Wedding in Normandy at the Manoir des Prévanches – Joyce and Dimitri

1 year, 10 months, 3 days, 14 hours and 26 minutes

In their preparations, Joyce and Dimitri put all their heart. Beyond the thousand attentions prepared, they wanted above all else a beautiful and big party. For 4 days, they took full advantage of their loved ones. Their reception ended in apotheosis in one of the most beautiful reception venues in Normandy, at the Prévanches Manor.

Loving, kissing, laughing, eating, getting drunk, dancing barefoot until dawn in the freshly cut grass. All the ingredients of an authentic and warm wedding.

With the beautiful images of Marion H, the newlyweds tell us…

The initial meeting

[This is Joyce speaking!] We've known each other since high school, we became best friends and we went out together in college. Dimitri would pick me up every night after class, and after a few kirs and several games of tarot, we ended up kissing!

The marriage proposal

[It's Dimitri speaking!] We went to Brazil and I found nothing better than to propose to her on the rooftop of our apartment in Rio that we had rented with friends, after 14 hours of flying, and 18 hours without smoking. It was dark, we had the bay of Rio in front of us and she didn't understand the first time that it was a real marriage proposal. But she understood the second time! I didn't have a ring but a very pretty plastic bracelet!

Wedding in Normandy

“We loved it straight away the Prévanches manorThe venue had several spaces (a magnificent room, a barn, the garden overlooking the forest, etc.) that we could punctuate and mark the different moments of our wedding.

We had in mind a big place, which smelled of both cut grass and vodka depending on the time and the place, with lots of places to dance, whisper, hide or doze in a bush. A place where everyone could feel good, young and old. The brunch the next day where half of the guests were able to lounge on the grass or even slept. And before the party, a beautiful ceremony.

Wedding planning

“1 year, 10 months, 3 days, 14 hours and 26 minutes.

We managed to settle some positions almost a year before, however we definitely signed the last contracts a few weeks before (and we finished some logistical details in a hurry 24 hours before). We logically needed Céline's help at the end because it was tough to organize an event over 4 days (a day at the town hall then cocktails in the Buttes Chaumont) then 3 days at the Prévanches. Thanks to her, she is fantastic and smiling!

The bride and groom's outfits

[Joyce ] I bought my dress at Rime Arodaky and my pantsuit in a shop near rue Saint Honoré!

[Dimitri ] At the town hall: checked suit and white shirt with Peter Pan collar (From fursac), Paul Smith tie and tie clip, Hugo Boss shoes and belt. I forgot the pocket square I was supposed to wear! For the big party: three-piece suit from banks-paris, Hugo Boss shoes and belt, Dior bow tie and pocket square. The men in the family (both dads and brothers) had pretty boutonnieres made by Lily Paloma.

No official outfits for the bride's friends. On the other hand, all dressed in light tones ("nude"), and a flower detail in the hair (I hadn't asked them but it was perfect). They were all stunning.

The number of guests

Guests 200

Wedding decoration

"We collected (drank) lots of bottles of wine and ate lots of little "la laitière" pots to make candlesticks and mark the tables. We decorated glass pots of different sizes with lace and we especially wanted the bouquets in the center of the tables to be low so that people could see each other!

We wanted to do something simple, allowing everyone to feel good. With our families and friends, nature, outdoors, good music and a huge party until dawn. And in no particular order: nature, fresh grass, morning dew, vodka, dancing, good mood, family and friends.

• Flowers

[Joyce] I left it to Lily Paloma to take care of everything after showing him inspiration boards (long live Pinterest!). Everything was beautiful (that Arch for our ceremony!). I didn't want a big bouquet (I knew it would clutter me up more than anything else) and a bouquet for my mother, my mother-in-law, my sister and Dimitri's sister.

• Guest gifts

A CD of our favorite tracks ! A bag with chocolate dragees (but without the bad almond) after the town hall!

On the Wedding Menu

"We partied over several days, so there were several menus! The common thread was the same: we wanted simple, good things, in quantity and that could satisfy everyone (young people, old people, vegetarians and meat eaters).

