Monday 8 September 2014

A Perfect Wedding


Two years ago, Mark’s nephew, Mark, and Shardae, his long time girlfriend, announced their engagement to our side of the family, while they were staying at our house here in Caunes.

Mark and Shardae, 2 years ago....in Caunes

Shardae has a reputation for being incredibly motivated and organised….and I guess, from the moment of the engagement ( or maybe before ! ) she began to plan the wedding.

Straight after leaving our house 2 years ago, the engaged couple drove to Bordeaux, where they had identified a chateau they thought might be perfect for their wedding. 

It was....and the serious planning began.

This last weekend, the wedding took place at the beautiful Chateau Lagorce In Haux, close to Bordeaux.


It was amazing.

This is not the bridal suite....but our room.

One of the lounges at Chateau Lagorce

The detailed organisation that had gone into making the 3 days and nights celebration perfect was amazing.


I overheard one of the ushers talking about the fact that a couple of the paper bag lanterns which lined one of the terraces, had fallen over. He said that Shardae would know exactly how to sort it out as she had probably known it would happen many years ago…as it was clear this wedding had been in the planning stages…probably since she was born.

We had the run of the chateaux for 3 days, and everyone helped get things ready for the actual wedding celebrations.
Sorting the wine and beer

Brother of the bride assembling a wedding cake, father of the groom slicing lemons

Table setting, including a pot of home made jam for every guest.....Shardae had made all the jam !


The weather was glorious.
Taken from our bedroom window....as the preparations began

The setting was incredible……and everything went perfectly.


As always I take many many photos…so I will let some of them tell the story of the fabulous time we all had.

The setting for the ceremony, on a lawn in front of the chateau, with a lake in the background

OK...not a wedding photo.... but me, on a walk around the grounds, early, on the morning of the wedding

From one of the terraces
tables set

Groom in the middle, looking anxious.... when would she arrive ? brother of the groom on the left, also looking somewhat concerned..... Best man on the right, checking his phone..... making final arrangements....yes, she was on her way.

The bridesmaids began their descent

Finally, Shardae and her father arrived

There was an incident, as Shardae tripped on the last step.....a gasp from the guests, applause, as she gathered herself again, unhurt, and dad fixed her hair !

A lovely ceremony

The groom and his parents ( Mark's sister and brother in law )


The groom looking much less apprehensive

The cakes were pretty good !

Just one of Shardae's little touches

The paper bag lanterns which adorned all the terraces

The groom's grandmother, who was convinced she was dancing with Prince Harry.

As Mark and I left the celebrations the next day, we noticed the bride and groom walking off together, to go around the lake. Possibly one of the first quiet moments they will have had during the 3 day celebration

A bow tie, discarded during the dancing no doubt......evidence of the great night before.

26 comments:

  1. Wonderful Janice -looks just beautiful . Congratulations to the happy couple. Xx

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    1. It was very beautiful Patricia, and the happy couple are very very happy !

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  2. Wonderful! I wonder whether Rhiannon can be persuaded? Beats Las Vegas!! ;o)

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    1. Jess was gutted that she could not attend the do.....coming at the end of her first week teaching, with no convenient flights from Liverpool to Bordeaux on a Friday night, returning Sunday, she really couldn't be there. I know she would have loved every detail....and should she decide at some stage that marriage is for her....I will be calling on Shardae to be wedding planner !

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  3. What a wonderful celebration, congratulations to the happy couple, the bridge certainly has a eye for detail and knew just what she wanted. Also lovely that everyone was there to help set everything up and feel so much a part of it all. xcx

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    1. The whole thing had a lovely feel to it.....splendid and glamorous...but home made as well....a perfect combination

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  4. The photos tell the story perfectly.What a magical wedding.

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    1. It was magical Maria...and they are a really lovely couple too !

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  5. Absolutely wonderful for everyone as well as the happy couple. Ax

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    1. It made a great little trip for us...just under 4 hours drive from Caunes....a bit like a little holiday ! It really was one of the most delightful weddings I have ever been to.

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  6. LOVED every aspect of this happy affair, Janice; from the elegance of the chateau to the loving simplicity of the jam pots as gifts. Are those springs of lavender or rosemary next to the plates? Either way, an added touch. Thank you for sharing the weekend through photos . . . and you look great too. :)

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    1. They were sprigs of lavender...hand tied, just another lovely touch that Shardae had organised. One of the things she did was prepare everyone's room, so we had to collect a label with our names on, attached to a classic old French book ( Ours was La Bruyere's extraits de "Les Caracteres")...again, hand tied with lavender sprigs.....and attached with a label, with the name of our room. We then had to search the chateau for our room....so everyone explored the place as soon as they arrived.....brilliant !

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    2. How fun! A chateau hunt to start the festivities - and a good way to bump into guests you might now know. Thanks for letting me know the sprigs are lavender. Such a lovely touch. ;I)

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  7. I think you look beautiful too, Janice!

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  8. What a magical three days. I like that everyone helped out.

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    1. Yes, it was sort of a do it yourself wedding...with amazing style......the sort of style that usually involves very expensive wedding planners...and although some bits were clearly managed by caterers, photographers and organisers....they were all working to Shardae's plan.

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  9. How absolutely perfect, Janice. I love home-made weddings (our two did that in their very different ways) but this was obviously very special indeed. So much loving care applied to every detail - what does Shardae do for a living? Whatever it is I bet she does it VERY well. :-)

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    1. I dont know exactly what Shardae does now...she has been a buyer, and has worked for a few companies. I think she is a project manager of some kind....but seems to get promoted, or headhunted quite often ! She is a real star.

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  10. What a fairytale event, I love all the little personal details. Shardae could certainly have a career as a wedding planner! (The budget terrifies me - luckily our daughters have no desire to be married!)

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    1. Yes...the budget side of things is a bit scary ! However, some bits of the wedding were incredibly home made...like the jam, potted beautifully in jam pots that close family had been putting on one side for nearly 2 years. I know my daughter Jess would have been there taking notes, if she could have got the time off work.....she would have lapped up every little detail.

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  11. Sorry I was unable to comment before because I was dying to say what a wonderful setting for a wedding and as usual your photos are beautiful. Congratulations to the happy couple xx

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    1. It was a lovely setting, and it was a really lovely few days.x

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  12. It looks a fairytale wedding - really beautiful - it must have given all of the guests a really great chance to enjoy a holiday at the same time as well.

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    1. Thats what it felt like for us...but as we were the only guests who are living. Fairytale really does sum it up.

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  13. Wedding planning was done amazingly! I will also use these ideas in my wedding planning. But I am hiring event planning services, because I don’t have much friends who can help me. The photo which I love the most is shot of next day when bride and groom walked off together.

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