Posts Tagged ‘wedding chateau’

An Example Why Wedding Insurance Is Essential

Italian wedding

You might expect your wedding day to go off perfectly with no hitches whatsoever.  You have no psychopathic ex who will gatecrash your wedding. All of your relatives are in great health and the weather forecasts are just what you had hoped.  Whatever you do - do not forget wedding insurance as part of your wedding package. 

A wedding photographer was accidentally shot dead by the couple he was photographing after he asked them to pose with guns. Sicilian photographer Calogero Scimea, 45, was taking the wedding pictures of high school sweethearts Valentina Anitra, 22, and Ignazio Licodia, 25, when he asked them to use some hunting rifles as props.

One of the guns went off accidentally, killing the photographer in front of the horrified bride and groom, and their parents. The accident happened just before the wedding party attended the church. The tragedy was compounded as the photographer was standing in for a colleague who was ill. The rifles were legally held and the family is now talking to police.

Police said the tragedy happened just before the couple, who are teenage sweethearts, set off for their local church at Altofonte near Palermo on the island of Sicily.

Police were yesterday questioning them as well as their relatives. Prosecutors said the groom’s parents rail worker Mario, 56, and his wife Rita, face possible charges of negligence leading to manslaughter, as the tragedy happened at their house. All the firearms were legally held. Ballistics experts have also been called in to examine the weapons, which were hunting rifles kept for shooting mainly wild boar in the nearby hills and countryside.

The .22 calibre rifle was one of several firearms which the bride and groom, Valentina Anitra, 22, and Ignazio Licodia, 25, were supposed to pose with on their big day in the village of Altofonte, near Palermo in Sicily. 
Police are now deciding whether to bring charges of negligence against the groom’s parents, Mario, 56, and his wife Rita, because the accident happened at their house shortly before the scheduled wedding ceremony. 

They allegedly fetched the rifle when the photographer suggested that using some guns as props would make for a memorable wedding album.  It was properly licensed and used for shooting wild boar and other game in the surrounding hills.  Carabinieri officers said they were struggling to establish exactly how the accident happened because most witnesses had been extremely reluctant to talk, in a region of Italy in which ‘omerta’ – the code of silence – still reigns.  They have yet to ascertain who was holding the rifle when it went off.

The wedding was immediately cancelled, with the bride and groom and their guests said to be “distraught”.

Palermo police spokesman Colonel Teo Luzi said: ‘From what we have been able to establish the photographer had asked the parents of the bride and groom if they had any guns to use as props in a picture and one went off hitting him in the head killing him. He was only there as a favour for the wedding photographer who had been originally been booked but had to pull out as he was ill. The prosecutor is looking at bringing charges against the groom’s parents as this is where the death took place but we need to examine the ballistics report first as the bride’s parents also brought a weapon.’

He added: ‘The firearms were legally held but in the interests of safety they should all be kept safe and not be handled by people who are not used to them and have no experience. What we are trying to establish is if the gun went off as it was being handled by the photographer or if it went off as it was handed to him but no-one is being very talkative.’ Altofonte’s deputy mayor Angela Busellini said: ‘No-one can believe it. Everybody is in a state of shock. It’s such a tragic accident. The bride and groom are devastated.’

Please please please take out wedding insurance as part of your wedding package.  If something horrible happens and I pray it does not where you need to cancel your wedding, it is bad enough having to deal with the grief of the tragedy let alone then having to figure out where you can raise a second lot of wedding budget.  Wedding insurance needs to be an essential element of your wedding package.

Destination Weddings - Factors For Your Consideration

French Wedding

A wedding in France has become the big rage recently. 

Eight out of ten brides would if they could. It is a considerable expense for guests to travel and usually only the bridal couple’s closest friends and family are invited.

And there is no question that this is your special day and having it as perfect as possible is absolutely what you should strive for.  However, there are many different definitions of perfect, and perhaps you can consider expanding yours.

Sometimes couples find that a number of our family members can’t travel that far and really can’t afford it. On the one hand it is very important for the couple to have them there, but on the other hand it is their special day and they want it the way they want it. 

When you choose to have your wedding far away from your family and friends, you are essentially forcing people either to have to pay a large expense to attend, or to forfeit having them at your wedding. Having a destination wedding in an exotic location could be the experience of a lifetime for some of your guests, but it can also alienate those who cannot afford to attend.