After our wedding at the town hall, we decided to have a little cocktail party to share some time with the people who couldn't be with us during the 3 days at Prévanches. We were lucky to be able to have this cocktail party in one of the town hall's rooms. The atmosphere was very relaxed (we put some cacti from Ikea as decoration) and we offered the guests champagne and sweet petits fours. We then went to Rosa Bonheur in Buttes Chaumont then to Pavillon du Lac (because there was a power outage at Rosa!) to continue the party (but that's another story).

For the day before the big party (Sunday evening): we wanted an evening with a limited number of guests (around a hundred). We had dinner outdoors, an excellent couscous with a lovely kémia as a starter. It was super good and very enjoyable!

On the menu for the evening of the big party, a chic barbecue: we especially wanted to avoid a long sit-down dinner. We were therefore able to take advantage of the possibilities offered by the Prévanches to have a cocktail outdoors and then a big barbecue (grilled meats and vegetables) outdoors. This allowed us to create a certain movement in the evening and to intersperse the meal with many moments of "dancing".

The next day, we clearly needed some "comfort" food after a short night, so we opted for Joyce's brother's food truck (Le Larry's food truck) : the best veggie hot dogs in Paris with “latkes”. Everyone loved it!”

Wedding Music

Music obviously had a special role because several of our friends are producers and DJs and we really like dancing to what we think is good music! Dancing to Claude François for our wedding didn't really appeal to us... But we wanted everyone to take part in the party so we chose an orchestra for the first part of the evening. Around 1am a DJ from the orchestra team took over the decks. We had asked all our guests in the invitations which song they wanted to dance to all night long (we managed to avoid Claude François!!). And so we put together a big playlist. Our friends then "took control" of the evening around 3am until the early hours of the morning. In the end, the dance floor remained very diverse until 3am (little cousins, great uncle, friends) and it was great!

We had a hard time choosing an orchestra because we wanted the first part of the evening to be general but with good musicians and singers. In the end, we are delighted with what Be Live did, they are very good!

And since music was particularly close to our hearts, we logically offered a CD with our favourite pieces to our guests.

To listen to friends' music:
https://soundcloud.com/themicronauts
https://soundcloud.com/slowbody
https://soundcloud.com/rituel
http://www.onesquaremeter.fr/
https://m.soundcloud.com/fredd2d

Noise and friends until the early hours of the morning.

The end of the party

[Joyce ] Dimitri lay down in the grass for the first time around 6-7am (with his brother) then went back to bed around 8am. Joyce joined him at 9am.

Their best memory

"Well it is very clearly thethe ceremony and our wedding at the town hall. For the ceremony, we wanted it to be very simple. The goal was to not mimic a traditional wedding but we still wanted a solemn moment to reflect on the notion of commitment. So, we asked our best friend to write an "entrance" speech and then Dimitri's father and Joyce's mother to write a speech about us and commitment. The speeches had to be quite short and without too many private jokes so as not to lose people. Everyone played the game and no one knew each other's speeches. All the speakers showed great humor and were very moving. We had placed benches and an arch facing the forest and we entered to "try a little tenderness" by Otis Redding.

Our wedding at the town hall marked the beginning of the festivities and we cried a lot seeing so many people gathered around us. The mayor gave a very elegant and moving speech. It was truly a magical moment!

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Wedding Suppliers

Photographer – Marion H
Reception venue – Prevanches Manor

Organizer and Decorator – Celine de Monicault (who no longer organizes weddings today)
Flowers - Lily Paloma 

Dress - Rime Arodaky
Shoes – Dior (Joyce); Hugo Boss (Dimitri)
Suit - Rives

Music – see above + Be Live orchestra

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TO BE CONTINUED…

Our addresses on The Address Book
Our favorites on the Shop
Our inspirations on our Pinterest

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A WORD FROM THE EDITOR

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To the tune of a funfair – Emily + Jérôme
Wedding in Normandy at the Givergny Tithe – Yvanna and Bryan

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