DELPHINE'S LOVELY WEDDING

The request

Bruce had organized a surprise vacation for me. I knew we were leaving on 1/01/2019, but I didn't know where. After celebrating the New Year with friends and having brunch with them, we set off for the airport. Once there, I took advantage of his little technical break to glean information from the departure board. Based on the timetable, I managed to figure out that we were leaving for Barcelona. I was so happy! We took off and landed in Spain. Once we got to Barcelona airport, he hung around for a while, pretending to have another bathroom break and then a tour of the terminal. Finally, after wandering the various corridors in search of the toilets and then looking at the store windows, I see him heading for the transit sign. So that was the reason for his unusual slowness. We were getting ready to fly back to ... Rome!!!! So here's my lover's little sleight of hand: starting the day at home in Saint-Nazaire with friends, being in Barcelona in the evening and finally ending up in Rome at nightfall!!!! This marked the start of a trip that would go from surprise to surprise, until it completely turned our lives upside down!

2 days after arriving in Rome, we decided to visit the Trevi Fountain. We were traveling by Vespa despite the sub-zero temperatures at the start of the year, which were polar cold. That morning, we went round and round to find the fountain. And with good reason: the fountain is located in a pedestrian zone. Every time we got close to it, the GPS told us to turn around (obviously we didn't realize it until afterwards!). At one point, I got so fed up with it that I said to my darling "listen, it's boring, we're wasting our time going round in circles, so much the worse for the Trevi Fountain". I had no doubt that this was where he had chosen to propose. By dint of tenacity, we finally arrived at the famous fountain. We sit down on the edge of the fountain and I start to take out the guidebook to understand everything about the building's construction and architecture. I can see that Bruce next to me is not at all receptive. Then, all of a sudden, he says, "Do you want to marry me? Thinking it was a joke, I turn to him and say "that's not funny, you know very well I'm not joking about that! And off I went again, reading the guidebook. Then Bruce puts it on my lap, takes my face in his hands, and tells me to take off my sunglasses because he wants to see my eyes. At that moment he says to me, "Delphine, sweetheart, I'm serious, will you marry me? Do you want to become my wife and the mother of my children? I don't understand what's going on around me, but the emotion is immediate, I know he's not joking. I tell him the yes that overwhelms us. I'm grinning from ear to ear, I wasn't expecting it. He's as shaken as I am. Our tears of happiness are at the edge of our eyes. Not being very comfortable with public displays, we decided to wait until the evening back at the hotel for him to give me the ring. In a red case, I discover the jewel he has chosen for me: a rose gold ring, a solitaire with a partner.

He goes on to explain that he's been planning this proposal for weeks. He had a lot of trouble finding the ring. He absolutely wanted diamonds for the purity of our love, but nothing appealed to him. Then, one rainy day, he came across this ring in a jewelry shop window, imagined it on my finger and fell in love.

The most memorable souvenir of our special day

How can you choose just one?

For our entrance and exit from the town hall, we had chosen music including L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole. At the end of the civil ceremony, while everyone was still in the room, the music started. So full of joy at the commitment we'd just made that at the first notes of the music, my darling took my arm and we started dancing in the town hall. Deep joy and pure spontaneity. It surprised everyone, including us. The deputy mayor who married us even took a photo of us, telling us that we were definitely an extraordinary couple, very much in love (we had read a text by Jacques Salomé to each other just after we said "I do", and he obviously liked it too, finding that it's rare for couples to personalize and invest so much of themselves). It was a moment we'll never forget.

We are believers, and religion has an important place in our lives as a couple. Although this was our civil wedding, we couldn't just stick to the administrative side of things. It was obvious that we wanted to add another dimension to our union, by bringing spirituality and symbolism to it. So we put a lot of ourselves and a lot of spirituality into our civil wedding: ribbon ceremony, exchange of vows, presence of a priest friend of ours who blessed our civil wedding, prayers).

