Sun Shining St Tropez Destination Wedding

Here it is, ladies and gents, the ultimate destination wedding. Georgina and Robert decided to hold their nuptials in St Tropez in France on the 21st of May 2016.

The loving couple got ‘officially’ married in a civil ceremony, which was followed by a church service and of course, the fun part – a reception with family and friends at Pearl Beach. The attire of the whole bridal party was sublime and in the hues of blue, yellow and pink. Both the bride and the groom looked outstanding and you can really see their own personal style reflected in their outfits.

Being Australian, I am always impartial to both the beach and a jolly good celebration, so this wedding ticks all the boxes for me. The personal touches like the map guestbook, candy bar and wooden name signs are perfect and memorable. The lovebirds even brought some items from home to pull off their vision, including the all-important flip flops for dancing later in the night. (This was one of the best items I had with me on my wedding day and totally saved my feet!)

I think this is brilliant advice from Georgina to all of you out there who are planning your own wedding – “Take in the day, cry if you want to, dance too much if you want to, it’s you and your partner’s day!”

Thank you so much for sharing these beautiful photographs with us, Gemma McAuley Photography.

THE PROPOSAL | It was the morning after the night before! Our anniversary fell the morning after I was bridesmaid for a close friend… eek! After a long drive home with a sore head, I arrived home to a card on the breakfast bar asking me to go upstairs…. I just knew 😉 I opened our bedroom door to the whole room decked out with fairy lights, champagne on ice, a wooden sign ‘will you marry me’ and most beautiful of all, my gorgeous engagement ring.

THE VISION | It wasn’t really an option to get married in the UK, it was going to be Vegas, or St. Tropez…. St. Tropez won!

THE PLANNING PROCESS | We are fortunate enough to know the South of France well, especially a little village called La Mole. I knew since being young that I would love to get married in that village church, so with the help of Sabine at Avallon Events Organisation, we made it happen. We carried out our church prep with our priest in England, and it was tough, but we ‘had’ to arrange several long weekends over in France to experience the food and wine first hand! It was really hard…..ha…..I hope I need to do it again really soon 🙂

THE VENUE |  The beautiful little tiny church was a given, our venue, be it 20 miles away from the church, was perfect for our needs. Pearl Beach is beautiful. The setting is dreamy, there was enough space for everyone to enjoy the view, there was a garden area for arrival drinks and a beach for our first dance. Not forgetting the beautiful sunset photos.

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | Dress by Harlem by Enzoani and shoes by Christian Louboutin.

FINDING THE DRESS | I had been in and out of a few local boutiques and seen a few that were ‘nice’. I was flicking through LuLu Brown’s facebook and I spotted the Harlem, and instantly booked an appointment for the following weekend. Tried on this, and every other dress in the shop and automatically knew that nothing was going to beat how comfy and relaxed I felt in the Harlem. With the mother of the bride sobbing in the back of the changing room… sold!

GROOM’S ATTIRE | We had eight groomsmen and with not all of them living close buy for fittings etc, we needed something suitable for a beach wedding, but also suitable for different ages and body shapes. NEXT it was. It was a perfect option for value for money and accessibility for picking up a range of sizes quickly. And they all looked so handsome.

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | I started off with six adult bridesmaids and three flower girls, so I knew that I had a big job on my hands. I was quite cruel and went and picked and bought all the dresses without anyone seeing them. I chose plain dresses in pink and yellow from British Home Stores. A flattering style, and I jazzed up the waist belts with some sparkle. Simple and elegant. The colours looked beautiful in the French summer sun, and the fabric meant that they were still nice and cool. I struggled with the flower girls, I didn’t want them in anything plain and I wanted them to match in with the theme. I came across the ‘Raspberry Ripple’ by Susie and Rose and just had to have them. Handmade English silk dresses and they were just gorgeous.

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | After a few meetings with a few recommendations with various styles of photographers, we met Gemma from Gemma McAuley Photography. We flicked through her website a few times, and then we met over a Starbucks. I just loved her style of photography. Nothing was really staged, it was all really natural. Capturing the relaxed elements of the day with everyone being on a holiday was the most important to me, and Gemma sure didn’t disappoint. From our engagement shoot on a dreary Saturday afternoon in drizzle, somehow she magically captured lovely, natural photos of my fiancé and I, and for that, in those conditions we knew we were onto a winner!

THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | This was hard!! It was so easy to go to wedding fayres; it was transporting everything over to France that was the hard part!! We wanted to keep our personality running through the wedding, but this was hard. We tried our best to take over as much as we could, we took favours, place settings, table numbers, flip flops (dancing shoes!), and sweetie table with us and improvised on the rest when we were over there.

THE HONEYMOON | The best decision we made!! We were umming and aahing if we should book the Maldives, or go on a mini-moon and plan one for later in the year or early next year. So glad we didn’t put it off, the most perfect 10 days. It was sooooooo needed after the run-up to the wedding. It was perfect and I wish we could do it all over again!

MEMORABLE MOMENTS | Waiting for Robert to come and call for me!! Untraditionally, we went to the town hall for a civil ceremony before we went to church. So Robert came and called for me to take me to the town hall.. most nerve-wracking minutes of my life!!!
Second most memorable moments were my parents’ reactions. I work with my parents, so spend most days with my mum, and see my dad in the office quite a lot, so seeing the looks on their faces when their daughter walked out in her wedding dress was a memory I will treasure.

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | Don’t stress. It’s a nightmare but it’s so worth it! Delegate what you can, and try to breathe. Everything on the day will go brilliantly, and if there are the odd details that you don’t pull off, it’s okay because your guests didn’t know they were supposed to happen anyway!
Take in the day, cry if you want to, dance too much if you want to, it’s you and your partner’s day!

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |

Photographer | Gemma McAuley Photography

Stationery | Here Comes the Bride

Flowers | Sue’s Bluebells

Wedding Planner | Avalon Events Organisation

Wedding Dress | Lulu Browns

Flower Girl Dresses | Susie and Rose

Wedding Venue | Pearl Beach, St Tropez

Hair | Pickles & Co

Congratulations, Georgina and Robert. Thank you for sharing your Pinterest-worthy festivities with us. It was a delight to look at. Abby xx