the flowers and together we came up with a grand scheme involving seven rose chandeliers and a slightly more arranged look for the table centre.  With so much to do it was time to call in the cavalry, I am eternally grateful for all the help I received from Chris who made the stunning centrepieces in zinc buckets. As a competition winning flower arranger it was fantastic to work with her and I learnt lots from her.
Great photos again from Steve!

Each medium 'chandelier' had 50 roses tied on the morning of the wedding. Photo by Steve Carss

6 rose chandeliers the length of the wedding barn. Photo by Steve Carss

Double width table with lilac runner (provided by the bride). Photo by Steve Carss

'Hicksville' sound check in the wedding barn. Photo by Steve Carss

Fabulous table flower arrangements by Chris. Photo by Steve Carss

Wicker cone on barn door. Photo by Steve Carss

Vintage map table plan. Photo by Steve Carss

Lisa brought these beautiful hand-made place settings. Photo by Steve Carss

Place settings which featured a hand written message to each individual guest. Photo by Steve Carss

Rose chandelier in barn. Photo by Steve Carss

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Sometimes the most beautiful things come in small packages, this weeks wedding was an excellent example of this. Just twenty very special people were invited to join Susie and Chris at their intimate wedding on Midsummer's Eve. The date provided the perfect theme; the bride looked breathtaking in an ethereal sage green dress, the groom very dapper in a green tweed shooting jacket, voluminous jewel coloured flowers and a table setting fit for feast.  There were lots of little details which really added a personal touch, I loved their 'Save the Date' which was a packet of forget-me-not seeds with a note attached asking guests to grow the flowers and use as confetti. On the day before the wedding we made individual intials for each place setting using florists wire and Rosemary from the garden. The cheese course took the form of an old Rigaud barn door mounted on two wine barrels and dressed with fruit, succulents, flowers and the brides very own homemade chilli jam driven all the way from the north of England, simply put it was a Midsummer Night's Dream.

Gorgeous graphics and ingenious 'save the date'

Susie's bouquet of peony, rose, delphinium, astibille and nigella

Buttonhole with succulent, lavender, rose and rosemary

Buttonhole with succulent, lavender, rosemary and lisianthus

Buttonhole with the vintage books used as props on the table setting

Initials made from wire and rosemary

Outside dining

Table set with hessian runners, flowers, fruit, trailing ivy and vines

The Midsummer inspired tablescape

The cheese door, dressed with succulents, flowers, fruit and home-made chilli jam

Succulents are the new must have wedding accessory according to Justin Alexander

Susie's home-made chilli jam, the perfect accompaniment

Brown kraft paper was used to label the French cheeses

Magic numbers

Three words; simple, elegant, beautiful. Bride Sarah looked stunning in Jenny Packham, the bridesmaids looked effortlessly chic in Ted Baker and even the jam jars on the table got dressed up for the occasion sporting brown paper, hessian, twine and moss. The tables were all named with significant numbers, and thus we all learnt that our poor bride has endured nine games of football at Grimsby town (sorry Ben!) The couples black convertible mini cooper was polished for the drive back from the church, an undercover artisit did some inspired illustrations on the blackboard, the sun shone down, champagne corks popped, Ben and Sarah were married and a good time was had by all.

More fabulous pictures from Steve Carss aren't his shots amazing? 

Sarah's bouquet of peonies, lavender, roses, tulips, scabiosa and alchemilla mollis. Photo by Steve Carss

Bouquet from above. Photo by Steve Carss

Bridesmaids bouquets. Photo by Steve Carss

Jam jars get dressed up for the occasion. Photo by Steve Carss

Buttonholes and wrist corsages. Photo by Steve Carss

Lisianthus, lavender and succulent buttonhole. Photo by Steve Carss

Lisianthus, spray rose and lavender corsage for the mums. Photo by Steve Carss

Gorilla artist at work on the blackboard, can you come every week please? Photo by Steve Carss

The pew ends were bunches of lavender, rosemary and alchemilla mollis... Photo by Steve Carss

and were re-used after the ceremony on the oak supports outside the barn. Photo by Steve Carss

Tables set up in the barn with hessian runners, flowers and the 'magic numbers'. Photo by Steve Carss

 Thank-you notes tied with twine, lavender and wooden letters depicting the first initial of the guest - so simple yet beautiful and unusual. Photo by Steve Carss

Another lovely idea I haven't seen before, photos of Sarah and Ben's parents on their respective wedding days. Photo by Steve Carss

Barn frontage - how much are we loving having a roof and solid floor. Photo by Steve Carss

Ready for dinner. Photo by Steve Carss

Guests entrance. Photo by Steve Carss

Flowers on ribbon and lamps in tree. Photo by Steve Carss

The grounds at Rigaud lit up by 100+ candles. Photo by Steve Carss

Birdcage in the tree. Photo by Steve Carss

Boho-Chic

Beautiful boho-chic wedding this weekend. 

Photos by fab friend and chef at the Chateau Steve Carss. Check out his blog for delicious recipes (I personally recommend the mixed berry cheesecake) and more amazing photography!

Pew ends at the church

 

Alter arrangement of hydrangea and muslin

Table of flowers in the church

Church flowers

Bride's bouquet. Photo by Steve Carss

Table setting with fresh lavender. Photo by Steve Carss

Ranunculus on table. Photo by Steve Carss

Table flowers. Photo by Steve Carss

Pink peony. Photo by Steve Carss

Barn set -up. Photo by Steve Carss

Hessian table runners. Photo by Steve Carss

Balloons on the move

Balloons for 'Up' inspired photograph

New wedding swing with ribbons and flower garlands. Photo by Steve Carss

Testing the swing! Photo by Steve Carss

Check out Michelle and Clem's beautiful story at Blog Post on One Fab Day