WOW!! We’re not in the habit of rating people’s weddings, but if we were, Hannah and Andrew’s stunning, rustic South of France Jewish wedding is clearly 1000/10!
First of all, just LOOK at what you can achieve with eucalyptus and baby’s breath – that chuppah is the stuff of dreams! Set against THAT view, it really doesn’t get more breathtaking. The region had special significance to the couple, who both spent childhood holidays in the South of France, and got engaged there just one year earlier.
Nutritionist Hannah carried the Provence herb theme throughout the wedding, decorating the tables with explosions of herbs and candles. How romantic does that sound?? And just imagine how heavenly the room smelled… ahh, we almost feel like we were there.
The happy couple partied so hard their reception was shut down by the police – what a story to tell the grandkids! That’s making the most of it and then some.
Hannah stunned in her beautiful lace-sleeve gown by Legends Romona Keveza purchased at none other than phenomenal STG Recommended Vendor, The Wedding Club.
Speaking of Recommended Vendors, the wedding was catered to perfection by another much-loved STG Vendor, kosher caterer, Dany’s Traiteur, who also catered the couple’s epic pre-wedding beach henna party.
Superstar photographer David Pullum, an epic talent and another much-loved Recommended Vendor whom we simply ADORE, captured the day with aplomb, as did videographer – Airsnap, creating the stunning highlights reel below.
It’s Hannah’s turn to take over the blog for all the juicy details of her and Andrew’s big day; we fell madly in love with the entire celebration, and we just know you will too!
How we met
Hannah, the bride: We met in the back of a black taxi after a night out five years ago, and the rest is history!
A rustic South of France venue
Andrew and I got married in the South of France, which had always been our dream destination. Not only did we get engaged there exactly one year before our wedding day, but we had the pleasure of spending every summer there with our friends over the last five years of our relationship.
We fell in love with our venue (Chateau Castellaras) before even visiting it, as it had the exact rustic feel we were looking for. The view over the hills was also significant, as it marked the half-way point between Hannah’s family holiday home, and Andrew’s grandparents’ apartment in the Alps, where he spent much of his childhood.
A rustic, romantic theme
The theme was rustic/romantic Provence; Andrew and I both love being outdoors, and we wanted everything to blend into the natural landscape. We chose an event planner, DX Events, instead of a wedding planner, and they were perfect for what we needed, as they enabled us to choose all of our own suppliers, and they coordinated all of the logistics on the day.
Hand-painted designs
We wanted our invitations to tell a story and get our guests excited. We loved working with Natalie Spencer who designed our perfect deck.
We had a henna party on the Thursday night to welcome our guests to Cannes and Natalie hand painted the most amazing design with palm trees and lanterns in line with our theme.
Our information cards tied in with our save the date, with the olive branches and feel of Provence incorporated. Our wedding invitation was more formal, we we continued the color scheme that ran across the wedding.
Glamorous hair and makeup
I never wear makeup, and always wanted something very natural to take me from day to evening. One of my good friends, Cassie Jordan, is a wedding makeup QUEEN, and she had the perfect vision of what I needed.
I left all decisions to her, and she could not have been more amazing. Not only did she highlight all the right places, but my makeup survived all the tears, and she also had such a calming presence on the day. I could not recommend her enough, she is so talented!
I have VERY curly, frizzy Jewish hair and choosing the right style was a hard decision, as I didn’t want it to frizz in the heat! After several hair treatments, it was Dominique Peron who helped me on the day. We had lots of girls who needed their hair doing, and I could not recommend her and her amazing team enough!
A Legends Romona Keveza dress
My first visit to The Wedding Club was such a dream. I didn’t need to look any further once the first Legends Romona Keveza purc I tried on stole my heart. I always wanted my arms to be covered in lace, and I wanted something that would fit with the Provence theme; the dress ticked every box. The minute I stepped into it, I knew it was “the one” as I felt so comfortable and didn’t want to take it off.
Antique accessories
The dress had so much beautiful lace, I didn’t want any accessories, except for some antique earrings, which were from the same period as the engagement ring I inherited. I had a bespoke extra-long veil made for me, for an unusually long (and quite dramatic!) entrance walk I had planned with my father, which involved walking across the lawn of Chateau Castellaras, before arriving at the chuppah.
Custom Nike wedding shoes
My husband did not inherit tall genes, so finding shoes was not the easiest! The first pair of Manolo Blahnik’s I fell for had to go back, as I didn’t want to be taller than him under the chuppah.
It was important for me to have a block heel, as I was walking across grass, and eventually I found a very simple open-toe pair from LK Bennett, which were perfect. I actually took them off for the photographs so I could be shorter than him!