If a woman in London marries a man in Australia, at least one side of the family and friends will have a very expensive trip and hours of travel. Often in order not to make just one side travel and the other not, couples select a destination wedding spot in between their two respective countries.

The price of a destination wedding depends on several factors. How much a destination wedding will cost depends upon travel costs, the cost of the venue and how many people are coming to the wedding.  The biggest variable is the number of guests you invite.  This will greatly impact your french wedding cost.

The further in advance you purchase the ticket, the less expensive it will be.  With the wedding venue you will typically need to pay a higher deposit than if you were a local. Budget $2,000 to $6,000 for the wedding castle venue alone . Do not consider for a minute skimping on a destination wedding planner - they are worth their weight in gold because you are not even in the country for the planning.{This will add extra cost, but a planner will let you be able to sleep at night.|} {Although the planner’s rates will often depend on your wedding budget, you can expect to pay between $300 and $3,000.} Wedding planner fees vary depending upon whether or not you engage them to help with your venue selection. Other typical expenses  also include flowers, catering ($50 to $100 per person), wedding gown, tuxes ($100 to $1,000) and other items.

French Wedding Legal Requirments And Customs

french wedding

The legal requirements for a civil wedding in France is a mine-field.  Most of the time, the bride and groom (and the officiant) are the only people who know that the ceremony is a vow renewal and not the real deal. This way, you can still have your dream wedding in romantic France, but you can also avoid the residency requirements and the extensive amount of paperwork, rules, and regulations. ~}

In some cases, such as a couple living in France to attend school, or if you or your partner is a resident of France, and you wish to obtain a marriage license, here are a few of the requirements for a marriage in France:

• All marriages in France must be performed by a French civil authority (an officier de l’état civil) before any religious ceremony takes place.
• A religious ceremony may be performed after the civil ceremony. The minister, priest or rabbi performing the religious ceremony will require the certificate of civil marriage (certificat de célébration civile) as proof that the civil ceremony has taken place.

Residence requirement and place of marriage:

• At least one of the parties must have resided in France for forty (40) days prior to the marriage.
• The civil ceremony will take place in the town of residence.
  Publications of banns:
• French law requires the posting of marriage banns at the appropriate city hall no less than ten days before the marriage.
• The first publication of the banns can be made only after thirty days of residence in France.

Marrying couples in France are required to have a civil ceremony at City Hall. This generally occurs the morning of the wedding day and is very short. A longer religious ceremony, usually in a church even if the bride and groom do not regularly attend, follows the civil ceremony. All guests are invited to the church ceremony, but unless you are immediate family or an extremely close friend, don’t expect an invitation to the civil ceremony.

The city hall ceremony is required in France as the church and state are strictly separated.  French wedding vows at these ceremonies have been set in stone by the government since Napoleon times.  A typical French wedding often lasts all day with the ceremonies, cocktails, four and five course meals, late night snacks and into the next with a day-after breakfast, a Sunday brunch or even continue on until Sunday lunch.

Although nearly all couples in France still choose to marry in church, the religious service has no legal significance and, in order to qualify for a church wedding, the couple must show that they are legally married under a civil arrangement. If the couple are resident in a country other than France then the civil ceremony may take place there, but the marriage certificate, translated into French, should be delivered to the authorities before the church service. A couple who are not French and who wish to have a civil ceremony in France are subject to a residency requirement, under which at least one of them must be resident in France for a minimum of 40 days prior to the wedding ceremony.

For more information please refer to your home country’s embassy website.  Requirements change all the time so it is imperative to use a wedding planner to check all your french wedding documents.  All of your english documents will need to be translated. 

The wedding procession is a tradition which is still prevalent in some smaller villages.

For the ceremony, the bride and groom are traditionally seated on red velvet chairs and covered by a silk canopy. After they leave the church, the congregation shower them with rice or sometimes wheat. It is also traditional for the couple to leave under an arch made of flowers or to walk over laurel leaves which have been scattered outside the church.

  Some times, these events include caricature artists who create and give guests free caricatures, gypsy dancers, magicians, children’s entertainment with babysitters, clowns, fairies and even videos and of course the dance entertainment may be provided by DJs, live orchestras or jazz musicians, just to name a few.

