Sarah & Mathieu
Sarah shares with us her journey, organising her wedding day.
Picture : Elena Fleutiaux
The encounter
We met almost six years ago in Toulouse during an evening at a bar: we were each with our friends, and by chance, we struck up a conversation and, in the end, never parted! The proposal happened last year. It was also the year of my 30th birthday, and Mathieu had organized a surprise party at my parents' house with all my friends and family. I thought we were just going out to dinner with my family. Along the way, he had placed messages on the road signs, and just before arriving at my parents' house, he stopped, pulled out a beautiful bouquet, and the famous ring: I couldn’t believe it, it was magical!
What stood out to them:
It’s very hard to pick just one moment because the whole day was wonderful; we were surrounded by so much love and warmth from all our loved ones. The entire day is a beautiful memory! Of course, there were the surprises our witnesses and families organized for us, especially an amazing flash mob during the cocktail hour: it was incredible to see them all dancing with huge smiles. We also loved being alone together in the 2CV, driving from the church to the reception hall. It was a moment just for us, and we felt like we were on cloud nine!
The venue
We got married at Château de Merville, near Toulouse. We wanted a rustic atmosphere, full of lightness. We were looking for a venue with greenery and a beautiful outdoor space, and for the reception hall, pink bricks and exposed wooden beams on the ceiling.
For the ambiance, we just wanted all our loved ones to feel comfortable and for it to be a joyful and pleasant day for everyone, and I think that’s exactly how it turned out!
Their inspirations :
For inspiration, I had been thinking about this day for several years (hoping that one day Mathieu would finally decide ;-)!) since many of my friends had gotten married, and I had the chance to imagine what I would do "if my turn ever came"!
I knew I wanted something rustic with lots of flowers. Our florist hung cages from the beams in the reception hall, filled with beautiful floral arrangements and ivy cascading from some of the cages—it was stunning! We didn’t have a specific theme, just colors we really loved: yellow and coral with touches of gray and blue. To find ideas and inspiration, I went, like many future brides, to Pinterest, but also simply did targeted searches on Google Images. Then, I wrote down all my ideas in a binder with photos and notes, and we discussed everything together before deciding on the decoration elements.
For the wedding car, my aunt lent us her beautiful blue 2CV. We found an old pallet on the street, which we used as a seating chart, and for the wedding card box, we used an old suitcase that belonged to my great-grandmother, which we redecorated. My mom spent many hours making tissue paper pom-poms to decorate our photo booth, and we made paper fortune tellers as place cards. In fact, we wanted something simple and tried to make as many things as possible ourselves to make the day feel even more personal.
For the dress, I wanted something flowing, with lace, buttons down the back, and small sleeves on the shoulders. I visited many shops in Toulouse with my mom, but I finally found my dream dress at Cymbeline. For his suit, Mathieu had it made at Chouraki Le Pape. I only helped him choose the fabric, but I didn’t see the final result until the big day at the church.
The design of the shoes
I've been a fan of Dessine-moi un soulier creations since the beginning. I had already indulged twice in designing my own shoes, so it was obvious that on my wedding day, I would be wearing Dessine-moi un soulier! I took advantage of a weekend in Paris with Mathilde, my childhood best friend and maid of honor, to visit the boutique and check out the different materials and colors. I wanted something yellow with glitter, but I needed to see the colors in person. We were warmly welcomed, and the advice helped us make our choice. Mathilde also fell for a pair of beautiful pumps, which she wore on the big day. I danced the whole evening in my shoes, and I couldn’t be happier!
Her Key vendors :
I'm happy to share a few vendors who greatly contributed to making this day so special:
- Elena Fleutiaux: our photographer. Thanks to her, we have beautiful memories on paper for a lifetime.
- Poppy Figue: our florist. I'm a huge fan of her work—it's everything I love!
- Aude B Colrat: my makeup artist. She's a fairy with makeup brushes as her magic wand!
- Sandrine Hair: my hairstylist. She did the hair for my four bridesmaids, my mom, my aunt, and me throughout the morning. I was thrilled with the result! Both the hairstyle and makeup lasted until the early morning!
Sarah's advices :
a small group, and we organized a cocktail-style reception in our garden afterward. We wanted a "guinguette" (outdoor café) atmosphere, and it was a wonderful moment that allowed us to enjoy more time with our families and friends. We're very happy that we held the civil and religious weddings on two separate days, and I highly recommend this to future brides if it's possible for them.
We spent a year planning our wedding, which was more than enough time. Towards the end, we were eager for the big day to arrive so we could stop constantly thinking about how it would all play out—after imagining it so much, we just wanted to live it for real! From the beginning, we created a year-long timeline with all the tasks we needed to complete up until the wedding day. This helped us spread out everything we wanted to do and avoid stress during the planning process.
My final piece of advice is to enjoy the day because, as everyone says, it goes by so fast! Don’t stress over missing three candles here or not being able to execute every idea you had in mind. The most important thing on this day is the love you share and the love of your loved ones. Love each other, let your joy spread to your guests, and the day will be a success!
