Basking in the September sun, our real wedding couple Seóna and Ben celebrated their special day in the idyllic Château de Redon in the Dordogne, nestled in picturesque French countryside of the southwest. Inspired by the warm earthy tones and muted autumnal colours of the season, their dreamy wedding day featured pops of burnt orange, espresso, terracotta and blush pinks. With family and friends flying over for their wedding, Seóna and Ben wanted to host not only a wedding but a special relaxing retreat for their guests which included a group dinner in a local restaurant and a pool party! From handcrafted décor made by the couple, a champagne tower and a surprise rendition of Harry Styles' Adore You, this sunshine filled celebration will give you plenty of inspiration for your own destination wedding. Wonderfully captured by Jade Sequeval, check out the spectacular photos below!
Before plunging into the details of Seóna and Ben's magnificent wedding day, let us step back in time and recount how the happy couple met! After meeting through a mutual friend while in college in Belfast, their relationship didn't go beyond occasionally bumping into each other in the hallways on campus and saying a passing hello. It was another eight years before their paths would cross again and they decided to go for a spontaneous drink together in Belfast as their first date. After catching up and realising they had plenty of mutual friends and also figuring out they had the same birthday, the pair ended up chatting for hours and hours - and here we are today!
The couple's incredibly romantic proposal began a few weeks ahead of time when Ben drove two hours to Seóna's parents' home in Dublin to ask for their blessing, all while the unsuspecting Seóna was out for dinner with a friend. Ben was then able to drive back to Belfast and even managed to get there in time to collect Seóna from the restaurant!
The weekend of their engagement started like any other, with Ben leaving to go golfing in the morning and Seóna had her alarm set to prepare for her brother and his wife who were visiting that day. Little did she know, Ben had turned off her alarm in the middle of the night and she only happened to wake up when her phone rang, which turned out to be Ben asking her to make sure he had locked the back door.
Getting out of bed, Seóna was confused to see white petals on the floor as well as candles and flowers in the sitting room. She then went out to close the back door and only then did she realise Ben was in the garden. It was raining and Seóna was wearing no shoes and her "oldest pyjamas" but it didn't matter when Ben got down on one knee! Plenty of champagne ensued and while the couple and Seóna's brother and his wife were out for breakfast together, Ben had arranged for her sister and parents to sneak into the house and decorate as a surprise!
Considering every little detail, Seóna and Ben found the picturesque Château de Redon online after ruling out lots of other venues that didn't align with the aesthetic they envisioned or venues that didn't have enough good places to stay nearby to accommodate all of their guests. They fell in love with the 15th century chateau instantly, flying out to see it a year before their wedding and even though it was pouring rain, the couple could still see how breathtaking the venue truly was. While they were there, they visited the local village of Montignac, which had plenty of great accommodation, as well as nice places to eat, drink and relax.
The scenic grounds surrounding the chateau made for a picture-perfect ceremony spot, with the canopy of trees above on the cusp of turning at the time of this September wedding. Our glowing bride Seóna walked down the aisle to an acoustic version of INXS' Never Tear Us Apart in a fantastic cowl neck satin gown and her bridesmaids wore a duo of coordinating cowl neck satin dresses in burnt orange and espresso shades. These worked perfectly with her florals in autumnal shades which were a mix of dried and fresh flowers.
Seóna's sentimental wedding ring is made up of a combination of her mum’s, her granny's and great granny’s engagement and wedding rings and Ben's ring was also made from family jewellery.
Their romantic, relaxed outdoor ceremony included a hand-fasting ritual and a ceremony arch which was spray painted by the couple themselves, and decorated with handmade silk flowers and assembled in a slight panic the morning of the wedding. Their ceremony readings included a verse from Desiderata by Max Ehrmann and a reading of Union, a poem by Robert Fulghum.
Seóna and Ben had this advice to give to couples embarking on their own wedding planning journey: "Remember to breathe! Weddings are supposed to be a lovely and an exciting time, but in reality they can be really stressful, so just take each day as it comes and remind yourself that it will all work out just as it should."
They add, "Also figure out early on what are the top three things that are important to you, what are your non-negotiables, and then get those sorted first. Then remind yourself that everything else was more on your ‘nice to do/have list."
After the ceremony, the wedding party gathered in the courtyard for an outdoor drinks reception complete with a cocktail van, which served delicious Aperol Spritzes, and of course, there was a Champagne tower - it is France after all!
Then they moved into a barn on the grounds of the chateau for dinner surrounded by festoon lights and fairy lights in suspended gin jars. The creative bride printed the table plan on a huge sheet of calico linen herself as an extra handmade touch.
Seóna's brother in law kicked off the festivities with a surprise rendition of Harry Style's Adore You and the couple's first dance was to Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You by Lauryn Hill. Speeches were split in between meals, with each speaker being introduced with their own "hype tune", including This Is How We Do It by Montell Jordan for the bride and Low by Flo Rida for Seóna's father.
The next day there was a pool party at the chateau and afterwards the guests took over a restaurant in a nearby village for a late night dinner. Seóna and Ben jetted off to Paris for their well deserved honeymoon, followed by a two week stay in Vietnam. How dreamy!
A very special thank you to Seóna, Ben and Jade Sequeval for sharing this magical French château wedding with One Fab Day. There are also plenty of more photos to swoon over in the gallery below and you can watch a stunning video of their wedding day here!
Planning your own wedding abroad? Check out more of our Destination Weddings! We also have a list of the Best Luxury Wedding Venues in France as well as Where to Honeymoon in the Southwest!