~}Finally, the bride and groom can choose to have a traditional wedding cake or a pièce montée, which is a cream puff pastry that takes the form of a pyramid, basket, horn of plenty or dishes.  Bride and groom figurines are placed on top.  Some of them even feature lit sparklers.  Tradition goes that the bride is to cut the first piece.  She can be assisted by her groom if she chooses.  The story goes that if this tradition was not kept, the bride would not be able to have children.  Also, it is supposedly bad luck if the figurines fall down.

The tradition of the bride tossing her bouquet is common in France as in other Western countries, but the old tradition of the bride’s garter being removed and tossed still prevails in certain areas. The tradition is said to have originated with Jewish society, where it symbolized fidelity.

The wedding night of the couple was traditionally disturbed by pranksters clattering pots and pans, blowing whistles or ringing bells. Today this is replaced by guests travelling to the wedding reception performing several laps of the local streets blowing their car horns and shouting loudly from car windows, and is perhaps the most unusual and ‘colourful’ feature separating the French wedding from traditions in other parts of the world.

A wedding in france is a fantastic romantic celebration.

Wedding Theme - Stunning Black And White

france wedding - Black and White theme possibilities

  Carry your black and white wedding theme through all of the aspects of your wedding with classy touches that make an impression without going overboard.  Be creative with your use of the black and white wedding theme and find new ways to combine these basic colours for a beautiful event people will talk about for years!

- Bridal Party

The most obvious contrast for a black and white wedding theme is the bride in her white wedding dress alongside her groom in his black tuxedo.  Alternatively you can have the groom in a white tuxedo and have the bridesmaids and groomsmen in black.   White flowers for the bridesmaids and a white buttoniere on the groom’s lapel will complete the black and white wedding theme in the bridal party.   Black touches on a white wedding dress can look beautiful.

- Bridal Transport

You can pick a black limousine or a black vintage car to compliment the theme.  Alternatively a pair of black horses pulling a carriage looks stunning and very fairytale.  For the best pictures pick black horses with white socks and white blazes and ask your carriage company to tack the horses up with white plumes for your wedding.  White socks on horses stocks the horses looking like hearse horses.  If you can pick carriage horses that do not have feathers (on their feet not their head).  Heavy carriage horses like Fresians, Percherons, Clydesdales, Shires do not look as fine as Hackney horses or German or Dutch carriage horses that have been bred with some knee movement.    Your carriage company should dress the carriage with white flowers. 

- Decoration

Book  a heritage property and let the architectural detail speak volumes for your wedding.  Louis XV staircases are stunning and the flourishes in the black wrought iron metalwork can be echoed in calligraphy for your invitations and menus, placecards.   Any wedding castle absolutely compliments this theme.

Black wrought iron candelstick holders make a statement.  For table numbers pick french photograph frames in white.   Or Martha stewart has some nice tuxedo cuff style table numbers to go over bottles. 

- Photography

Consider asking your photographer to take some specific photos with black backgrounds.  Pouring champagne into a pyramid champagne glasses is a class photo.   Or a photograph taken of champagne sabering at your wedding chateau is unforgettable.

- Cake

As the centerpiece of your black and white wedding theme, you should ensure that your cake stands out in the reception room. Start with a  cake covered in white frosting, and then be creative with black touches to decorate. Checkerboard fondant, black flowers or beautiful black patterns on white frosting will all make for a gorgeous cake that is a perfect fit for your black and white wedding theme. 

- Surprising black and white touches

Set the tables with black tablecloths to make white napkins and tableware stand out.  

A wedding in France is a spectacular place to showcase a black and white wedding theme.  If you get a chance have some engagement photos taken of you in Paris for projection in black and white at your reception.    They will be stunning.  Think of the Eiffel Tower, The Champs d’Elysses, the Louvre pyramid and the Arch de Triomphe, and Pont Neuf.  You could not pick any better romantic landmarks for an engagement photo session.  Yet your timing right to make the most of the sunsetting and natural light.

Spectacular Black And White Wedding Theme Ideas

wedding castle

A Black and white wedding theme is perfect for so many couples because there are many advantages to choosing these contrasting colours. With such as stark contrasts your guests will not miss all the attention to detail you put into the colour theme of your wedding.

Your wedding photos will be a reminder of your wedding day and with a black and white wedding theme you’re wedding photos will have a wonderful co-ordinated background no matter which wedding accessories you’ve captured within them. This is especially true if you’re wearing a wedding dress which is an alternative colour to white.

