Adam was giving me a tour of the venue and told me, “This is where we’re going to get married,” and that’s when I knew.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
Hannah: We live in South London, and both work in tech – Adam works for a cloud security company as a sales development manager, and I’m a program manager working in AI. We’re both really into our food – tacos, sushi, and fresh pasta are some of our favourites, and we love exploring new restaurants around London. Adam is also a great cook, which is lucky for me! We love travelling, including visiting Adam’s family near Bordeaux and flying out to Puglia with my family every summer. Our last big trip was our honeymoon in Bali – an absolute dream of delicious food, lovely people and beautiful scenes.
Adam: One thing we bonded over when we first met was our love of dogs – we’re excited to welcome Ziggy, our cocker spaniel puppy, into the family soon!
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
Hannah: We met over 6 years ago at Adam’s groomsman’s party when I was newly single. Adam actually spent the evening helping me to get a date with someone else on a dating app – later realising he’d made a big mistake! This was followed by a DM on Instagram asking me on a date some weeks later, and the rest is history. My first impression of Adam was that he was tall, handsome, funny, and so easy to chat with (all true to this day!).
Adam: First impressions were that Hannah had these amazing eyes and incredible smile. She had a great sense of humour and had bundles of energy which I loved. Her energy is still infectious today and we make each other laugh all the time!
When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
Hannah: We first visited our wedding venue, Chateau Rigaud, about 6 months after we started dating. Adam’s dad had a long weekend birthday celebration for close friends and family at the venue, and it was my first time meeting everyone. Rigaud is an extra special place for us as Adam’s mum and sister have worked there for many years and the family’s become good friends with the owners. Adam was giving me a tour of the venue and told me “this is where we’re going to get married”, and that’s when I knew.
Adam: I remember one memory quite fondly very early in the relationship. I wasn’t having the best time at a former company and wasn’t feeling like myself, and I was going to meet Han for dinner. When she turned up (late as she always is), all the troubles I was feeling melted away, and I felt like myself again. It sounds like a cheesy answer, but it’s true! When someone makes you feel like that, you want to spend the rest of your life with them.
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
Hannah: Adam managed to keep it a complete surprise by proposing to me one Monday evening after work. It was understated and yet so special asking me in the living room of the home we bought together where we spend most of our time. He proposed with my dream engagement ring, a marquise diamond with a yellow gold knife edge band, and as an extra surprise, he’d also spoken to my boss to secretly get me the day off the next day so we could celebrate. We then went away to Bordeaux for a long weekend with friends (already planned), so it was perfect timing as we got to tell them all in person.
Adam: Han had let slip that if I were to propose, she wouldn’t want it to be around loads of people – it ruined my original plan as we were heading to France with loads of her friends, and I was going to ask her then! So I had to backtrack very quickly. Luckily I managed to surprise her on a Monday night at home and we had the next day off so we went for a celebratory lunch. The next day, we travelled to France, where we shared the news with her friends and my family, which made the trip even better!
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding
Hannah: Chateau Rigaud is such a stunning venue that’s a perfect representation of the Bordeaux countryside – it’s grand yet cool and homely at the same time, and we wanted exactly that vibe for our wedding. In terms of dress code we wanted our guests to feel comfortable so opted for lounge suits and smart cocktail dresses.
Given we married in September, we went for an autumnal colour scheme, with the bridesmaids each in a different colour: rust, sage, dusky pink and oyster, and the flowers and table arrangements complemented this with deep purples, oranges and pinks.
We wanted the drinks to be free-flowing and added some special personal touches based on our favourite tipples – we had a limoncello bar as a nod to our annual family trip to Puglia, and we also had a tequila bar serving margaritas and palomas all evening
We knew we wanted a few days of events to help our guests break the ice, have fun and make friends, so we had welcome apéros at Adam’s parents’ house the night before, then the big day, followed by a BBQ and pool party at Rigaud the day after to debrief on the event! It worked a treat as everyone got on so well, and many friendships have formed since. It really was the most special weekend of our lives!
