French Chateau Wedding Overlooking a Petite Village

classic destination wedding reception with pillar candles and bride in spaghetti strap dress

A summery French chateau wedding with classic details and candlelight? It’s Friday, I’m in LOVE. This intimate destination wedding brings sophisticated romance to the countryside of Provence… well, enhances it because let’s face it, Provence is already one of the dreamiest places in the world! With upper crust details like scattered antiques and a courtyard reception beneath the stars, Emma and Adam’s wedding didn’t need to rely on quantity. Their personalities shine through every frame and quite frankly, this centuries-old chateau looks like it’s always belonged to them. Are you ready to start planning your next trip to Europe with us? Leggo.

Destination wedding planner and long-time Ruffled member, Matthew Oliver Weddings, may be based in the UK, but we’re pretty confident the world is is home turf. These glorious images speak for themselves!

From the photographer, Ben Yew Photography: After capturing a few weddings at different chateaus in France, I came to really love the French countryside and admire the breathtaking centuries-old architecture and interiors. Nearly every Chateau has their own distinct style. From the patina, furniture to the grand artworks on the ceilings, centuries-old oil paintings, boudoir-bathrooms, and the detailed styled interior evokes the surrealness of going back in time.

This is no ordinary 17th-century old Chateau. The style, feel and look is entirely unique in its own way. Set above a hill-top village, this Chateau is a blank canvas. So much potential for the creatives, and it inspires. This is, from my point of view, the Minimalist Chateau. It is so artistically spacious and minimal. And from a creative perspective, this blank canvas can be made into works of art depending on the vision you have. You have a combination of dark corridors, glowing shadows, bright and sunny rooms where the window light creates a side-lit scene for an artistic painter to create their masterpiece.

This is, without a doubt the original French distressed look, not those replicas that you find in interior design shops that make it look distressed! This is the REAL thing! The muse for creatives.

The picturesque landscape from above evokes the ambiance of serenity whilst surrounded by the rural small town on the hill. The current owners are very selective of their clients or who they rent it out to. They only accept one wedding a year, and the rest of the year would be mainly hosting filming or photography endeavors. I felt so privileged to be a part of this creative production. So when Matthew from Matthew Oliver Weddings contacted me for this wedding, I did some research and saw the images on their website. My jaw dropped. I can already envision what I would like to capture and I think I would still be obsessed with this Chateau after a week of shooting around the grounds of it. It was such an honor to be invited to capture the wedding of Emma and Adam at this dream location. The dream location I never knew existed till then.

Emma and Adam were such a joy to work with, they were both naturally beautiful in their own way, fun, and easy to work within capturing the perfect shots for their wedding. I love working with couples who allow me to do what is different and for them to trust my judgment in creating something that is more them and distinct from other weddings. Matthew put together a group of creative vendors with the same vision to create a perfect wedding venue for Adam and Emma by complementing the Chateau with his personalized touch for the couple.

Santorini Magical Wedding

They wanted to keep it minimal and simple to complement the look and feel of the Chateau with the main theme colors of white and green. Adam and Emma are English teachers based in Singapore and originally from the UK. Their family and close friends traveled to Provence to attend this joyous and memorable occasion and all of them would be lucky enough to experience this creatively crafted wedding. With the assistance of the amazingly experienced Provence based florist, she knew how to bring out the best of floral colors and freshness to her set up and she has worked on this same location previously.

Matthew Oliver and his talented team did such an exceptional job to stylizing the interior and exterior of the Chateau. The highlight for me was the stairs with the beautiful candles and flowers and chairs, the overall minimalist look and the chairs placed overlooking the picturesque Provence!