One of the best things about using black and white as your wedding theme is that accessories are so easy to come by you can buy them from pound shops or your local supermarket.Or you could place a single black calla lily in a tall white vase. Black and white ribbon is easily obtainable for decorating chairs and walkways.It is also easy to match the wedding accessories as different accessories bought from different ranges or shops will vary in shades but with black or white this won’t be as noticeable like it would be in your colour scheme was pink or green.

If you’re getting married or having your wedding reception in a stately home or historic building, a black and white wedding theme is more suited; if you’ve spent extra money to get married in a beautiful building make sure your wedding scheme compliments it not detracts from it’s beauty. 

Black and white themes really lend themselve to weddings held at a wedding castle and especially a french wedding chateau.  Ornate wrought iron staircases are a beautiful backdrop for wedding photography.  Devore cut velvet fabric on tables and laser cut cut cake holders.  Classic calligraphy compliments the scrolls in the iron work.  There are  no shortages of scrolls and flourishes in a french chateau to embellish a black and white theme.  Oak boisserie (french wood panelling) lends itself to complimenting black and white photos. 

Some couples choose to give them away to their guests in the hope they will be reused, not just thrown in the rubbish bin and added to landfill.

A chateau wedding is a perfect venue for a black and white themed wedding.

Nothing Beats A Roaring 1920s Wedding Theme

wedding France

A french wedding chateau is a perfect venue for a roaring 1920s wedding.  The 1920s was an era of decadent fun celebration. Jazz was always in the air, the country was prosperous. Girls had the time of their lives wearing shorter hem lines and having cut their hair into a bob.

Coco Channel was all the rage at this time.

Art deco was big in the 1920s. You can decorate the invitations with art deco design. The inkblot test was made popular during the 1920s, so go ahead and give your guests a test while you invite them to the wedding. Use bold, geometric shapes adorning the invitation page to a 1920s theme wedding

You can also use pictures of the actors and actresses that were made larger than life in the 1920s; people like Rudolph Valentino, and Nita Naldi. You can make a replica of a Vogue cover as it was in the 1920s as your invitation.

Choosing what to wear for a 1920s theme wedding is the most fun part of decorating. It was filled with wild styles that the wedding party, as well as the guests, can take part in. Flappers come to mind when evoking the styles of the 1920s.

Everyone should wear wigs cut in the style of the 1920s. Short bobbed haircuts and Josephine Baker inspired cuts. Cloche hats are very stylish and oh so french too.. The Cloche is often made of felt so it can be small and shaped for a close fit to the scalp. The simple hats can be decorated with feathers, bead, and scarves. For a more glamorous look, pearls and diamonds can be used.   Cloche is the french word for bell.

The 1920s were a time of large inexpensive Costume Jewelry that the wedding party, or the guests, can wear. The men should wear zoot suits reminiscent of the gangster look of the 1920s. The suits should be matched with two toned, patent leather pointy shoes.  Think “Have Zoot suit will travel”. 

The fun and drinking that you plan on having at your wedding was illegal during the 1920s.   The whole fun was the way that people got around all the prohibition laws. For your wedding, a major part of the decoration is to duplicate the secretive feel of this era. If you want to go over the top, choose a place that has a large room for dancing, and you can decorate it in as a speakeasy.

Set up a projection of an old 1920s movie to play on the wall to tie in the ambiance of the era. An old Charlie Chaplin silent movie would work well.

Jazz should be the theme of the night. From the beginning of the wedding to the end, play Jazz age greatest musicians like Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald, and Duke Ellington. Whether you hire a jazz band, or blast it from an ipod to speakers, the 1920s theme wedding should be all about Jazz.

You can make Gershwin’s ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’, or a song from one of the many orchestra bands of the time, the theme of the night. If you have to, hire someone to teach your guest dances like the Charleston, Fox-trot, and the shimmy.

If you do not want the horse and carriages then think Gangester Car. 

Flapper dresses, cloche hats, zoot suits, Gershin and a vintage cars for transport to the chateau all add that special wow factor to your french wedding. 

By integrating as many of the popular styles and music of the era as possible, your Roaring 1920s theme wedding will by a huge hit with your guests and not soon forgotten and all your guests will want to have their very own wedding in France at a chateau.