Dreamy South France Destination Wedding at Chateau Coty

Bride and groom celebrating their intimate south of France wedding at Chateau Coty

As far as destination weddings go, it doesn’t get much dreamier than UK couple, Liana and Josh’s intimate, micro-soiree in the south of France.

Describing the Chateau Coty celebration as simple, chic and classic, the couple of 11-plus years took their styling cues from European wedding aesthetics. But overall, they let the beauty of this 18th-century countryside chateau do the heavy lifting when it came to defining the vibe. “The property really was the star of the show,” the newlyweds explain. “We didn’t want to take away from the natural beauty of our surroundings, and felt as though flowers and candle light were the only decorations needed to enhance what we already had.”

Below, the bride and groom share which vendor felt like family on the day (spoilers, it was phenomenal destination wedding photographer Alexandra Palombi –no surprises there). Plus, etherial DIY details, a simple-yet-meaningful wedding favour idea, standout moments and other stuff sure to inspire.

SOUTH FRANCE DESTINATION WEDDING | OUTDOOR WEDDING PLACES

“We decided to get married in the south of France as Josh spent a lot of his childhood between there and the UK. As his mum had passed away, we felt it would be a lovely way to feel closer to her. After searching online for some time, we found Chateau Coty. Looking at the photos, I instantly fell in love with the outdoor cinema they had (I’m a movie fanatic). We knew we wanted to spend a long weekend there with our guests staying with us the entire time, and this venue had it all – a pool, bbq, cinema, billiard room and enough space for everyone…”

INTIMATE WEDDING DETAILS | CAKE CUTTING, LIVE MUSIC & A TWIST ON SOMETHING BLUE

“Saxophonist during cocktail hour: this gave an incredibly luxurious feel to the day, as the sun was beaming, the music was playing and the drinks were flowing it created a very boujee atmosphere. We had a mixture of jazz and chilled house playing to get that abroad wedding feel. Cake: we weren’t going to have a cake as we knew we had dessert included in our meal. However, our photographer suggested we get a small one to do the cut the cake, and I can happily say we don’t regret it. The pictures came out great and the cake was super delicious. My something blue: I had Josh write something personal to me on the bottom of my wedding shoes in blue pen.”

DREAMY, DRAPY TABLE DECOR | SIMPLE, SENTIMENTAL WEDDING DAY DIYS

“I purchased 20 chiffon table runners to drape over the table to create a ruched rustic table cloth. I bought about 20 ivory candles in different heights, shapes and sizes, some floating, others in candle stick holders and the rest places on the table. Favours: we purchased the tins, coffee and labels separately and put them together so that we could have a cup of our favourite coffee with our guests the next morning. Wedding newspaper: I created an itinerary for the weekend in the style of a newspaper which was sent digitally to all of our guests ahead of the big day.”

FUNNY FIRST IMPRESSIONS | MEETING THE FAMILY

“It was the first time that our families had met (shocking, I know!) and my family kept getting Josh’s parents names wrong. It got worse the more that people drank. And Josh’s parents found it so funny, and never corrected anyone. It wasn’t until I was mid-conversation with someone that I was like ‘who are you talking about’ before I realised.”

STANDOUT DESTINATION WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER FRANCE

“Our photographer Alexandra Palombi was fantastic, she really took charge of the day, helped us keep our timings on track in general and was like having an extended part of our family there on the day. Our families even asked her to stay past her finishing time as they loved her company!”

MORE GOOD STUFF & DESTINATION WEDDINGS

Getting married in France and looking for a photographer? Highly recommend hitting up Alexandra Palombi for a chat. For more destination wedding locations and ideas, check out these I do’s from Ibiza, Paris, Bali and beyond.