Our favorite moment was the ribbon ceremony. We asked 2 of our friends to host it (1 couple who are also part of our team of witnesses). They did a masterful job, with lots of humor and depth. With this ceremony, we wanted to invest in people who were dear to us but who weren't our witnesses. So we carefully chose a person or couple based on a value associated with the color of a ribbon. Nobody knew about this, and it came as a great surprise to those close to us. They were very touched that we associated them with joy, longevity of the couple, strength and courage, serenity, balance and so on. Our friends and family took it in turns to tie our hands. They took the opportunity to say a few words to us, to send us their best wishes. Their eyes were filled with emotion and tears. It was a powerful, intense moment!

After the ribbon ceremony, we gave the floor to Father Thomas who, before being the priest who would marry us, is above all our friend. We wanted to entrust our couple, our marriage, to him.

Not everyone we know is a believer, let alone a churchgoer. They're not all of the same faith as us. We suggested that they take time out to pray. Praying doesn't necessarily mean kneeling down and joining hands. You don't have to believe in something to pray. To pray is to turn your thoughts to someone or something. In the end, everyone prays far more often than they think or know. We invited them to think hard about all of us who were there, to pass on their wishes through prayer for the time of an Our Father. The moment was full. Everyone appreciated it, even (or even especially) those who are far removed from religion, much to our astonishment. This prayer, the fact that our priest entrusted us to the Lord, was essential for us. We're delighted to have been able to experience it - it was a real grace from God. It was a moment rich in emotion and spirituality.

The place, the atmosphere

Our wedding was to take place over 3 days in May 2020: our civil wedding on Friday, the religious wedding starting on Saturday. We didn't take the easy way out, as we organized our wedding over 3 days and 2 venues: our home in Saint-Nazaire and the Château du Pordor near Redon.

Like many couples, the COVID had somewhat disrupted our plans. We decided to do something about it, and decided not to have one wedding weekend, but two. Twice the happiness!

So we completely rethought things to organize our civil wedding in September 2020. The summer was devoted to preparations. We decided to take a restaurant private for the whole weekend so that we could celebrate our wedding to the full.

We live by the sea. It would have been a shame not to take advantage of it. So it was obvious that our couple photos would be taken in this magnificent natural setting. For example, we photographed the St Nazaire pier when we discovered each other before going to the town hall, and the beach and lighthouse after saying "I do".

From the outset, we had the idea of separating our civil wedding from our religious wedding. For our first, we wanted something simple, family-oriented and convivial.

We were surrounded only by our parents, sisters, witnesses and close friends. As a result, we were able to spend time with each of them and truly share our emotions and happiness.

Deco and inspiration

Our wedding theme is romantic chic.

We based our decor around 3 colors that we both really like: powder pink, white and gold. I wanted something simple, refined, delicate, elegant and without fuss. I certainly didn't want a bohemian or country wedding, because I think that's been done over and over again, and above all, it doesn't suit us at all. If we had to choose a style, I'd say we'd fall into the "classic chic" category. Given that we're both true romantics, our choice of theme was an obvious one, and we don't regret it for a moment.

The decor was entirely hand-crafted using lots of recycled objects: curved glass bottles in the colors of our theme, small glass jars with lace for candles, large glass jars to hold LED garlands, ribbon sticks, heart sticks and windmill sticks, curved tin cans with small lace collars, a birdcage. I wanted a lot of candles because I think it's very warm.

Flower-wise, we opted for gypsophila and roses. There were 3 different kinds of rose: avalanche, sweet dolomiti and hope.

Like many bride to be's, I scoured Pinterest and created lots of inspiration boards. The further along we got in the preparations, the more ideas and desires I came up with. It was important for the 2 of us to do a lot of things ourselves, not necessarily to keep the bill down, but above all because we wanted to be fully involved in our wedding. The 2 of us validated all the decorating choices, and we spent several weekends and evenings creating everything, such was my imagination and inspiration. We also received invaluable help from our friends, witnesses and my dad.

We loved this period of preparation, when we were thinking about the whole organization. In our opinion, it's a real road to marriage. I don't know if this is the case for all couples, but we lived through it without a single argument.

