An elegant French wedding

A wedding in Southern France..

It felt like a long wait for Millie + Kev to get married, after being forced to postpone from 2020 in the middle of a pandemic they finally had their big day in the beautiful countryside in France in April 2022. I was super excited to photograph my first wedding in France and what better company to bring along for the ride than my Mum. We tied it in with a little holiday for ourselves and had a total blast exploring the Dordogne area!

Millie + Kev’s day was super relaxed and everyone from near and far was clearly just so happy to be celebrating the day with them. We started off with getting ready at Manoir de Longeveau, where all the guests were staying for the weekend. The main house is absolutely stunning and Millie and all her bridesmaids etc had heaps of space to get ready and enjoy the morning. I popped over to see Kev in one of the cottages, which is always really nice to cover both preparations and a bonus of getting ready within the same grounds.

The ceremony was conducted by Kev’s aunt in possibly the coolest church I have ever seen, in Aubeterre-sur-Dronne, which literally took everyones breath away (and not just because it was a little chilly!!). It is the tallest underground church in Europe and it felt incredibly special to be in, and to capture a wedding day within. We then headed out and wandered through the streets of Aubeterre to the towns square for a drinks reception and ice cream. The weather was absolutely perfect and for April it was pretty warm! We also took this time to go for a little walk for couple portraits around Aubeterre, which is just the most beautiful little town (also dubbed one of France’s most picturesque towns!).

We then waved Millie + Kev and their bridesmaids off in a couple of little Citroen 2cv’s who did a lap around the square beeping the horns which was such a fun part of the day! (I managed to blag a lift in one as well for photography purposes obviously!) Once back at Manoir de Longeveau everyone had drinks and it was a good chance to mingle. Then once the tables were ready we wandered through to the courtyard for the meal. The food was absolutely delicious and the sun started to set just as the speeches began, it really was the perfect setting with the perfect weather. Top notch speeches followed by the lighting of the croquembouche and then straight into dancing for an evening of partying.

It was total privilege to photograph Millie and Kev’s day and I loved every second!

If you are looking for a destination wedding photographer then do get in touch as I am thrilled to be able to travel with my job!

A few words from Millie + Kev and suppliers listed below -

What made you choose your wedding venue / location?

My mum purchased a holiday home in the Charente, the region of the venue, when I was 11 years old. We went on holidays there when I was younger and mum then moved there permanently when I was in my final year at uni. When we were looking at wedding venues in the uk, we realised that everything was very expensive, and we would need to cut down our guest list to get what we wanted, and most venues had a curfew, and we wanted a party! We also noticed having been to all our other friends weddings that on the wedding day, you very rarely speak to the bride and groom. We wanted to have a wedding weekend so we had the opportunity to speak to all our guests properly throughout the weekend. We liked the relaxed nature of the venue and being able to have literally everyone stay altogether in the cottages was a huge bonus for us! That and the French wine and food!

If you could impart any words of wisdom to a couple planning their marriage and wedding day, what would they be and is there anything you would do differently?

This is difficult as Covid really impacted upon how we viewed our wedding. If we could do it all again, we wouldn't have waited as long as we did as if we'd bitten the bullet and had our wedding in 2019, we wouldn't have had to wait nearly 3 years for the day! But hindsight is a wonderful thing and we didn't know there would be a global pandemic!

What made you choose me as your photographer?

We love the style of your photos - neither of us are posers and we wanted someone that was happy to stay in the background and take goofy and laid back shots of everyone enjoying themselves!

Venue - Manoir de Longeveau
Flowers - Angie Steadman
MUA + Hair - Jane Emerson