Mel & Seb
Melanie and I met around 20 years ago at secondary school. Thus while she was the bride-to-be in the wedding party, she also happened to be one of my closest friends.
As delighted as I was to be her wedding planner, I was also wary of the weight of responsibility I shouldered. My duties didn’t end with planning the wedding of a very close friend as I was also going to be her maid of honour and her witness.
Parents to two wonderful toddlers, Melanie and Sebastien wanted the reception to reflect their personalities. Their dream was simply to be surrounded by the people they loved and cared about.
Having fallen in love with a stunning chateau in Mougins many years ago, Melanie had her heart set on the venue for their union. Sebastien had no question in his mind that he would offer it to her, wanting to gift his beloved fiancée her dream wedding in this idyllic chateau.
Sebastien is a landscape architect and also an incredibly kind person with a very soft temperament and Melanie is an interior decorator with a real sensitivity that shows through in her work. Both with hearts of gold, they also shared a real love for nature and simple elegance.
The theme of the wedding was therefore obvious, it would be a countryside-chic theme with the beauty in the small and intimate handcrafted details that would showcase their personalities and share the couple’s charm with their guests.
Melanie’s father who is an artist made wonderful panels made from the wood of the barn she used to play in as a child, lending a unique intimacy to the occasion. The announcement cards sent to their guests were also painted in watercolours by her father, as were the placeholders on each of the guest’s tables.
At the beginning of the ceremony, Melanie greeted her guests with her own delicious homemade biscuits and fresh lemonade showcasing her baking talents, full of the tenderness of a young mother.
Guests were enchanted by the soft melody of the Harp and many tears of joy were shed as we bore witness to the wonderfully intimate exchanging of vows under the open sky.
“God is in the details” is my repeated mantra to every client I work with and on this special day, it had never been so obvious.
It was with unspeakable joy and happiness that I was able step through the looking glass on this occasion and enjoy every detail that we had worked so hard on for the ceremony from both perspectives. The magic of the occasion was clear in the array of emotions we all experienced: laughing, crying and loving together.
Dear Melanie and Sebatien, while you thanked me endlessly for curating the most beautiful day of your lives, it is my turn to thank you…
Photos by Studios Love Story