I chose the design of my dress for our civil wedding on the JJ'S HOUSE website. I wanted something that would contrast sharply with the dress I'd be wearing at our church wedding (postponed from May 2020 to May 2021, fingers crossed we don't quite believe it).

Our theme was romantic chic, so I wanted something light and airy. I also wanted something more original, without being extravagant. I wanted a model that came up to the ankles, so that the shoes would be visible. As a ballet dancer, I really liked this model. In fact, on the day of the wedding, many of our guests told me I looked like the little dancer in the jewelry boxes, like a ballerina.

I can't tell you anything about my church wedding dress, it's still top secret!!!!

Shoe design

My best friend and best man introduced me to Dessine-moi un soulier. As a big shoe lover (but one who looks after herself!), I fell in love with your products from the 1st time I visited your website. The models, the materials, the colors... everything appealed to me.

For our civil wedding, I wanted a midi-length dress, so my shoes were particularly important. My best friend gave me a huge gift, as she was the one who created my pair of pumps.

The app is super-easy to use and really lets your imagination run wild. What's even cooler is that you can choose absolutely everything and have a totally unique pair.

I'm an optimistic, dynamic person with a lot of imagination. I wanted to bring out that side of me for this wedding. I also wanted to have fun and do something fun.

So I decided to add some color to my shoes. Round-toed pumps were the obvious choice. I didn't want an open-toe model. I hesitated quite a bit over the choice and location of the bow.

Contact with the Dessine-moi un soulier team is super easy and very caring. The support is truly personalized. Deadlines are met and you're kept up to date at every stage. I was overjoyed when I received my parcel and discovered my little wonders.

Extremely comfortable despite their 8 cm heels, I wore them almost all night long. I slipped on a pair of gold ballerinas from Minelli after our bridal dance, once the dancefloor was really fired up!

Delphine's bridal advice

It's not an easy question, as every wedding is unique in terms of decor, theme and venue.

The 1st tip I can give is the importance of choosing the right service providers to make them true partners. This was essential for me, especially when it came to hair and make-up. I couldn't imagine leaving my head to a professional, no matter how competent, unless it was someone in whom I had complete confidence and who knew perfectly well the nature of my hair and how to wear it, my skin and how to moisturize it, and so on.

So I managed to get my hairdresser and beautician on board by asking them to come to our reception venues. I've never regretted this choice. It gave me peace of mind and complete confidence. They knew me, my personality, our history, the theme and the decor. Together, we were able to decide on a hairstyle and beauty routine that suited me personally and our wedding. One or two trial sessions with a professional wouldn't have been enough to satisfy me.

The 2nd piece of advice we could give, not only to engaged couples, but to future married couples more generally, is to trust each other.

A wedding is above all the commitment of 2 people. Make decisions together, be united. The most important thing is that we find ourselves in our marriage, that it resembles us.

When you're planning a wedding, you quickly realize that everyone has an opinion on the subject. The trouble is, most of them give you their opinion when you haven't even asked for it.

This can open the door to all kinds of advice, sniping and even jealousy. Here's a small selection of remarks we hear quite regularly: "It would be nice if ...", "If it were me, I ...", "Are you sure ...", "I'd ...", "I'd ...". "you're sure...", "me in my time...". "for a wedding you need ..." etc.

Weddings are all well and good, but they can also create tensions, especially within families. So if for you getting married means not inviting Auntie Claudine and Uncle Hubert because you haven't seen them in 20 years, or if it means only getting married at the town hall when your mother-in-law and mother-in-law loved it at the church... Stand your ground and don't be afraid to impose your choices. Above all, your wedding should be like you.

My husband and I decided everything together. We were perfectly united in the preparations and the unfolding of our wedding. At times, we firmly expressed our way of seeing things and said no when we were advised to do as if or as it were.

I think that's why the preparations went so smoothly and without any arguments, because the important thing is for both of us to agree, because marriage is first and foremost the commitment of 2 people to each other.