I also had Nike high tops made for the evening, and got them engraved with ‘MRS’ on the left, and ‘WAIDY’ on the right. I actually wanted to wear these down the aisle, but my maid of honor wouldn’t let me!
The handsome groom
Andrew had a tailor-made navy black tie suit. He chose a white bow tie and white waistcoat from Mrs Bow Tie. He also wore an antique rose boutonniere to match my bouquet.
Bridesmaids in Ghost dresses
I was lucky that my bridesmaids were so easy and I found their dresses the same day I found my dress! They all wore the same Salma dress, by Ghost in the gorgeous oyster pink. It tied perfectly with the tone of my dress and theme of the wedding; they all outdid Pippa Middleton on the day in my eyes!
A eucalyptus chuppah
The flowers at our wedding were kept to a minimum due to the stunning natural landscape of the Chateau. Originally, we wanted to pick branches from the olive trees of our family to form the chuppah, but given it wasn’t the right cutting season, we opted for eucalyptus instead. I always loved baby breath flowers, and this tied in perfectly with the eucalyptus to match the bridesmaids’ bouquets and groomsmen’s boutonnieres.
We used heel protectors and placed bottles of water on the seats of the guests, so they could make their way across the grass in the summer Provence sun! We also used the natural dà©cor of the castle to tie with the tent canopy, using lighting to blend in with the venue across the different areas.
A moving ceremony
Our ceremony was always the most important part of our wedding. I had four bridesmaids, and Andrew had four ushers, so we paired them up to walk down the aisle after Andrew walked with his mum, and after my mum walked with Andrew’s dad. We have six nieces and nephews and they also scattered lavender down the aisle before I arrived.
My favourite part was definitely the bedeken, which we chose to do on the aisle. I was very emotional, but it was very special.
Our ketubah was very a very simple, laser-cut design, and we were very lucky that it was hand-written by our Rabbi.
Emotional musical choices
Andrew and the procession walked down the aisle to Bastille’s version of Pompeii. I followed to the Hebrew song, Lecha Dodi, to the tune of All of Me, which has always been one of our most special songs. We had an amazing singer from Paris who sang live for us, and it was all part of what made me so emotional.
Explosions of herbs and candles
As I am training to be a nutritionist, I wanted explosions of herbs and candles for the table centres, instead of flowers. We had baby olive trees, pots of basil, thyme and mint which all blended perfectly with the magical candles. We also cut pieces of lavender from our family home, which we used to tie place card names around with string on top of napkins.
Our fabulous photographer…
David Pullum was the second person I called after getting engaged! I always wanted to use him, since first seeing his work, and I could not have been more happy working with him on the day; he captured everything so perfectly!
…and videographer
We used Airsnap as our videographer – they were also amazing.
A fruit buffet
Our catering team were a DREAM. Having a kosher caterer was a big must for us, and Dany’s Traiteur did not disappoint. They catered our henna party on the Thursday night, and all parts of the wedding.
Incredible entertainment
Our band was at the heart of making our wedding a night to remember. The creative director Waleed Isaacs behind I Can Create… Anything is an absolute legend, and he was born to do what he does.
From the strings at our reception, to the chuppah, to the cocktail reception, to starting the party… everything came from his imagination. We could have danced forever if the police hadn’t have come to shut down the party due to too much noise!
Henna party
We had a henna party on the beach to kick off our weekend and welcome our guests to Cannes, on the Thursday evening before the wedding. It was a very special evening – completely different to the wedding!
I made a speech at the henna party, instead of the wedding, and we involved our friends and family by choosing 10 people each to give us henna on our fingers, as part of an old Arabic tradition.
Andrew and I both come from big families, with seven brothers between us, and we were both carried in by our brothers before our henna ceremony! We also benefited from the annual fireworks ceremony over Cannes being the same night as our henna party. Top tip, if there’s a already a big event happening, try to choose a clever way to tie this into your event!
Advice for couples currently planning their weddings
I managed all suppliers throughout the lead up to the wedding, but a week before, I tried to pass as much as possible to Andrew so I could stress less! It didn’t take all the stress away, but it definitely helped to share the burden.
We really made our wedding our own by not having a proper wedding planner, but I would advise future brides to make sure to introduce all suppliers to each other as early on in the planning process as possible.
Hannah & Andrew’s little white book
Photographer – David Pullum
Bride’s dress – Legends Romona Keveza purchased at The Wedding Club
Catering – Dany’s Traiteur
Videographer – Airsnap
Venue – Chateau Castellaras
Event planner – DX Events
Bride’s shoes – LK Bennett and Nike
Groom’s attire – Mrs Bow Tie
Bridesmaids – Ghost
Hair + Makeup – Dominique Peron and Cassie Jordan
Band – I Can Create… Anything
Invitation – Natalie Spencer
