Pauline and Jonathan wanted privacy. To make the most of their loved ones. To get married in a garden, and to spend a week in a region that is dear to them. They chose to organize a small wedding in a villa at Île de Ré, and entrusted Lorenzo Accardi to immortalize these special moments.
Pauline shares with us their story, and the story of this beautiful intimate wedding … “We met a little more than 4 years ago in a bar and we had a real reciprocal crush. Our story was born in a natural way and we let go very quickly to invest in our relationship … which gave us a moving after 6 months on a whim just because we had visited an apartment like like that for see then the PACS after 2 years as a first step of commitment. ”
The proposal
“I already knew that I wanted to make this commitment through a wedding, but Jonathan needed more time to do it. I gave him the time, and during one of our traditional Sunday night aperitifs, we talked about marriage and he evokes wanting to be get married by the following year. So no official proposal with a ring but just a shared desire and a discussion in our daily that has formalized it.
“The preparations lasted almost a year and a half and these moments were as important as the day of the wedding. In the first moments, we first contacted Noémie Briand, jeweler in Paris to make our wedding rings. She took the time at each meeting to listen to us and understand our most far-fetched ideas, and she did a crazy job with a result we love. It was difficult to wait for the wedding to wear our rings. It was an important budget but necessary for us because rings stay for life as the choice of our photographer. ”
“I discovered Lorenzo’s work on La mariée aux pieds nus and as I loved his photos, we decided to contact him and skype. The contact went so well that we wanted at all costs to have him with us on the wedding day, so we found the photographer before we even found the place and date of the wedding !!
The idea of this wedding was to gather our relatives in a small committee as a family vacation day. So we wanted to go to the Île de Ré as we spend a lot of our holidays there. The place was found thanks to the help of Léa and Charlotte of Mademoiselle dit oui and that’s how we decided to take Léa (of Cérémonie Île de Ré) as officiant. She was perfect and we accompanied well throughout this year by offering us moments to sit and think about our couple through several small boxes and appointments!”
“Magical moments also during this year thanks to the monthly fitting of my dress custom made by Mathilde Marie. A benevolent person, ultra talented creator and perfectionist, she made me a perfect dress and I would like to remake a wedding just to wear again one of her dresses !!! All our service providers were chosen by crush for their work but also for their personality which made we all loved them and our marriage was for us an exceptional moment.
Our florist Bonnie and Wild did a crazy job and it is thanks to his compositions that the decoration of the villa came to life. Our last favorite and not least is our caterer. Mangez-moi is a grocery / restaurant where you can eat as well as take home-cooked meals. This place is our holiday hideaway, the first place where we have our first breakfast and where we will eat for each picnic. ”
“We spent a week at the villa before the wedding and our families also spent the week on the island so the day of the wedding everyone knew each other well thanks to the diners and aperitifs. We really had this cohesion and this family atmosphere of a day of vacation.
The day before the wedding, we welcomed Lorenzo with us to the villa because we planned to make the engagement session that day. A great idea because we could get to know each other better and be comfortable with the pictures. ”
“On the wedding day, we got up early to put everything in place because it had been raining all night and as we had planned everything outside, there was a lot of work. Thankfully we were able to count on my sisters and our witnesses!!
I still took the time to go to the market to find lunch before starting our preparations. Then our families arrived and we did the secular ceremony in the garden under the sun with a lot of emotions. I think everyone shed tears, especially when my dad’s text was very moving. But we still had good laughs especially when we saw our guests pass the handkerchiefs to each other to wipe their tears.
We then had a small snack with games in the garden followed by the cocktail. We took advantage of the end of the cocktail to go take our photos on the beach and in the woods.
We organized a dinner on large wooden tables without setting arrangements and we wanted something simple with a lot of conviviality.
No DJ but just a playlist because the important for us was especially to spend a beautiful evening around a good meal. ”
An advice for other couples
“Hard to choose, there was the discovery with Jonathan who was moved to tears while he never cries and does not show his emotions. The secular ceremony was super emotive too, a lot of emotions, love, I can not thank our loved ones who wrote shattering things, because we were in a small committee, so we could really enjoy the whole family. ”
“Surround yourself with providers you trust for their work but especially with whom you get along well.You will be able to take advantage of the preparations because this period is very important.You will remember these moments as well as D-day then you have to enjoy it and each moment allows you to be able to spend time with your partner and create memories together.We used the weekends where we went on the island of Ré for the wedding organization to make romantic weekends.
Do not stress the D-day or the days before the wedding for details. There will be inevitably forgotten things but they will not change the moments of happiness and all the love we receive today. For example I forgot my wedding bouquet for the town hall or I forgot in our apartment the bag with all the cheese when we left when I had to make the cheese platter for the day of the wedding (while I’m cheese maker!!). These details made us laugh a lot even if it can be hard to accept.
And finally as everyone says, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy !! And if possible organize for several days the wedding and moments with your loved ones. ”
Wedding dress : Mathilde Marie | Shoes : Sezane | Suit : Les confidents + Bow Tie : Le Flageolet | Flowers crown + floral design : Bonnie and Wild | Hair and Make-up : la mariée | Photographer : Lorenzo Accardi | Venue: Villa cùtè plage sur l’ile de Ré | Caterer : Mangez moi | Officiant : Cérémonie Ile de ré | Guest favors : tote bag by Cactus Rose |
