MY TOP 5 WEDDING IDEAS & TRENDS

I hope you have been checking out my 'real bride' monthly posts over on Rock My Wedding? I'm giving them updates on my story as a 'Wedding Planner, Planning Her Own Wedding.' This month I discussed my current Top 5 wedding ideas and trends. There is so much beautiful imagery out there, so much on instagram, so much on pinterest, so much all around us! Don't you find it can sometimes become overwhelming?! As soon as you think you have your wedding day styling sorted, some other beautiful idea pops up on your feed and your plan goes up in the air! Each wedding I plan, I set myself the challenge of choosing my Top 5 ideas and I can't tell you how much this helps! Head over to Rock my wedding to read the full article!... 

1. FLOWER INSTALLATIONS 

Whether they are hanging above your heads, creeping up the walls or lining your wedding aisle, flower installations look stunning! 

2. COLOUR PALETTE

Having a colour palette makes life easier! The wedding doesn't have to be entirely 'matchy matchy' but trust me having a colour palette helps to make decisions! Our palette came from our wedding invitations which was a pre made design on Papier. 

3. TASSLES

Im totally obsessed with tassels at the moment and not afraid of a bit of DIY to get them exactly how I want them! They are much easier to make than you might think!  

4. GYPSOPHELIA CROWNS 

There is debate over whether Reem Acra or Rodarte refuelled this trend’s second coming, but there’s no doubt it’s back with even bigger gyp crowns than before! This time around, use heaps of this little white flower and pile it up on the head like the queen you are!

5. CELESTIAL

Stars, moon crescents, galaxies are all the prettiest things to me at the moment. I totally love the ethereal bridal accessories from Tilly Thomas or Luna Bea. Have you seen this moon crescent shaped alter from The 12 Events!

There you have it! My current Top 5 wedding ideas and trends! Have you worked yours out yet?! 

GETTING MARRIED IN FRANCE, THE SUPPLIERS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT!

Are you a bride-to-be hoping to get married in France?

I thought I would share with you some of the things I have learnt about getting married here and some of the lovely suppliers and people that I have been working with. Hopefully this will help the destination brides out there to put the final pieces of your wedding jigsaw together, or even get the ball rolling if you don’t know where to start!

LEGALLY GETTING MARRIED IN FRANCE

Firstly, the legal bits, and this might come as a surprise! If you are a British citizen, it’s important to know that if you are hoping to have a legal wedding in France, you need an address in France! For both heterosexual and same sex marriages, the legal ceremony takes place in the mairie (town hall) and this must be the local town hall where either one of you, or your parents, have an address or ties to. If you do meet these requirements you can legally get married in France but as with many things French, there is a lot of paperwork including getting birth certificates professionally translated which can be a bit of a drag!

As a result of these laws, many couples who have a destination wedding in France tend to do the legal ceremony in their home town beforehand and then have a second religious or secular ceremony in France. The rules vary a little from town to town on having this symbolic ceremony actually in a church, but again, it really helps if you have a link to that church or can bring a priest that knows you with you! Symbolic outdoor ceremonies are also very popular.

ENGLISH SPEAKING CELEBRANT

Luckily for us, Olivier and I do qualify for the civil ceremony in our local mairie in Bidart, our beautiful hillside Basque village, so we are doing that a couple of days before our wedding day with a smaller crowd. Then, for the symbolic ceremony on the wedding day itself, we have found a totally lovely and bilingual celebrant based near Bordeaux, Sandie Smith. Sandie Is English but has lived in France for over 30 years and is very willing to travel for your ceremony. I am excited to get writing the vows and we have confidence that Sandie will make the words of our wedding ceremony very special!

My nearest town is Biarritz, but as French Bague-ette, matures I am starting to work with suppliers all over the South West of France. It’s often a case of finding the right supplier to fit with my clients needs, so sometimes I have to look a little further afield and the contact list expands...

CREATIVE WEDDING SUPPLIERS

I’d like to share with you some of my most favourite suppliers that I have found. Firstly, hugely talented photographer Marine Marques. I love Marine’s approach, to capture ‘wild love & light’ For me there is a presence of nature and emotion in her work which I find beautiful. Marine would be an excellent choice if you are looking for a photographer in the South West area. These photos are of a styled elopement shoot in the Basque mountains that Marine worked on. You can see the contacts for her fabulously creative team in the captions below.

Also hugely influential in the region are Ruban Collective. They are a creative wedding collective consisting of planners, a photographer, hairstylist, stationery designer and amazing florist, Lady Brindille. Lady Brindille is the queen of cool when it comes to flower arranging, known for her signature ‘twiggy’ style and beautiful wreaths. Check out her instagram h ere.

