Good friends Nate and Caro, though already legally married a month ago, had their official ceremony in France this past weekend.

And it was perfect!

Friday saw me eurostarring it into Paris after work and catching a lift up to Chateaureux with Caro’s lovely cousins. After a late dinner before leaving Paris arriving in Chateaureux it was straight to bed (it was nearly 1am by then after all!) after saying a quick hello to Nate and Caro who had made their way to Chateaureux the week before. Saturday was going to bring an early morning start for the lot of us in order to get ready for the wedding. Mainly it was us girls as a few of us girls were getting our hair done at one of the local hairdresses.

Saturday

Actually I thought we were all in for a simple wash and blow-dry but it turns out we were in for something much more elaborate. The hairdressers are apparently “designers” so what they do with your hair could be anything – no style is ever the same. I initially did try and ask for a book to pick a hairstyle but after seeing what happened when Julia, Nate’s sister, attempted this I realised trying guide these French hairdressers into a style was just not going to work. Julia was really not impressed with her hair but managed to rectify it for the wedding. In the end I just left the “designers” to be. Thankfully, the result wasn’t so bad! In fact, Caro’s hair especially was fantastic!

After getting our hair done and before the wedding ceremony Caro’s family cooked up some ratatouille and barbeque for lunch. This was delicious and very welcome as we hadn’t had any breakfast by then and we were all starving!

It was then on to the Church for the ceremony. Nate and Caro couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day for the ceremony. Clear blue skies and a present and warm sun. This bodes very well for their marriage I think! 🙂 The ceremony was conducted mainly in French though the priest did now and then speak some English. Caro also had a few of us do some readings for her which was a nice thought – her sister, Aurelie, and cousin, Emma, did the French passages and Julia and I did the English. I was terribly nervous about doing the reading but mostly about tripping when going back to my seat. Thankfully all went smoothly. The ceremony was just the right length and before I knew it we were signing our names as witnesses and we were done!

After photos it was back to Caro’s house for some afternoon snacks and champagne. As most people know I’m a little (okay quite a lot) allergic to alcohol and even just after a small half glass of the stuff I was a little tipsy. I couldn’t not celebrate after all. 🙂 It was a nice relaxing afternoon in the garden before the big event at Les Dryades for the reception.

The reception was beautiful. Caro had planned for a red and black theme that was represented right down even to the little lady bugs scattered about on the tables and the bars. Dinner at the reception was an 8 course extravaganza starting with an interesting opening piece called Patience – which was delicious though I’m still not exactly sure what was in the shot of soup. We also had quail, foie gras, sweetbread and the BEST dish – the scallops. It was gorgeous – I would have done anything to get my hands and anyone who didn’t finish eating theirs! LOL. These savoury dishes were followed by ice cream and berries, assorted cheeses and little cakes. Finally all this was followed by the traditional French Wedding cake croquembouch – in essence profiteroles piled up in a pyramid bound up by caramel string. Very sweet!

Then Nate and Caro had something I’ve not seen at any wedding I’ve been to – FIREWORKS! It was great – it was extra special for Caro I think due to the story behind the fireworks which, actually, is little too sad to go into here.

After Nate gave his speech – which was truly moving and very romantic (quoting a passage from Keats) the night took an interesting turn with Caro’s brother surprising her with three special ways to remember her wedding 1. a giant picture that he’d painted of her and Nate 2. a leave your hand print memory painting of all the guests and 3. another way to remember the guests – little easels that he got us to draw on. All very creative ideas!

Sunday

The celebrations from the reception lasted way into the early hours of Sunday morning. We then all got up for a Sunday brunch which gave the other guests who couldn’t make Saturday’s festivities a chance to share in Nate and Caro’s special weekend. It was a much more relaxed affair .. and afterwards a few of us even managed to sneak away for a little golf on the driving range!

The weekend has been a lot of fun. I’ve met a lot of people and even though the French/English barrier was a bit tricky at times I was pleased to see that everyone I met was super-friendly. It was nice to be a part of Nate and Caro’s day. Great to see their amazing love. Check this link out for more photos.