Intimate destination wedding in Provence at Château du Jonquier — Michelle & Madi

Wedding planning

When did you start planning your wedding?

We started about five months before the wedding.

The wedding ceremony in Provence

The civil marriage took place a month earlier in California, during a very intimate ceremony at the local civil registry office, in the presence of only our parents.

On the day of the wedding at the castle, we started with a buffet breakfast, followed in the early afternoon by an English-style tea time accompanied by some sweet treats, and then a plated dinner in the evening.

Our symbolic ceremony took place in the estate's small chapel. It was officiated by our celebrant, Ecaterina Stefanco, whom we had chosen because she is fluent in Russian, English, and French. We exchanged traditional wedding vows: Madi recited hers in English, and I recited mine in Russian, to honor both families.

The cocktail party was held right in front of the chapel, facing the castle. As we were only a small group, we came up with two signature cocktails, brought all the ingredients with us and prepared them ourselves.

Dinner was also served outdoors, in a shaded area next to the castle.

Did you use a wedding planner?

We organised the wedding ourselves, but Coco from Travellur accompanied us for the coordination on the day.

The stages and main challenges of this organization 

The first, and most difficult, step was finding the venue. We had limited time and were looking for a place suitable for a somewhat unconventional wedding. Most venues required bookings more than a year in advance and were far too large for our small group of twelve. We wanted something simpler and more intimate.

I finally discovered our place on Airbnb, where it had just been listed while still being renovated. There were only a few photos of the exterior and none of the interior, but we decided to take a chance… and we've never regretted it.

The second major challenge was finding a photographer, especially from abroad when you don't know where to begin. I contacted several photographers I found by searching "wedding photographer Provence," but none were available. One of them, however, recommended Julie, who was free on our date. I never would have found her otherwise, and that recommendation was a real stroke of luck. We immediately loved her work and her style.

Another major challenge was assembling all the decorative elements. We wanted a vintage, eclectic aesthetic, with lots of handmade pieces. Then we had to manage to transport everything from the United States to France! A large suitcase, along with the help of our parents who brought some of the items, made the task much easier.

Have you incorporated any family or cultural traditions?

We incorporated a few Russian poems into the ceremony, but overall we chose to follow Western wedding traditions.