Château de Nainville-les-Roches Wedding

A couple from New York and Paris held a three-day wedding weekend at Château de Nainville-les-Roches, just outside Paris. According to a report on Style Me Pretty, the bride and groom aimed for a grand, classic, and elegant event that blended their American and French backgrounds.

The bride found the venue online while planning from across the world. Once the château was secured, her vision for a timeless wedding where all details matched began to take shape.

Fashion and Attire

The bride had specific stylistic points for her gown, including a ballgown silhouette with a basque waistline and cat-eye neckline. She wanted textured fabrics and a large bow on the back. After trying on five dresses at Kleinfeld in New York City, she chose the first one she tried on, which featured textured flower petals and a slight sparkle. The salon custom-made a bow for the dress.

For the bridesmaids, the bride selected a floral print dress in a medium bright blue. She noted it accidentally matched the pajamas the bridal party wore while getting ready. The groom wore a tuxedo from the classic Parisian shop Au Cor de Chasse, chosen to fit the château's formal theme.

Food and Drink

The wedding weekend featured extensive dining across multiple events. The Friday welcome party was a cruise on the Seine River with canapés provided by the boating company.

For the Saturday wedding reception, the couple held a four-hour tasting with their caterer during a September visit to Paris. They selected eight cocktail food choices from approximately twenty options tasted. The plated dinner offered guests a choice of starter and main course.

The dinner included a cheese course with a side salad after the main course, described as typical in France. A Sunday brunch at the château featured a buffet of French savory and sweet dishes alongside a coffee and mimosa bar. The couple reported that friends told them the food was the best they had ever had at a wedding.

Florals, Decor, and Cake

The florals were designed to match the wedding's blue, sage, and gold color palette exactly. The florist and decorator used shades of blue with touches of green and cream. Gold elements in the table decorations complemented existing gold flecks in the château's decor, such as in the chandeliers.

For dessert, the couple knew they wanted macarons alongside a cake once they decided to marry in France. They chose caramel and vanilla flavors for the macarons. They also served a Baulois, a rich chocolate fondant-type cake from La Baule, France. This led them to select a light and airy lemon buttercream for their main wedding cake. The cake design, inspired by a Pinterest image, was simple and ethereal with 3D white and blue flower petals, finished with the couple's custom monogram.

Personal and Cultural Touches

The wedding incorporated many personal details to blend the couple's cultures. The bride's family church pastor traveled from her hometown to officiate, making the ceremony more personal. The groom's wedding band was crafted from the bride's grandfather's old ring and hand-engraved by one of the last two hand engravers in North Carolina, the bride's home state.

The bride's outfit included heirlooms: her great-grandmother's pearl clock pendant as a necklace, and delicate fingerless lace gloves worn by her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother on their wedding days. She also wore Chanel No. 5, her grandmother's signature scent.

Reception tables were named after the couple's favorite American steakhouses instead of using numbers, reflecting their shared interest. The ceremony included American traditions like having the wedding party stand at the altar and three separate first dances. French elements included a long cocktail hour, the multi-course dinner with foie gras and cheese, and a cake celebration complete with tiki torch sparklers, a special song, and a large champagne tower. The couple wrote their own vows, which they handwrote into vow booklets on the morning of the wedding. Ceremony and cocktail hour music was provided by a string trio.