Lucy and Harry said I do at the beautiful Domaine of La Léotardie, a stunning wedding venue found in the Dordogne region of France and set within 1000 acres of natural parks and forests. It offered the perfect natural setting for their outdoor ‘Bohemian Flower Child’ theme which was full of personal touches, gorgeous bright and colourful decor and a stunning bespoke wedding dress by Indiebride London.
Lucy says…
We are both free spirits at heart and we wanted our wedding to reflect this and be laid back without the formalities of a normal wedding.
Our wedding planner/stylist described our theme as ‘Bohemian flower child’ which I think sums it up quite well! We wanted it to be a clash of English garden party/ hippy festival mixed with French chic. The dress code for the day was ‘bright and beautiful’.
There is so much to love about this wedding. The flowers, which inspired and provided the majority of the decor, are so colourful and beautiful and we love how individual stems were hung in lines like festoon lighting above the reception tables – such a simple idea that looks so so good. The bespoke pocket handkerchiefs for the groomsmen and the silk bespoke belts for the bridesmaids by Jessica Russell Flint is another element we love and brings something unique to the bridal party. Lastly, we adore the idea for their favours which doubled up as napkin rings. Thought up by their wedding planner and stylist, the extremely talented Oui Mon Couer, they provided each of their guests with personlised wooden beaded bracelets which were wrapped and presented around their napkins. Genius idea and something I have never come across before in the 8 years I have been doing Festival Brides!
Lucy and Harry share with us the details on their incredible wedding day. Make sure you read Lucy’s excellent advice at the end -she makes perfect sense.
Enjoy lovely people…
Old Harry’s Rock…
Harry was determined that our engagement would be a complete surprise and had put me off the scent by hinting that it might happen later in the year. I took him for a weekend away for his Birthday to the Pig Hotel in Dorset in February. When we arrived, we went to see the incredible views at the top of Old Harry’s Rocks and he dropped to one knee at the cliff edge. I was so shocked I thought he was joking – safe to say it was a surprise!
He had designed the ring himself and when I saw it I couldn’t believe he had done it all on his own, it really is the most beautiful ring I’ve seen and I love how much thought he put into it.
An Indie Bride Bespoke Wedding Gown…
Before getting engaged, I hadn’t really put much thought into what I might like to wear, so it felt a bit daunting to go into shops and start trying things on. After going into a few shops and trying on lots of different styles, I began to think that to get what I really wanted to I would have to get it made. I came across Indie Bride online, and was really drawn to the bohemian /relaxed style. I visited their showroom near Oval and met with Miina and tried a few of their dresses on. Although I still hadn’t found exactly what I was looking for, I enquired about a bespoke service and knew that I had found the place where I could imagine by dream dress coming to life. I sent Miina a few pictures of dresses that I had seen, where I had liked one part but not another, and we worked together to create the final dress I wore for my wedding. I loved how the materials used were organic and ethically sourced, and it was so comfortable and felt amazing to wear.
Silver Espadrille Wedges…
I had originally planned to go barefoot, but my bridesmaids would have looked so much taller than me so I chose some silver espadrille wedges from Castañer and then changed into platform superga trainers in the evening.
A Golden Crown…
I wore a gold plated Laure de Sagazan crown as a forehead band, with white wax flowers placed above where my veil sat. My veil was the ‘Cali’ veil from Britten Weddings, and it felt so amazing and really flowed in the wind which I loved.
After dinner I changed my headpiece for a white flower and foliage crown.
Something Borrowed…
My something borrowed was some pearl earrings which my mum lent me, my something blue was a gold and turquoise anklet which my bridesmaids bought for me. I had my something old as a pearl drop bracelet that Harry had bought me when we were first seeing each other, and my gold head piece as my something new. Other than that, I just wore my new wedding band and engagement ring.
A Jacket, Loafers and A Pocket Square…
Harry bought himself and his groomsmen a navy jacket from Crew, some chocolate loafers from Fairfax and Favor matched with stone chinos. As a keepsake from the wedding, each of the boys were given a colourful alphabet pocket square from a British designer Jessica Russell Flint, each one different depending on the letter of their name.
Rustic, Laid back and Typically French…
Neither of us have anywhere in the UK that we are attached to, and we aren’t religious so we had the freedom to go somewhere a little different. We decided on France as we didn’t want our friends and family to have to travel too far and we both love our food and wine.
We were looking for something that was rustic, laid back and typically French and spent a lot of time searching the internet where we found the venue and our wedding planner Ajna Ellis (Oui Mon Couer). She confirmed that the venue we had found was a good fit for what we said we wanted, and that actually she had married at the venue herself!
We flew out to see it a few weeks later and as we passed the gates, drove through the forest and eventually saw La Leotardie come into view, we knew we had found the magic we were after. We are both outdoorsy and the wild flower meadow and remote location, where all you could hear was the cuckoo made us feel so at home.