What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
Hannah: the music! Adam had seen the band Four Kicks play before and knew immediately that he wanted them at our wedding, so they were one of the first things we booked. We also booked our DJ, Dean, to close out the evening, and both were absolutely worth the money, as dancing the night away was one of my favourite parts of the day. They took into account our music preferences, played incredibly and got the crowd really involved, which made for some amazing content for our photographer and videographer too.
Adam: I wasn’t the one who splurged on it, but Han’s wedding dress – as the groom, I had been kept in the dark about what it would look like and when she came out of the chateau doors, it blew me away and encapsulated everything I thought Han would look like in a wedding dress – stylish, elegant and stunning.
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
Hannah: Given the location, we had a traditional croquembouche cake, which is a huge tower of profiteroles and spun sugar. Instead of cutting a cake, the tradition is the couple hits the top profiteroles off the tower with a champagne bottle before the first dance. Unfortunately, due to the hot weather, the croquembouche effectively melted and collapsed before any of the guests even saw it! It could have been a panic moment, but we just skipped straight to the first dance, and I don’t think anyone even noticed. The profiteroles still tasted great at the BBQ the next day!
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
Hannah: I knew I wanted a classic and timeless dress and something that I could possibly repurpose after the wedding to make it a little more sustainable. I’d tried on about 20 dresses by the time I got to ‘the one’ – a stunning silk slip dress that seemed to flow effortlessly when I first tried it on. I love how it looked in the photos and think it was really in keeping with the grand yet relaxed vibe of the whole wedding. After a lot of fun on the dance floor, the bottom of the dress is unsalvageable, so I plan to have it taken up and dyed so that I can wear it again to other weddings and formal events – it’ll be so special to have that as a keepsake! Given it was such a classic dress, I knew it could handle a dramatic veil on the day, so I went for a stunning cathedral-length one with ruffles. It also had a blusher to go over my face, which reminded me of my mum’s wedding veil. I loved the veil so much that I kept it on until our first dance.
Adam: I had my suit custom-made from the ground up. I imagined something that looked like a classic groom’s suit, but if the jacket was paired with different-coloured trousers, it could be worn for other special events. I love linen, so I had a wool-linen-silk fabric blend, which meant it was breathable and light. A double-breasted waistcoat meant it looked as smart without the jacket as it did with it. I also had our initials stitched into the lining of the jacket, and underneath the collar had the date of the wedding as a special reminder of the day.
LOCATION Château Rigaud, Mouliets-et-Villemartin, France, @chateaurigaud FLORIST Jillian Davies, @folies.et.fleurs PHOTOGRAPHER David Wickham, @modernvintageweddings VIDEOGRAPHER Sebastian Thomas, @sebastianthomasfilm OFFICIANT Hannah’s brother, Tommy Forbes MAKEUP Aurélie Denise, @orelden HAIR Laura Cawte, @laura_cawte ENTERTAINMENT Band: Four Kicks, @fourkicksband; DJ: Dean Watt, @whatthefunkdj BRIDAL DRESS Alexandra Grecco, @alexandragrecco BRIDESMAID DRESSES Six Stories, @sixstories SUIT Suit Supply, @suitsupply GROOMSMEN SUIT Moss Bross, @mossbros VEIL Blue Meadow, @bluemeadow_ BRIDE’S NECKLACE Alighieri, @alighieri_jewellery BRIDE’S EARRINGS Persée Paris, @persee_paris ENGAGEMENT RING W&W Jewellery, @wandwjewellery BRIDE’S RING The Diamond Store, @thediamondstoreuk GROOM’S RING Angelic Diamonds, @angelicdiamonds BRIDE’S SHOE Charlotte Mills, @charlottemillsshoes GROOM’S SHOE Dune London, @dune_london BRIDAL & GROOM GETTING READY HQ Château Rigaud, Mouliets-et-Villemartin, France, @chateaurigaud
