After 3 years and 5 postponements, Julia & Nick finally got to celebrate their wedding at the Chateau du Doux in the south of France. It was a 3 day event, with BBQs, evening parties, a trip to a beautiful nearby town, loads of quality time with friends and family, and the main event: a sunny spring day where they tied the know. They're the loveliest couple and I had an incredible weekend with their gang. Julia was kind enough to tell us a bit about their story. She's a screenwriter, so you'll surely enjoy reading it. 😉

Nick and Julia met on Bumble. "Nick was about to jet off to South Africa for his grandpa's 99th birthday celebration, so he asked me to meet IRL pretty immediately. He failed to tell me, though, that he was going to be heading straight to the airport from our first date, and walked lugging a giant suitcase. We talked for hours, until Nick had to run and catch his plane. On his way to the airport, he called his best friend and said, "I think I'm in love." Meanwhile, I was back at home, hoping that, for his grandfather's 100th birthday, Nick and I would both be in Cape Town, celebrating. And a year later, we were doing just that :)"

How the proposal went down is a whole story... "Our engagement story is a whole saga, but it is very much us! Nick commissioned a relative in Cape Town to design and make my ring, and it was supposed to arrive in the US about two weeks before he planned to propose. We had just moved from LA to NYC so that he could attend business school, so he wanted to propose at home, then take me to dinner in NYC and surprise me with the news that the following morning, we were heading to LA for a big party with our closest friends. But--I'm sure you can guess where this is heading--the ring got stuck in customs, and on the night he was planning to propose, Nick spent three hours in an Uber circling the DHL warehouse at JFK airport, trying to get them to let him pick up the ring! Practically everyone we knew was involved in the effort to retrieve this rock. Friends called family members who worked for DHL. My mom contacted our city council member. It was a whole operation! Just when Nick was resigned to the fact that he'd have to propose with a ring pop, DHL released the ring to him, and he sped home and was on one knee by the front door when I walked in. I was stunned… and of course, I was even more shocked once I found out about the ring ordeal! We made it to LA the next morning and had the best weekend celebrating with our LA family. It was a night I'll never forget… and it's a story that never gets old!"

For the wedding, Julia sums up the vibe perfectly: "The two words I kept using to describe the vision of the wedding day were "elegant" and "effortless," which really sums up French style in general. We wanted to keep the decor minimal with lots of greenery, because the Chateau and its grounds are already so stunning, but also have it feel ethereal and delicate, hence the baby's breath." She wrote this before the wedding, you can tell by the photos that it turned out exactly like she envisioned!

Julia also talks about her excitement for the wedding: "I'm just excited to finally get to have the wedding! Because of Covid, we've waited nearly three years and postponed five times. Nick and I actually got legally married in 2020, just after our first canceled wedding date, and honestly, that was the best thing we could have done. It's really taken all of the pressure off our France wedding--it's like a fun bonus! But, to make sure our ceremony still feels special, we're not doing a first look and I think I'm most excited about us seeing each other walking down the aisle."

And lastly, she has some tips for newly engaged couples: "Turn aspects of the planning process into date nights! Go out for a drink and make a spreadsheet. Go to a coffee shop and scroll through Pinterest photos of flowers. Go for a walk, share headphones, and pick all of your ceremony songs. The logistics of wedding planning can be stressful, but it's supposed to be a celebratory occasion -- make it fun!"

That's it! Hope you enjoyed this beautiful Chateau du Doux wedding, it's definitely one of the highlights of 2022. 🙂

Credits:

Venue: Chateau Du Doux
Florist: Maison Petali
Planner: And Then We Got Married
Dress Designer: Margaux Tardits
Suit Designer: Articles of Style
Make Up Artist: Skin 23