One of my favourite destinations for weddings is France. We've shown some gorgeous weddings over the years from rustic nuptials in the French countryside to chic château celebrations and today's real wedding is a mix of both. Olga and Benjamin combined their Polish and French cultures to say I do in the stunning (and I mean stunning) Mas de la Rose. The overwhelming element of their celebration is love and close bonds and it was a real treat to hear their story. The beautiful photographs by Nordica Photography are well worth a peek this morning...
Don't all good love stories start with 'It was a crazy night in Paris' well for Olga and Ben that's exactly how their adventure began, so I'm excited to hear the rest... I'm not sure if it was because I was a little bit drunk on champagne and my head was dizzy or was it actually love at first sight, but I still remember the first moment I saw Ben. He was approaching the table and I grabbed my friend's hand and whispered 'That's the one!' As it turned out I was right! 5 months later I was already living in Marselle with Benjamin.
How stunning is Olga's Manuel Mota dress? Just wait till see you it on. I absolutely love the jewel and feather embellishment, Olga accessorized with a matching jewel headpiece and stylish Charlotte Olympia shoes.
When it came to the proposal, Ben really wanted to surprise Olga and used an age-old method of popping the question - even though it's a tad risky...Benjamin prepared a wonderful surprise dinner with candles and tonnes of red roses. I came home after my gym class not looking at all like a bride to be, tired and sweating so of course completely surprised! Ben handed me a glass of champagne, inside the glass was the most beautiful engagement ring. Luckily I didn't drink it straight away because I would have swallowed the ring before realizing what was really going on!
We've seen some pretty gorgeous French wedding venues in our time. If you haven't seen One Fab Day contributor, Michelle's real wedding you must check it out! So I was super excited to hear that Olga and Ben decided to stay put and say I do in France. If you're not in love (and considering a destination wedding) from the photographs you've already seen, just wait till you see the rest! So how did they find this gem? Well a bit of online research and a viewing which left them speechless...From the moment we stepped foot in Mas de la Rose, we knew it was the place, nothing we had seen before had compared to it. There was just something absolutely magical about Mas de la Rose!
The pair were very on trend when it came to the decor, using a colour scheme of plum, lavender and radiant orchid - Pantones Colour of the Year! Check out our Radiant Orchid Wedding Inspiration for tips on how to use the colour in your own wedding.
With the sun high in the sky it was time to say I do...
As Olga is Polish and Benjamin is French they wanted to combine both their cultures into the ceremony, so their wedding was a wonderful mix of wedding customs and traditions.
The pair also asked their two friends to conduct the ceremony...Our ceremony was conducted and written by our two friends, Steph and Reda, which made it very special. Benjamin wrote the most beautiful vows which had me in tears, it was all very emotional!
We dreamed of an outdoor Provance wedding with an amazing mix of French and Polish cultures and traditions. Which I think we achieved! It was jazzy, and funky, filled with love, family and friends, good laughs, conversation, great wine and amazing food plus crazy dancing till early morning!
In typical bride-to-be style, Olga was running late on the morning of the ceremony so she roped in her friends to help with the final touches of decor, including hanging the table plan from an olive tree.
The venue had a beautiful reception room that could be opened up on both sides to create an outdoor room so to speak. This kept the touches of elegant dining and combined it with the garden party vibe of the day. How sweet is the table decor, springs of lavender in ribbon, craft paper place cards and foliage in twine!
For me and Benjamin the day of our wedding was the most amazing day of our life. As I am Polish and Benjamin is French it was just wonderful to have our families and friends with us who came from many parts of the world. We have travelled a lot aswell picking up many friends along the way so we had guests from all over the world. It was really moving for us that many of our guests made such a great effort to travel from far away to be with us on the day of our wedding.
As many of their guests were travelling from all over the world to attend the wedding, Olga and Benjamin planned a two-day event with lunch and activities on the second day. Guests that have made the effort to travel will really appreciate the gesture and even if the wedding is only a few hours from home - it's a great way to catch up on the day before and keep the party going!
Stylish guest alert - well the guests are from all over the world and it looks like they put on quite the fashion show!
Family is such an important part of your wedding day so it was so lovely to hear that both Olga and Benjamin's parents went that extra mile for their children... My parents have been divorced for more than 25 years had not spoken to each other but on my wedding day, they talked and laughed and even danced together! And to top off Olga's parents getting along, Benjamin's father who doesn't speak Polish prepared a speech in Polish, while Olga's father who is Polish did his speech in French! Can you feel the love?
What advice would you give to couples planning their day? Do not stress too much otherwise you will kill all the fun. And also try to remember every little second of that day. I must say that even though our wedding started at 5:30pm and we did dance till 6am there are so many emotions that time simply flies.
A huge congratulations to Olga and Benjamin on their beautiful French wedding!
A big Thank You goes to Nordica Photography for sharing their gorgeous photographs with One Fab Day. To see more of their work pop over to www.nordicaphotography.com
All the Wedding Details
- Ceremony: Mas de la Rose
- Photographer: Nordica Photography
- Wedding Dress: Manuel Mota
- Shoes: Charlotte Olympia
- Flowers: Linda le Gypso
- Groom(smen)’s suits: Paul Smith
- Macarons: Jean-Charles Meresse
- Other deserts: Riederer a Aix en Provence
- Wedding Favours: soap from Savon de Marseille Savonnerie Licorne
- Stationery: Wolley
- Make Up & Hair: Patrycja Dobrzeniecka
- Wedding Band: Soul Motion
- DJ: Pierre et Musique
- Caterer: Marrou
- Champagne: Ruinart
