Well hello there! I am just so thrilled to be able to share today’s real destination wedding in France with you all as it is just one seriously gorgeous celebration. One of the greatest things about having a destination wedding is that they rarely last just one day. Usually, any attending guests will come the latest, the day before the wedding allowing at least two days of good, solid, mega partying. Today’s FAB couples are Jaime and Alexis who really showed us that love always triumphs – when they met, Jaime couldn’t speak any English and Alexis couldn’t speak any Spanish… but that clearly didn’t matter. The first night of their spectacular celebration was themed Flamenco and Tapas but we will let them tell you the rest along with their gorgeous wedding images captured by our wonderful friends Maria and Dominique at Studio Cabrelli!
Gosh, looking at those photos makes me wish I could dance! Now that we have eased you in with their pre-wedding party, we thought we should really let you know a little bit more about how Jaime and Alexis came to be married…
“We have the typical story of boy meets girl in a bar at happy hour, with the help of a mutual friend who made the introduction. Jaime was in London staying with this mutual friend (a former boyfriend of my sister) and this friend introduced us during the happy hour we started talking. Well, not exactly talking; Jaime didn’t speak any English and I didn’t speak any Spanish, but we still managed to communicate! It took us a year to get together as Jaime went back to Seville after the summer. When he returned to London the following summer to continue his studies, we met up again and that was it. We spent our first year together in London where Jaime was studying masters and me my university degree. Jaime had to go back to Seville afterward to work and I stayed in England for another year studying we managed the long-distance relationship, flying back and forth between Seville and London. When I finally finished my degree I packed my bags and jumped onto a plane bound for Seville – a brave move! Jaime bought a little flat in the center for us to live in. It was a difficult transition and took a lot of effort on both parts but the love was there and that kept us together.”
“Jaime had always said that after he finished writing his thesis (it took him 5 years) he would propose. When he saw the end in sight, he contacted my mother to discuss his intentions. We all had plans to travel to America for the summer and Jaime knew that there was one beautiful place that was special to me. So on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, in a traditionally romantic way down on one knee at my feet, Jaime proposed. We spent the rest of our holidays celebrating with friends and family.”
“We chose to celebrate our wedding in Provence as we both love this beautiful area of France and it is also part-time home to my parents. We have spent many happy times there and our dream was to have an intimate wedding with only our closest friends and family. We wanted it to be personal, at home in the garden and hoped to include both Spanish and English elements. We didn’t use a wedding planner as my parents had already organized a wedding for my sister a few years previously and they knew that the caterer, Francis Fesquet, would ensure that all went smoothly. And he did! On the Thursday before the wedding, we had a pre-wedding party for the wedding guests and a large number of local friends. The theme was “Flamenco and Tapas” and the highlight of the evening was an incredible performance by the Flamenco dancers that Jaime works with.”
“On Saturday evening we were “married” (we had already been legally married in Seville in June) in the garden by a friend who read a poem which she had written for us. It was an interpretation of traditional marriage vows and it was beautiful. The biggest challenge we faced was incorporating Spanish and English speakers. Fortunately though, my maid of honour speaks fluent Spanish so she was able to translate the all-important speeches.
Our advice for anyone planning a destination wedding is to remember that “less is more”. Keep things as simple as possible. The important thing is that each guest feels welcome and important to the event. We followed that principle down to the decoration. Since the garden was in full bloom we didn’t need to add flowers to the tables. My bouquet was a simple arrangement of perfect sunflowers as they were in season and him bouquet, along with the lavender for the men’s’ lapels, cost a whopping €10!”
Seriously, how beautiful is their back garden?! And the bride and groom for that matter? A special thanks to Jaime and Alexis for allowing us a glimpse of their wonderful weekend and of course, their images speak for themselves but a huge thanks to Studio Cabrelli for making today’s post. Check out their website and blog for some more french loveliness!!
