Verity and Simon’s meet-cute is like one from a romance novel. In the London underground, the two shared the same commute and exchanged wandering glances at one another on the Tube. It may not have been “love at first sight”, per se, however, when they realized a few weeks later that they were actually working on the same building site (both in the construction industry), things started to get interesting.

“He started making ‘essential’ trips to the site office where I was working a lot more frequently,” Verity tells us. “It took him a while to work up the courage to ask me on a date, but we went for some drinks after work one day, and he practically moved in with me after that.”

Fast forward through a love blossoming and a ring later, Verity and Simon found themselves curious about a destination wedding. The idea appealed to the couple for a multitude of reasons, but the main one was “you can’t trust UK weather!”

The ease of travel to France from the UK, plus the couple’s love for holidaying in the country with their dog, made the decision to wed there practically stress-free. 

“As I spent part of my childhood in Switzerland,” Verity says. “I can also speak basic French, which would have made things easier… Although all of our suppliers’ English turned out to be much better than my French anyway!”

Simon and Verity’s approach to pinpointing the ideal venue: scour the internet to create a long list of venues in the South West of France. Their list included venues that could sleep all of the guests, had a pool, and weren’t too far from an airport. 

“We sent out inquiries to probably around 50 venues for pricing, etc., and then created a shortlist of around ten venues we wanted to see in person and booked flights to France for two separate weekends,” the bride says.

The first weekend, the couple traveled all around the Bordeaux region, viewing several venues they liked. Chateau de Brives was the last one Simon and Verity toured before heading back home, and the feelings it evoked stuck with them as they boarded their return flight.

“Every single area of Brives is beautiful,” Verity says, “from the amazing bedrooms to the spiral stairs and the reception rooms filled with amazing antiques. We also loved the mix of different spaces, including the bar area and “Le Club” for the evening party.” 

The owners of Chateau de Brives, Sarah and George (and their two dogs), had warm, welcoming attitudes that made the couple feel connected straight away. Over the months that followed, the serious planning got underway. In the midst of a home renovation and holding jobs that kept them quite busy, they had a Northstar in their planner, Eleonore.

“Without her, it would have been a disaster,” the bride admits, “but she kept us on track with gentle reminders about decisions to be made, payment schedules and the like.”

A few challenges presented themselves along the couple’s planning journey, with the main issue being that Verity and Simon are vegan, and knew it might be tough to find a caterer who could accommodate their desire to have a mostly vegan menu! 

“Luckily, we managed to find an amazing catering company that was more than happy to do a fully veggie and mostly vegan menu for us! In a strange twist of fate, it turned out that our amazing photographer was also vegan and our videographer vegetarian!”  Verity says.

The only other issue the couple encountered was, ironically enough, with the weather on their actual wedding day. A heatwave happened to hit the South of France that weekend. “We wanted it to be hot and sunny, but…that was a little intense!” the couple laughs.

Other than those snags, most everything happened just as Simon and Verity had hoped it would, with one fun added element. “Our wedding was actually filmed for the TV show ‘Chateau DIY,’ which Sarah and George have participated in for many years,” the bride tells us. “As part of the show, they did a DIY project with their daughter, Tati, who was our florist. It was an absolutely amazing table plan with lots of antique vases and pots filled with flowers, which was just beautiful!”

For the ceremony itself, the couple opted to include a few traditions, like Verity’s dad walking her down the aisle, but the rest entirely reflected the bride and groom’s personalities. Both Simon and Verity’s moms gave heartfelt readings, an important distinction for the bride, as she notes, “I feel mothers are quite often neglected at weddings with so much emphasis on the Father of the Bride.” Verity’s mom’s reading, called “Everything I Learned About Love I Learned From My Dog,” made way for the couple’s golden retriever, Hazel, to deliver the rings.

“She bounded down the aisle and completely stole the show in her flowery collar,” the bride says. “We were lucky to have an amazing celebrant who worked with us to create a ceremony that reflected us really well. She even included a little poem at the end referencing construction, as we both work in that industry and obviously met within that context.”

Following the ceremony, a specialist cocktail supplier (who makes cocktails in his converted horse trailer) offered Passionfruit Martinis, which all came with a mini passionfruit jelly floating on top. Later in the evening, the couple and their guests indulged in a vegan cake that Verity managed to order and had a bridal party member transport to the venue on the wedding day. 

Reminiscing on the culmination of all their planning, Simon and Verity share some pretty valuable insights for couples in the beginning stages of the destination wedding planning process:

“We definitely learned in the early stages that there are just SO many options out there for venues, and it can be easy to get decision paralysis. I think it can be tempting to keep on looking and looking because you worry you’ll miss something ‘perfect’ if you don’t. But, realistically, there are only so many venues you can view when you’re doing a destination wedding, and you have to be brutal when cutting down the shortlist. We also learned that an in-person viewing is absolutely essential to get a true feel for the place. We loved Chateau de Brives so much more in person than we did when we looked at it online!”

The other main thing Verity tells people who are considering destination weddings is not to forget how hard logistics can be in rural locations. Taxis are hard to come by unless booked far in advance, particularly outside of touristy areas.

“We made sure we booked transport for our guests arriving at Bordeaux airport, as we felt it could easily be overwhelming for guests trying to organize transport in a foreign country, and they’re meant to be on holiday! So many people told us how thankful they were that we sorted that part for them so they could just relax and get into the wedding spirit as soon as they got off the plane.”

(Get a list of 10 things guests secretly appreciate at a destination wedding here… one of them is actually transportation!)

Ultimately, Verity and Simon’s French countryside wedding at Chateau de Brives shows that pulling off a successful destination wedding comes down to trusting your gut and focusing on the guest experience. 

Vendors: Photographer: Frances Mary Sales; Wedding Planner: Eleonore Laouilleau of Golden Hour Planner; Venue: Chateau de Brives; Florist: Tati Haslett; Cake: Cerise Vert Bordeaux; Hair & Makeup: Lauren Walsh Bridal; Grooms’ Clothing Designer: Reiss; Bridesmaids Dresses: Loan the Look; Dress & Veil: Made With Love Bridal; Reception Dress: Rosie Etienne; Cocktails: Mister Sully; Videographer: Flume Videos; Catering: The Forks Bordeaux; DJ: James Carr; Saxophonist: Victory Rolls Association