Bespoke Suzanne Neville dress for a French Chateau weddingMiss Bush

We are so pleased to share Marika and Charlie's stunning French chateau wedding with you today. The entire day took place at the incredible Château Engalin, in Mauvezin, France, with a relaxed, laid back vibe, lots of good food and drink and elegant styling in the most beautiful surroundings.

Marika wore a bespoke Suzanne Neville dress combining features that she loved from Hailey and Gigi. The resulting look had a striking square neckline with a romantic billowing skirt, complete with a front slit to show off her iconic Loeffler Randall shoes. Marika styled her look with a series of Miss Clemmie earrings and hair accessories, which she switched out throughout the day to update her look.

Read on to find out more about this wonderful day, as recounted by Marika...

Styling

After holding up some Miss Clemmie earrings whilst I was trying on my dress "just to see how they looked", we knew they were a must-have. I ended up getting 2 pairs, the Keshi, which were more classic for our ceremony and Apero, and then I swapped into the fab Folies to glam up for our dinner and party. Both were paired with some gorgeous bespoke hair pins which Clemmie created to incorporate both the pearls and crystal from both earring sets. For shoes I caved for the Loeffler Randall's in white - I couldn't resist! I needed a block heel, they were the perfect height, and just so comfy - I wore them all night.

About the Day

Our wedding was in France - we flew out on the Tuesday so that we could fit in seeing all of our friends and family who had come from far and wide before the wedding day when we knew we'd be stretched. The weather was beautiful, full sunshine and around 30 degrees, and we had a beautiful couple of days in the local town Lectoure. On the Thursday night our wedding party (immediate family and our bridesmaid and groomsmen and their other halves) joined us at the Chateau and we had a stunning dinner next to the pool for 27 of us and were accompanied by the most beautiful sunset. Our Friday was relatively relaxed! Our ceremony was planned for 4pm and so we had the whole day to get ready so there was no rush. My bridal party had their hair and make up done whilst the boys went and spent the morning on the golf course. Our hair was done by a local stylist from Toulouse, Sarah Fekir, whilst make-up was done by Keeley Wilson - we flew her out from London and at the time I wondered whether this was necessary but it was a decision I definitely don't regret! It was like having another bridesmaid with us. She kicked off our make-up at 9am and was still by my side at 9pm! I'd definitely recommend her to anyone and everyone who is looking for a make-up artist in England or abroad.

Guests arrived from 3:30pm and were greeted with a colourful array of flavoured waters to help cool everyone down before the ceremony which was in the Chapel ruins on the same grounds as the Chateau. The weather was looking a little threatening after a week of scorching sunshine, and luckily we had bought some hand fans last minute as it was still scorching at 4pm and we needed the breeze! I walked down the aisle with my Dad as our singer Sofia sung La Vie En Rose. As we had to legally get married in England, we were able to have a close friend as our celebrant in France which made our ceremony all the more special. We had readings from my Uncle and a best friend of both of us from University. The Chapel was decorated so beautifully, I was blown away with how our stylist and florist pulled it all together from the vision we shared. We went for quite a classic and simple theme of white flowers (roses, peonies, hydrangeas and delphiniums) and eucalyptus, lots of candles in glass vases, and disco balls to add a little sparkle. The theme was echoed across the whole of the Chateau grounds, and it was just executed unbelievably beautifully.

Our ceremony finished with This Will Be (by Natalie Cole) blasting out, and guests were ushered out for "Apero", as the French call it, in the grounds around the Chapel where the drinks of choice were Champagne, Aperol Spritz and Rosé, alongside some stunning canapes which were made by the Chateau owner and chef, Marwan, and an acoustic set sung by Sofia who sang in both English and French. We had a champagne tower too - I couldn't resist - why not ey!? My Dad kicked off the speeches at the end of Apero with a lovely toast to Charlie and I, and my Mum.

We then moved around to the front of the Chateau (each event was in a new/unseen space which we felt was quite special) for dinner where we had 2 long tables. Charlie and I wanted to be in amongst the fun instead of on a head table. One of my best friends was our MC and kicked off the dinner perfectly, followed by the most heart-felt speech from my, now, husband - there were a lot of tears in the house! We'd already heard murmurings of a storm approaching so we knew there was a chance that it might be a "grab your drink and run" situation at any point!! Our planner and the Chateau staff were so incredibly prepared, and we managed to get the starter in the bank before we had to abandon our tables and move into the glass barn which was all setup ready for dinner take 2 - I was just so appreciative that they'd been willing to take the risk and let us have some of the meal outside, and were prepared with a second setup inside ready for us to move into. After moving into the glass barn, we were served a main course of local duck (of course!) and the party started to feel even more wild in the enclosed space. I had a quick change into a back-up dress - totally unplanned, but I think with the intensity of the day and the heat, I ended up starting to feel quite trapped in my dress so needed something a bit more forgiving! Luckily I had a back-up dress, covered in tassels, which actually worked perfectly for dancing. The Chateau owners were feeding me with espresso martinis which helped the anxiety! And in amongst the courses we had some more very special speeches - my sister and cousin said some lovely words followed by a traditional shot of Polish vodka for everyone, and the 2 best men of course delivered a hilarious close to the meal..

After a pudding of Kahlua tiramisu, we had digestifs of Negroni's and Picante's to get the proper party started. The tables were quickly cleared and Charlie and I had our first dance to My Destiny by Lionel Richie, performed by our incredible band, Four Kicks - recommended to us by friends, they are regulars in Verbier and Monaco so we knew they'd be epic. The party was epic, but far too short. The boys were quick to get our of their suit jackets and shirts, ties were on heads, vodka was being poured straight from bottle to mouth, and there was a lot of crowd surfing, it was truly epic and everything we could have hoped for.

The night finished with croque monsieurs and 2am buses for our guests back to the local hotel, with the guests staying at the Chateau finding their way to the pool.

The next day was my birthday so we continued the party around the pool. It was a shower of Bloody Marys and even more rosé. We got a DJ and sax in to set the vibe and had a huge BBQ for lunch followed by homemade pizzas in the evening. I think it was probably a more wild day than the wedding - we didn't know people would have it in them! No one was safe and 90% of people got chucked in the pool. We were so glad we had a Day 2 so that we could spend even more special time with our favourite people - we'd recommend it to everyone getting married!