Spring Wedding in Provence at Château des Alpilles
When your beau is from France, you basically have no option but have a destination wedding in France in a quaint French town, either at a castle or chateau. That’s what Billy and Isabelle did, and boy, look at this venue! We had to recollect ourselves after gawking over the gorgeous Chateau des Alpilles, an idyllic venue in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence captured by Rory Wylie Weddings.
From Rory Wylie Weddings:
I was thrilled to be asked to photograph Billy & Isabelle’s Château des Alpilles wedding, in Saint Rémy de Provence.
For Isabelle, France is dear to her heart, with French heritage and summer’s every year spent here while growing up. For Billy, he and his family jumped at the idea of a destination wedding and an amazing party abroad for their loved ones. Embodying French understand chic, Isabelle was an elegant and relaxed bride. Billy, formerly of the Marine Corps, a man of dignity was a gentlemanly groom.
Natural colour and decoration weaved throughout the day, allowing guests to relax and feel the charm of Provence. After their wedding ceremony at the Eglise de Maussane Les Alpilles, Billy, Isabelle, and their guests spent the late afternoon enjoying champagne under the incredible trees at Château des Alpilles. For the evening meal and celebrations, guests entered a specially designed marquee where huge olive trees were installed to bring the heart of Provence to the heart of their celebrations.
The respect, emotion, and love of these families and their close friends were palpable, and the elegance and ease of this couple made the wedding day a joy to capture, and one I won’t soon forget.
From the bride:
My gown is from Amy Kuschel in San Francisco. It was surprisingly difficult to find a simple lace wedding dress without too much embellishment. So after a few trips to some NY bridal salons with friends, I went online and was actually able to find it. I just wanted something easy and elegant.
Billy and I met at a wedding of our friends in North Carolina in 2013 and we hit it off. He was getting ready to transition out of the Marine Corps after his deployment, so decided to move to NY and start his job search there so we could start dating. We moved in with each other pretty quickly actually (3 months in) and 2 months after that we adopted our dog Gracie who’s the other love of our life.
We chose to get married in France as that is where my father is from and many of my family members live there. France is where I spent most summers growing up and where we are for the holidays every year. So it was top of mind when we got engaged and I’m so happy Billy and his family jumped on the idea.
About the planning process for their Chateau del Alpille Wedding:
I knew that choosing to get married in Provence would pose some logistical difficulties as we are in NY, and my family is in Paris and wouldn’t able to visit Provence often. We began the search to find a wedding planner who specializes in that area of France so would know all the best vendors and guide us along the process. We spoke with a few individuals but when we had a Skype call with Lisa and Franck, our decision was easy. They came across as very knowledgeable and down to earth, which was important as I wasn’t looking for a big fairytale wedding which can at times feel too much about the bride and groom. At the core of it, we wanted to throw an amazing party for all our friends and family in France. They completely got that, and their style complimented ours very well. After we mentioned that we wanted to have a lot of natural colors and floral decoration, they suggested having big olive trees inside the tents, which ended up being one of my favorite parts of the weekend (besides marrying Billy!). Lisa and Franck were so easy to work with from start to finish, and always accessible over WhatsApp. I knew that they had everything handled and it made the whole process seamless and pain-free.
Many of the individuals Lisa and Franck introduced us to also fit in very well with our style. In choosing a photographer, we looked at many portfolios and our favorite came from Rory Wylie. We had one Skype call and confirmed on the spot. Rory has such unique positive energy to her, that anyone would want her around on their wedding day. I will admit, I’m not the most patient person when it comes to long photo sessions, so I knew that I didn’t want to be away from the party for too long. Rory was very accommodating, but also made a few suggestions for taking more pictures, saying that I would thank her later. Which of course I do as the pictures are gorgeous! – Isabelle, the bride
Even idyllic destination weddings are your thing, this woodland wedding in Lombardy, Italy is waiting for you!
Wedding Vendors:
Photography: Rory Wylie Weddings
Wedding Planner:Wanderlust Wedding
Floral Design: Laetitia C
Makeup: Ylva Langenskiold
Hair: Agnes Caneri
Wedding Dress: Amy Kuschel
Wedding Preparation: (Groom) Mas de la Dame
Wedding Preparation: (Bride) Chateau des Alpilles
Wedding Ceremony: Eglise de Maussane Les Alpilles (village church)
Wedding Reception: Chateau des Alpilles
Band: Gypsy Queens
DJ: David Discotecnik
Furniture Rental: Be Lounge & Options
Catering: Helen Traiteur