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I am so excited to have another wedding from last summer featured in Martha Stewart Weddings and also written up in the Editors’ Bride’s Guide!

This wedding was definitely one of my favorites from last year. Not only was it – hello! – in Provence, but it was also a beautiful outdoor wedding that I designed for the happiest, most effervescent bride ever! Aneta’s huge smile and laugh always lights up any room, but on this occasion, it was truly contagious. She and Phil were just so happy and relaxed, literally basking in the sunlight by the pool without an ounce of stress, letting all of the professionals whom they trusted to create a perfect day for them – and that’s exactly what we did. It truly was perfection.

One of my favorite parts of this wedding was working with extremely talented people. One such person was Minhee Cho at Paper+Cup Design. I first fell in love with her designs when I saw her own wedding featured in Martha Stewart Weddings and knew instantly that we shared the same tastes in all things quirky, cute, and offbeat.

As Martha Stewart Weddings notes in the below photo, I created these miniature booklets for Aneta & Phil by sourcing Moleskin books, attaching grosgrain ribbons as bookmarks, creating polka dotted binding and getting labels printed with illustrations designed by Paper+Cup. The result was super cute, with individual questions about Aneta & Phil on each booklet that was then placed on each table at the reception (this is actually a super popular ice-breaker for guests and was also created for this other amazing wedding I planned, also featured in Martha Stewart Weddings ).

Another incredible experience was working with Leo Patrone. As you can see, his film photography takes your breath away. It makes me want to dig out my old 1980s Pentax 35mm camera, get it fixed and start shooting film again. Not only was he an absolute pro on the day (working so hard – as did his assistant Cody), he is also very cool and down to earth – and gracious. To me, when Leo Patrone tells you that you’re really good at what you do, that is like receiving an award!

I’m sorry, but is Aneta not the cutest bride ever?!

The ceremony was set up outside on the expansive grounds, with a simple altarpiece erected between two olive trees. I dressed the altarpiece with ribbons and fabrics and we further dressed it with lavender, coral juliet roses and eucalyptus branches. It was a hot summer day in the South of France, so bearing that in mind, I worked with Paper+Cup to create fan programs (and believe me, everyone was using them as fans – it was that hot!), with a custom illustration of Aneta & Phil on the front. The backs of the programs were so cute: since this was a relaxed wedding, Aneta wanted to have a schedule of the day, rather than a formal breakdown of the stages in the ceremony. Running along the edges was their “Boy meets Girl” story – sooo cute!

These have got to  be my favorite formals ever. I love how all of them are laughing and just look so happy. If all formals were like these, I think couples (and the public at large) will stop bristling at the very mention of “posed” wedding portraits. Formals can mean you take more than 5 minutes away from your guests (and it’s worth it!), but with a great photographer, you will get amazing ones like these.

After the ceremony, guests feasted on canapes and cocktails in the courtyard. It is such a beautiful venue – I love the turquoise shutters and the iron handles on wooden doors and the weathered stone. I set up the drinks station on a wrought iron Provencal table and we sourced the jars from within France and it was soooo cheap (compared to the UK).

I also set up a photo booth station using a Provencal shelving unit and chest to display the guest book and props.

I adore the custom designed postcards that Paper+Cup and I worked on – and thinking ahead about all the times when I travel and buy postcards (with good intentions but never get around to sending them), I had French stamps sourced so that we could pre-stamp each postcard in advance. Every guest wrote postcards to loved ones (or to Aneta & Phil, which they found in their mailbox when they got back from their honeymoon), placed them in our collection box and we mailed them the next day. I also loved the Provencal lavender soaps that we packaged (with labels that I printed with the wedding logo designed by Paper+Cup) as wedding favors.

The above shows the “camera” escort cards (in honor of Aneta’s profession), on which I hand-stamped table assignments on the back and hung from a wrought-iron gazebo.

Below is the dining area which is also directly poolside. I designed the place settings to complement the surrounding romantic French countryside. All of the furniture, linens, cutlery, plates, stemware was sourced. And my favorite creation was the beribboned chairs for the bride & groom, which included different ribbons with various textures and colors (as I had done with their ceremony altarpiece).

How cute is their croquembouche wedding cake?! And them too, of course!

For guests to enjoy after dinner, I set up a dessert station on another armoire. Let me just say that the French really know how to make desserts! The pastries and cakes were out of this world – both in taste and artistry. Not only did we have this dessert station, but we also set up even more desserts on another table. And you know what – it was all pretty much gone at the end of the night!

This is definitely in my top 5 best first dances! Aneta & Phil started off dancing slowly to a slow ballad, and after a few minutes of heartfelt “awws,” the music suddenly cut to an electronic guitar riff and the two split apart with Phil strumming air guitar and Aneta dramatically detaching the train of her dress with a flourish to reveal her mini dress! They then did a choreographed line dance! It was hysterical and the crowd was whistling and cheering – including me! (in fact, if you look closely enough, you might be able to spot me laughing and cheering in the background )

As you can see, this wedding was so much fun! While it was incredibly hard work to pull it off, all of us worked extra hard and went the extra mile, not just because those are our standards, but also because their happiness and relaxed approach made us want to do even better. It is pretty clear in the photo below that I am pretty tired at that point, but also so happy and proud! I adore this bride – she was the best client and I feel extremely lucky to have her as a colleague and friend. She is also super generous and kind, getting me a thank you gift of a beautiful scented candle from Miller Harris as well as a tres chic bag from APC! – how francais is that?!

This stunning wedding would not have been so stunning and amazing (and fun!) if it weren’t for a team of super stars. I have to give special shout-outs to Monica, Leo and Minhee – it was an awesome experience working with you all. We were a kick-ass all-American posse in France, weren’t we?!

Finally, you have to see the full Martha Stewart Weddings feature by clicking here and the write-up  by the Editors on the Bride’s Guide.

MLH x

And here are all the creative professionals who made it all happen (please check out their work – they’re wonderful):

Venue: Mas des Comtes de Provence
Wedding Photography: Leo Patrone
Event Design: Forever & Ever Events
Stationer: Paper + Cup Design
Wedding Planning: Haute Weddings
Catering: Servis Compris
Flowers: Aux Fleurs du Theatre, +33 490 435 005
Furniture, crockery, and linens: Options Hire
Croquembouche & pastries: David de Roy, +33 490 477 201
Band: Fingers in the Jam, +44 (0) 7740 427766
DJ: Charlie Davies, +33 689 488 055
Celebrant: Pierre Henri
Dress: Anoushka G
Bride’s shoes: Jimmy Choo
Groom’s attire: Next, Tie Rack
Bridesmaid dresses: Vicky Martin