I wanted to share with you some tips for creating the most stress free and memorable wedding morning possible, drawn from my own experience. It should be one of the most memorable morning of your life so here are some ways to make the most of it! 


1. Try and do as much prep the night before. Set out your toiletries, cosmetics, lingerie and dress so its all ready for the next day. This way you'll know if anything is missing and that everything you need is in one place. 

​2 Eat a light breakfast and hydrate - Of course this is total common sense but you'll be surprised by how busy you'll be for the whole day so start the day off right 

​3. Play your favourite music - This may be a soundtrack from a movie or a playlist that you love. Whatever makes you feel happy and sets the tone for the day

4. Keep your space organised and free of clutter. Make sure you only have only the essential people around you and the space isn't a free for all.  You don't want to be distracted from your schedule and have any un necessary drama

5. Create a lasting fragrance memory by layering Fragrance. Your wedding scent will become something the evokes memories for years to come so choose something you love and layer so that it lasts. Try and wear the same perfume for any special wedding planning occasions... menu tastings, dress fittings, bridal showers as it will all build into lifelong memories in one fragrance

6. Make your environment special. Have flowers in your suite/ room. Burn your most luxurious candles (Perhaps in the same scent as your fragrance wardrobe?). Buy a beautiful dressing gown to wear while getting ready. Luxuriate in the moment. 

​7. Have champagne on ice ready for a glass of champagne with your bridal party before you walk the isle.  Take a moment to compose yourself and steady any last minute nerves

​​8. Present your bridesmaids with any gifts you may have bought for them as a  thank you. It will really start to feel like a celebration at this point and whats more creates a great photo opportunity for your photographer to catch.

9. Send a handwritten note or card to your husband to be telling him how excited you are to see him and become his wife 

10. Have your photographer take a couple of (very tasteful) shots of you in bridal lingerie that you can give to your husband on either your honeymoon or first wedding anniversary

Belle
​Xx

So the final part of of Our Wedding in Provence is here (for Part 1 and 2 here) and I really hope you've enjoyed following along as much as iv enjoyed a trip down memory lane sharing it with you. 

I think my favourite part of the day (which as everyone will tell you, goes by in seconds) was after the ceremony and cocktails. Tony and I snook off with our photographer for some wedding portraits just as golden hour started to hit. Id read lots of comments on line and heard many options on this, mainly saying not to do it and to instead spend the time with guests but for me this was one of the best decisions we made.
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It gave us some much appreciated alone time together in what is a whirlwind of a day. It really helped that our wedding photographer Ian was very discrete, and really made us feel comfortable. He was also hilarious which was a lovely and very welcome bonus.  Now not only do we have the memories of our stolen time together but we have the most beautiful portraits that will stay with us forever. ​

And the best thing about it was that it felt like a lovely and magical moment together reflecting on such a special day. ​

The Chateau was surrounded by the most gorgeous grounds perfect for some beautiful images and I loved that we were able to create some really provincial inspired shots that I'll cherish forever. 

After our stolen moment we joined that rest of the guests for Dinner in the courtyard. The tables were mildly inspired by my favourite movie Marie Antionette. Very delicate, feminine and patisserie inspired. 

We tried to add in as many thoughtful touches as we could. Fans for guests to keep them cool when it was hot, pashminas for the ladies for when the sun went down. I found that Etsy was a fantastic website for sourcing unique and original gifts and accessories for the wedding  
For My bridesmaid, along with the gifts I gave to them in the earlier post, I gave them  love heartnecklaces from Tiffany. 

We dressed the fountain in the courtyard with floating floral arrangements, rose petals and candles. 

We made our own escort cards using dried lavender purchased on a previous trip to Provence. 

In keeping with French tradition, we were presented with our wedding cake and its one my favourite memory's to date with its twinkling sparkler glittering away as it made its way towards us. Our wedding cake's were made by Laduree, and the main cake was aptly names the Marie Antoinette cake... which as Iv mentioned was a big inspiration of the wedding. We also had a traditional french cake called a croquembouche which is a tower of choux pastry puffs piled into a cone and bound with threads of caramel flavoured with Orange Blossom, Rose along with a macaron tower and the most beautiful individual petit fours 

We found that Laduree candles were such a good candle to burn as they come in patisserie fragrances... making them perfect for the desert table. For guest favours, we gave individual box's of macarons to take away.  

After our first dance, we were treated to a performance from one of our friends which was another highlight of the evening and so lovely to incorporate our friends into our wedding. 

We finished the evening with a sparkler send off against the backdrop of the chateau and it was the perfect way to finish the most perfect day. 

Thank you so much for following along, let me know if you enjoyed these posts in the comments below

Belle 
Xx

My Dress - Vera Wang 
Shoes - Christian Louboutin
Jewellery - Jenny Packham
Bridal lingerie - Agent Provocateur
Venue - Chateau de Massillan
Photographer - Ian holmes 
Cinematographer - MG Image
Flowers - Atouts Fleurs

Following on from part one of Our Wedding in Provence from last week today i'll be posting more memory's from our wedding in Provence. 
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When I was sorting through images from the wedding to share, I really found it difficult to whittle down the amount of images to share. I have so many favourites (im really not kidding)! I guess that its the same for most brides... so i'm sure you'll forgive the wedding spam! 

Dressing gown Here 

Getting ready for a special occasion is such a fun thing to do, especially with your girlfriends. I really wanted it to be as luxurious and indulgent morning as possible. We ordered champagne and began out dressing rituals, excited for what the day would bring. I played the Marie Antoinette soundtrack (my favourite movie) to get me into the french vibe.

I had my favourite dyptique candles burning, and made sure I layered my bridal fragrance to make sure it lasted the whole day. Firstly I took a bath scented with Coco mademoiselle bubble bath. Then I applied the body lotion all over, before adding body oil to any areas I wanted to highlight... Collar bones, shoulders and arms. Finally I finished off with deodorant and perfume in the same fragrance. Taking time over the little details really helps to make the day feel special.

We choose our flower girl dresses from Monsoon as they had such a lovely collection and are so reasonably priced. Similar HERE, HERE and Here

There will always be unplanned surprises in some shape or form on a wedding day, for us it was the weather... something we really didn't think would be an issue getting married in the South of France. We had planned our ceremony to take place outside in the grounds of the Chateau but it had rained the night before, and we decided that it wasn't the best idea to drag my dress through the damp grass the next day, meaning we had to hold the ceremony indoors. Luckily the florist was able to come up with an alternative plan and dress the fireplace and golden mirror in the drawing room instead of the original plan. 
Luckily I loved the way it turned out!

We tried to have a very personal ceremony layered with meaning to us. We also choose to face towards our guests rather than having our back's towards them. We asked as many of our guests as possible to read a small part from a poem my sister had found by Joanna Miller and it was such a lovely moment.

I really wanted to have old fashioned champagne coups for our wedding (supposedly inspired in design by Marie Antoinette's breast) and had the florist dress them with baby's breath for extra prettiness.

We chose our Bridesmaids dressed for Two Birds and i'm still delighted with beautiful they looked on the day, and the shade of pink went perfectly with our colour theme. We added some vintage broaches from my personal collection for a little bit of extra glamour!

I hope you are enjoying taking a look through our wedding memories?

Check back for part 3 later this week

Belle
​Xx