Other exceptional florists in the area are Berry based in Biarritz. They are open minded innovators currently working on a pampas grass installation for a cliff side wedding I’m planning.
I am also totally in love with the ‘flower truck’ from Loreak Kalean! ...And speaking of trucks we mustn’t forget the fantastic food trucks available! Super cool Nacho Libre to bring Mexican midnight snacks when your guests get peckish after all that dancing! Or how about La Roulotte for some cool vintage caravan styling! For photobooth fun check out Wild Stories with their wooden camera, caravan photo booth with changeable backgrounds and fun accessories packs! Lastly, for hair and make-up, it has to be Whitney from Le Brushing or beauty agency By Jodie who have a team of talented English speaking beauticians for your destination weddings all over Europe.

I hope the wedding planning is going well for all you beautiful brides and that some of this has been helpful! I would love to answer any questions you have, so feel free contact me! 

Lou x

Elopement shoot imagery credits:

- Photographer : Marine Marques
- Florist : Atelier Floral
- Vidéo : Nacmédia
- Wedding Dress : Confidentiel Création

- Makeup : Julia Marty
- Hair : Emeline Saros

- Stationary : Zemonsta
- Arch : Cactus et les Nanas
- Wedding cake : Fika
- Jewelry : Les soeurs pirates

A WEDDING PLANNER’S OWN WEDDING!

To some, a “French Bague-ette” is a deliciously irresistible and moreish warm breadstick, fresh and fluffy from the oven. To me, it’s my engagement ring and the name of my destination wedding planning company. (“Bague” being French for ring) Olivier chose perfectly. From the rose cut ‘salt and pepper’ diamond to the trillion shape and the chevron engravings, I’m a little obsessed with it! To be fair, he did have some guidance in the words ‘Absolutely anything by these guys’ @digbyandiona

IMAGES : THIS DAY FORWARD

There’s a bit of a story behind the ring which has already travelled from the jeweller’s studio in New York to Paris, back to New York, to Switzerland and back into France before it finally found its place on my finger. I won’t go into details, but let’s just say that if you’re buying a ring from another country, make sure you check out the tax rules first!

Whilst my ring was travelling the world, I was back in France believing that Olivier just wasn’t ready to make that commitment yet (We had recently been on holiday to Morocco and I had hoped he would ask me to marry him in the romantic blue town of Chefchouen) When he didn’t, I just concluded that we weren’t on the same page and I continued with my everyday life in my job planning other people’s weddings. So, when it did eventually happen, I was caught completely off guard!

THE PROPOSAL

We live in a little Basque village called Bidart, it’s 10 minutes outside of the seaside town of Biarritz in the South West of France. We are nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountains with views onto Spain. Surrounded by rolling green hills, Basque villages, sandy beaches and treated to tangerine glowing sunsets most evenings. The skies had been calm and blue all day… that is until about 30 minutes before Olivier had planned to propose. Being on the sea the weather can change dramatically and this day was a fine example!

At the end of our road there is a leafy foot path that leads up to a cliff edge. Olivier and I often walk up there in the evenings once he gets back from work and, as I work from home, it does me good to get some fresh sea air after a day at my desk. When he suggested we go for a walk that evening, I looked out the window and quite frankly thought he was mad! The wind was howling, the grey clouds were rolling in and rain looked imminent! He managed to persuade me though and when he pulled out the bottle of champagne on ice that he had previously hidden in the bushes up there, it all started to make sense! His words, the familiarity of our cliff side spot, the ring and everything else about it was perfect - the blustery weather just makes it part of our story in the end, and to be fair to him, it never actually rained! Although a little camera shy we both loved going back up there to do the proposal shoot with our friend and superb wedding photographer Will Hartl from @thisdayforward_weddings

THE FIRST STEPS TO PLANNING A WEDDING

You would think that as a wedding planner I would at least have my venue earmarked, maybe a couple of dresses I would like to try on, some styling ideas I’ve been saving for myself!? Well no, not really! Olivier and I met on an app called “Once” in January 2016. “Once” sends you one match every day and Olivier was actually the first person they sent me! Before that I had never truly imagined myself getting married and had sort of decided I probably wouldn’t ever do it. (Sorry to all previous boyfriends, but it just never felt quite right!) So, I hadn’t been saving up imagery or really been thinking about what I want for my own wedding any longer than before I fell in love with him. 

My Home Office! 

On a day to day basis I see so much wedding imagery, I scroll through feeds and watch for trends, plus I am talking to brides about their desires so it’s almost too much to filter through and pick just a few of the best ideas. What I do know though is that I will be taking the same approach I do with all the weddings I’m planning. I’m looking to create something a bit more unique. Festival vibes, boho vibes, stylish but relaxed. My first task is to find a venue where the views will wow the guests. If you’re interested in following my wedding planning progress, I’ve just started a new Instagram account @french_bague_ette where you can follow me on my journey, as a wedding planner planning her own wedding, I’ll share tips, ideas and what I learn along the way. You can also discover some more about my company.

Image Credits: Will Hartl - @thisdayforward_weddings

www.thisdayforward.com.au