The venue actually had several other houses on the property that we were able to rent out, which meant we were able to accommodate most of our friends onsite.
A Kiss To Build A Dream On…
The week before our wedding in France, we did the legal ceremony in our local registry office with just our family and a few close friends. This meant that we had complete free reign to do whatever we wanted in the ceremony.
We asked a friend, to whom we are both close to, to be the celebrant and host the ceremony for us. We did a lovely introduction that was very personal to us both, about how we met and about our growth as a couple. Harry’s sister did a reading from the ‘Velveteen Rabbit’ by Margery Williams and our friend read an excerpt from the book ‘Everything I Know About Love’ by Dolly Alderton.
Guests arrived at La Léotardie, and walked through the wildflower meadow to have welcome drinks at the pigeonnier before walking up to a wooded area where the ceremony was held. I walked down the aisle to ‘You and Me’ by Penny and the Quarters and walked out to ‘A kiss to build a dream on’ by Louis Armstrong, all played using an I phone and a speaker.
Flower Crowns and A Silk Belt…
I loved the idea of my girls also wearing white, with pops of colour to match the groomsmens pocket squares and wedding flowers. I found a matching cami top and skirt in the And Other Stories capsule, which we paired with some hot pink espadrille wedges.
I came up with the idea of using a silk scarf from Jessica Russell Flint to wrap as a waist belt to tie in with the Groomsmen and make them stand out. They also wore bright and colourful flower crowns and bouquets.
Natural Wedding Photography…
Our photographer was Melissa Lenoir of Mamzelle, and she did a fantastic job of making us feel at ease and captured some really beautiful shots of our day. We wanted our photos to be relaxed and not too posed, so we were really pleased with all of the natural shots; we have really enjoyed going back through them all with our family and friends.
Bright and Beautiful Decor…
The venue was so beautiful, and it being spring, all the roses were in full bloom so it didn’t feel like we had to do a whole lot to get the wow factor. That being said, our planner Ajna, was fantastic and had seemingly endless styling and décor props, such as a furniture suite for our cocktail hour and macramé bunting.
Although our main style feature was the flowers, to help bring the venue to life and look ‘bright and beautiful we incorporated colour everywhere we could, including renting mismatched coloured glassware and vintage crockery.
Festoon lights were hung up to light up the courtyard where we had dinner and the dance floor, as well as fire pits for people to relax around late into the evening to give the evening a warm glow.
Hanging Stems and Wildflowers…
Our main focus for our décor was the flowers, which we wanted to be as colourful as possible but also natural and in season. Harry’s family emblem is the sunflower so we asked the florist (Le Coeur Sauvage) to include it in key pieces such as the flower hoop that hung on the tree behind where our ceremony was held. We wanted splashes of colour wherever possible and had stems suspended above the dining tables and lots of mismatched jars and containers filled with wildflowers.
Wooden Beaded Bracelets…
Rather than have napkin rings, Ajna attached bright coloured tassels to wooden beaded bracelets, and attached our guests names (made with seeded paper that could be planted) to replace conventional name cards. It was great to see everyone wearing their bracelets the next day and added to the boho ‘festival’ vibe we were after.
Huge Wheels of Cheese…
Rather than a traditional wedding cake, we opted to have huge wheels of cheese which could be enjoyed throughout the evening after dinner with baguettes. We used harder cheese for the first two layers, gradually building up to softer cheeses such as brie and goats cheese.
Favourite Moment…
The whole day we were wondering around on a cloud, but our favourite moment was during the ceremony when we were stood in front of everyone we loved and we were so excited to see each other and start the day.
Any Advice?
The details really do set some weddings apart and the finished product is always amazing to see. However, if something doesn’t go to plan or it isn’t possible to have something you set your heart on, I think it’s important to keep in mind that it’s really just about the two of you celebrating your love for each other, and no one will notice on the day apart from you. If you have plenty of booze, your guests are fed and they can dance the night away, you can’t go too far wrong.
The Line Up…
Photography: Mamazelle; Wedding Venue: La Leotardie; Wedding Planner: Oui Mon Couer; Catering: Fabrice Le Chef; Florist: Le Coeur Sauvage; Bride’s Veil: Cali from Britten Weddings; Bride’s Dress: Indie Bride London; Bride’s Makeup: Aleksandra Zych; Hair: Victoria Farr; Groom’s Suit: Crew; Groom’s Shoes: Fairfax and Favor; Personalised Pocket Squares: Jessica Russell Flint; Bridesmaid Dresses: & Other Stories; Bridesmaid Silk Belts: Jessica Russell Flint; Band: Mixology Sax and DJ via Fix The Music; Videography: Vidéotrotteur
