They met via mutual friends, and spend several months exchanging texts, going back and forth between Nimes and Paris, then created a new life for two to the city of lights, and finally planned their wedding at the pretty Domaine de Blanche Fleur near Avignon, photographed by Lorenzo Accardi. And do not hesitate to discover more pictures of this wedding and its secular ceremony in the full gallery of the post.
Virginie and Raphael share their story with us … “We started organizing our wedding in the summer of 2016. We chose 2018, for several reasons: Raphael doesn’t like odd years, and we wanted to give ourselves some time to organize the wedding that we wanted, that we dreamed of … We started with the basics: the venue and the caterer. We choose to get married in the south of France ( closer to our families ), especially at the Domaine de Blanche Fleur near Avignon because we really love this place and it’s in fact the only one we visited !
After that, we looked for everything else : dj, florist, outfits, … etc … The important thing for us was the decoration, which we wanted to do ourselves for most. During these two years of preparation, we were able to hunt all the elements of our decor everywhere in France. This allowed us not to focus on the “stress” of the wedding planning process, thus, to be able to enjoy a romantic weekend break.”
“We started with the civil wedding, Friday, April 27th afternoon, at Nimes city hall. The idea was to lighten the day of Saturday to enjoy every moment.
The move to the city hall was casual (few guests and simple outfits – we were in sneakers, a nod to our first meeting) and very quick. We met in the evening with both of our families close to the Domaine, to enjoy a little quiet moment before the big day.”
“The day started very early ! We had to unload and set up all our decoration. Fortunately, we had a few extra arms to help us … The morning was spent decorating and welcoming the various vendors. From 1pm, once the decorations were set up, it was time to move on to our respective preparations. “
“The ceremony was perfectly conducted by our officiant. Touching but not tearful, with a lot of humor and sincerity, exactly as we wished. After the ceremony, came the cocktail party during which we eclipsed a few moments with Lorenzo – the photographer – for a more intimate photo shoot.
A moment that we dreaded a little more, but Lorenzo Accardi put us at ease ; and he did well to insist, we would have regretted not having these beautiful photos to the two of us.”
“At 8.30 pm, our entrance as newlywed was festive and set the tone for our dinner and our evening. We had not planned “entertainment moments” during dinner, except a cute and successful surprise projection prepared by our witnesses. By cons, we had planned a ball opening a little more original, but let’s face it, not very mastered, almost improvised. A basic slow not resembling us, we asked a small medley dj: slow 30 seconds followed by a little electro swing 2 minutes on which we prepared a small choreography. The guests then joined us, and we finished the evening until the early morning.”
“What could and still can surprise many people is that we have never, really never been, stressed! Neither one nor the other … We were rather euphoric, and impatient to see concretize our ideas and especially to take advantage of this day.”
“Virginie: During our secular ceremony, when Raphael turned and look at me for the first time. His look. That will be one of my best memory of that day !
Raphael: As if by chance … it’s also my best memory of that day. These 20 seconds of waiting, have, however, appeared for hours !”
“I know it may be complicated, but in my opinion you must not do anything by obligation for your wedding. And most of the time, reconcile wedding planning time with leisure time (ex: we chose our champagne during a small weekend in Reims). And remember that a wedding must look like the bride and groom ! “
Photographer : Lorenzo Accardi | Dress : Naeem Kahn | Shoes : Jimmy Choo | Suit : Rives | Shoes : Les Crafteurs | Wedding rings : De Beers| HMUA : Les Groomettes | Florist : Dentelle de Fleurs | Venue : Domaine de Blanche Fleur | Caterer : Brunet Traiteur | DJ: AKF Event’s | Musicians : Jazz Cocktail | Wedding cake : Made in Cake | Rentals : Be Lounge | Officiant : A deux mains tenant |
