M & B

a small wedding in Chartreuse with French rustic vibes

Texan Mariel and her French beau wanted a small French wedding in the Alps, where Baptiste is from. An intimate and elegant affair with rustic touches.

This wedding was so much fun to plan, full of small logistical challenges, and personalized guest-experiences. Since we planned this wedding within six months, we worked on the details from the start, including personalized welcome bags, a fun outing to discover Grenoble, a refined welcome dinner, a high-end food service mixing local French and American cultures, and more...

Guests arrived at the Mille Pas Hotel in Voiron two days before the wedding, to find a tote bag full of goodies, with personalized biscuits, Texas Chewie Pecan Pralines, typical sweets from Grenoble including Chartreuse sweets, Liquid IVs, and maps to Grenoble, among other things. The next day, they had an outing in Grenoble to discover the sights. In the evening, they had an intimate welcome dinner in a private dining room at the Hotel.

The morning of the wedding, Mariel got ready at the hotel while Baptiste prepped with his loved ones in the family home. Mariel had hair and makeup artist Joleen Emory and photographer Krystal Kenney come especially from Paris. It was a great relief to have an American get-ready-team, and she was able to start the day chatting away with them and feeling relaxed about the events to come.

After a father-daughter first look, Baptiste joined in at the hotel for the big first look. It was a very sweet moment full of emotion and tenderness.

Mariel and Baptiste joined their friends downstairs for the big reveal and a quick photo session on the beautiful stairs of the hotel.

The bride and groom and their guests hopped on the vans to get to the Mairie for the civil ceremony. The ceremony was simple and quick, as French civil ceremonies are, and after a dried petal toss coming out of the mairie, everybody crossed the street and got to the park for group shots, before leaving for the venue.

Scroll down for more - including a French Manor reception for 20.

Hiring Célia to plan our wedding was the absolute best decision I made. She was a delight to work with- super responsive, very detailed oriented, creative, kind, and extremely organized. My husband and I felt taken care of from the minute we started working with her to the very end. She really listened to all our wants and needs, and delivered them beyond our expectations. She never missed a beat and was so accommodating to us (considering my time difference to her) and the entire planning process and wedding ran so smoothly. Not only did she find amazing vendors for us to work with but she went above and beyond to create a truly magical wedding experience for us and our guests. It wouldn't have been that way without her and her wonderful assistant Chloe's dedication and hard work. If I could give Célia more than five stars, I would! I highly recommend her to anyone, she will make your wedding dreams come true! Merci beaucoup Bonjour Weddings!

- Mariel & Baptiste

Upon arrival, guests were greeted with champagne and canapés. The weather allowed them to enjoy walking around the grounds of the property and admire the view of the valley.

The children were delighted to see the neighboring cows, sheep and chickens - which were also a hit with the adults.

Chef Mathieu Ranea and his team had curated a French and American menu, from the hors d'oeuvres to the dessert.

As this was a small wedding, and since we had worked on the design from the beginning, we installed the decor and the whole venue ourselves, removing some of the owner's personal belongings, some of the furniture, and adding a whole canopy of fairy lights in the conservatory, to make the space feel more homey and elegant.

We set the table with Maison Options' tableware and installed the wonderful floral arrangements provided by Pauline from Botanique Bazar.

Apollo Blue started playing as the first guests entered, and the entire atmosphere we had planned for the wedding came together.

It was time to enjoy the night unfold under our eyes...