Wedding venues in France – We're on the move!

Exciting times are afoot at Chateau Bee HQ and we now have a sparkly new home to showcase the very best wedding venues in France here. Now you can discover the very best wedding locations from Brittany to the South of France.

We have also moved to our lovely new French wedding blog. Please follow this link to see our latest, wedding tips, news and fabulous new wedding venues in France:
http://chateaubeeselection.com/blog/

MERCI BEAUCOUP!

We’ve Been Featured On Made In Guernsey magazine!

We’re pleased to have recently been featured on Made In Guernsey, a local online property and lifestyle magazine produced by Guernsey estate agents Livingroom that celebrates our beautiful island and what makes it so great.

You can read the piece in full over at MadeIn Guernsey.

Wonderful Glamping Wedding in a Tree House site

I found some lovely pictures on the online Huffington post.

At The Chateau Bee, we have recently explored different glamping sites (we love to sleep in tree cabines!) and could envision how nice it would be to organise a wedding in some of these places.

Check out these wonderful photos of a wedding that took place in the States, at Tree House Point: the simplicity of the majestic woods as a backdrop, the little fairy tale tree houses and the different elements of decoration make the whole event incredibly unique and authentic. A special mention to the wedding cake…I love it!

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Romantic Hairstyles

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To introduce my new post about hairstyles, I chose a picture of the famous, Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, whose paintings and personality have always fascinated me.

Today indeed, I'd like to talk about romantic hairstyles, braids and crowns of flowers which, in combination with a white wedding dress, have the power to create magic!

In France, many hair dressers will automatically assume that you are after a traditional hairstyle for your wedding: pulled hair, big tidy bun or constrained curls, pearls or diamond-like ornaments and a lot of hairspray!

Personally, I have never been to keen on these sorts of hairstyles: they are a bit too "stiff" for my liking and not necessarily flattering.

I much prefer romantic hairstyles: for instance loose buns with braids, loose hair with natural looking waves and/or crown of flowers simply put at the top of the head…

If your hair is too short you could easily add some extensions or ask your hairdresser to do that for you.

Here are different pictures of hair dos I find quite inspiring.

• HAIR UP

I love everything about this hairdo: the braids gathered on the top of the head, the delicate flower crown, the strands of hair on the sides, and the fringe!

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I also like this low and loose bun with a braided crown weaved with natural flowers.

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Finally, for updos, I really like this bun, which is more "structured" but wild at the same time with these magnificent flowers at the back, matching the bridal bouquet.

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• LOOSE HAIR

I absolutely love this untidy side braid with flowers on one side only.

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This one is probably one of my favourite: a natural and original headband, matching perfectly the wonderful dress.    

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I also like this braid on long bangs with just a flower on the side. I find it suits better oval and thin faces rather than round faces.

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Finally, I can't resist showing you this splendid head piece (and wonderful matching bouquet) - complementing well a simple, diaphanous dress.

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A bientôt!

How to use Mason Jars in the best way

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If you have been following wedding blogs and magazines in the last months, you probably noticed the abundance of articles and photos about mason jars…so YES mason jars are super cool, and can be used in various ways. Here is for you a selection of ideas on how to use mason jars and some tips to make the most of it…

As a little history, Mason jars were created by a New Jersey-born son of Scottish farmer, John Landis Mason, in 1858, revolutionising the home-food world as home cooks could then preserve their food easily. However Mason never really believed in the success of his jars and soon sold his patent. A few years later, the Ball Brothers got hold of the patent and started mass-producing the now super trendy jar.

 ~ Mason Jars as glasses

This is a very trendy way to use mason jars. Use some pint size jars, with handles preferably, and for more personalisation, add chalkboard stickers or a kraft label on each jar.
My advice: don't forget to add a sign to encourage people to use it and, above all, to take it home, as you don't want to be left with hundreds of jars at the end of your wedding!

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To complete the look, get a dispenser, like the Lakeland dispenser.

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~ Mason jars as centrepieces

Mason jars can be used as really pretty vases, for wild and country flowers. For more impact, use jars of different sizes (quart and pint size jars); to save money, you can also add some other glassware like jam jars or even some milk bottles.
Depending on your wedding theme, you could also ornate your jars with lace or burlap.

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If you have a beachy theme, I also love the painted and distressed blue jars.
It is difficult to find these types of jars in France and UK but you can always do them yourself.
Find a tutorial here.

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~ Mason jars for lighting

You can order some lamps made of jars on Etsy but also create them if you feel like doing some DIY.
You can also simply use hanging jars and put some sand and candles in it.

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~ Hanging jars

If you order in bulk some jars (which I really recommend if you want to keep costs down), you might want to use some for the ceremony alley.

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If the jars you ordered are not hanging ones, no panic, just do some DIY. Find a tutorial here below:

Fairy-Tale inspired wedding

I'm totally in love with this fairy-tale wedding found on the blog Green Wedding Shoes and captured by the photographer Jessie Holloway. It features a wedding in Tennessee in a botanical garden (Knoxville Garden and Arboretum), arranged by Whimsical Gardens.

With a theme such as "Fairy Tale", the main pitfall is, in my opinion, to go for a styling a bit too cheesy; in that wedding however, everything is absolutely tasteful and…magical!

I love how they combined perfectly the princess-like feel (the dresses, golden objects…) with the bewitching and more “rustic” magic of the woods.

The bride and her bridesmaids do look like graceful fairies in the groves and the decorative elements really tells a story: the giant open book, the chairs of all sorts of shapes and colours, the clocks and golden keys, etc…

This is another evidence that for a unique and splendid wedding, a wood or whimsical garden could be the only thing you need. First it has an atmosphere, a special light, and its own mysterious vibe. In addition trees always have a majestic aura and will allow you to take superb pictures. Hang golden clocks, masons jars, old keys or vintage frames, place upside down umbrellas or fairy lights and here you go, you will have created an enchanting fairy tale atmosphere...

Check Jessie Holloway website for more pictures...

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Night Ceremonies

I very much love the idea of a wedding ceremony that would take place during the night/the evening, in a Midsummer Night's Dream fashion.

I recently visited a wonderful venue that looked a lot like a hobbit enchanted village, overlooking a forest in Brittany. With its little stone houses and wonderful nature around, I was expecting to see elves coming out of every corner!

This venue also has a circular garden that would lend itself perfectly to ceremonies. In particular, I could imagine how nice and bewitching it would look during an evening/night, with some little fairy lights and candles on the path leading to it.

Ceremonies at night are pretty rare (I have never attended one myself) but I believe they can be particularly dream-like and make your event stand out. To go out with a bang, you could also consider to end your ceremony with Chinese lanterns to illuminate the sky.

To enjoy some daylight too, you could simply have the cocktail (nibbles and drinks) before the ceremony.

As an alternative you could also choose to have you ceremony during what photographers call "L'heure bleue" i.e. around sunset time, a special moment during which photographers can capture the wonderful blue light of the sky and do not need flash. It is known to be an ideal moment, an "instant magique" for taking pictures.

I have compiled for you a series of pictures about wedding ceremonies at night time...