A Château Wedding Near Bordeaux, Told in Four Settings

Isadora's beauty look changed with the day. For the ceremony, Lays Brunelli styled her hair into an updo; by the evening, she was wearing it down. Having her hair and makeup artist stay throughout the wedding meant the change could happen between the different parts of the celebration rather than being fixed from the morning onwards.

The ceremony took place beside the pool, where guests had already gathered for a welcome drink, an arrangement that suits wedding venues with a pool in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Chairs curved into a semicircle facing Château Fengari, placing Isadora and Hugo in front of the château rather than enclosing them within a traditional aisle of straight rows.

The couple chose a close friend to officiate their secular ceremony. As someone who knew their story personally, the ceremony could be led by a person already connected to their lives rather than an outside celebrant.

Once the ceremony ended, this part of the château was left behind as guests moved around the property for the next part of the afternoon.

Isadora stayed in the same Dressa Atelie gown throughout the wedding, changing the layers around it rather than changing dresses. A cape or jacket could be added or removed as the temperature dropped later in the day.

Her hair followed a similar transition: the ceremony updo gave way to loose hair for the evening, allowing the same bridal look to change gradually as the wedding moved from afternoon into night.

After the ceremony, guests were invited around to the rear of Château Fengari, where a champagne tower marked the beginning of the cocktail hour.

The food, catered by Graines Fertiles, was designed for grazing rather than sitting down. Charcuterie, cheeses, olives and quiches filled the grazing table alongside classic French cocktail bites, while separate wine and cocktail bars remained open throughout the reception drinks.

It was the second setting of the wedding and a different part of the château from the poolside ceremony. Guests would move again when it was time for dinner.

At the front of the château, dinner departed from the usual sequence of seated courses. Three food stations gave guests a choice of French galettes, truffle pasta and Japanese barbecue, with the wine and cocktail bars continuing alongside them.

Long tables were still central to the setting, but guests could leave them to choose their own food before returning to eat. Nearby, a black-and-white chequered dance floor echoed the burgundy and beige reception design.

Dancing began outdoors before the celebration eventually moved inside Château Fengari for the remainder of the night.

For Dona Rosa, the planning lesson from the wedding was less about a particular design choice than the people responsible for delivering it: “Surround yourself with trusted vendors, delegate as much of the wedding planning and coordination as possible, and trust your instincts when choosing your suppliers.”

Burgundy red and beige anchored the reception palette, chosen as a reference to the wines of the Bordeaux region. Satin and lace brought texture to the tables, while silver appeared repeatedly through serving trays, candlesticks and decorative pieces.

Rather than sourcing the silver all at once, the collection was built gradually throughout the year of planning. Locamour and Magnolia supplied rentals and tableware, with Sensorial responsible for the event design.

Marie Dujardin took the Bordeaux reference into the florals in a less expected way. Artichokes, aubergines and grapes appeared among the flowers, bringing produce into arrangements otherwise tied together by the wedding's wider palette and styling.

Château Fengari was used differently as each part of the wedding began. The first setting was beside the pool, where guests arrived for welcome drinks before taking their seats for the secular ceremony.

Afterwards, everyone moved to the back of the château. Here, the champagne tower, grazing table and bars opened the cocktail hour. By early evening, dinner had been prepared at the front of the property, with long tables arranged alongside three food stations and the black-and-white dance floor.

The fourth and final setting came after dinner. Having spent the afternoon and early evening outside, Isadora, Hugo and their guests moved indoors to continue the party late into the night.

Across those spaces, the details remained consistent: burgundy and beige, lace and satin, collected silver, Bordeaux-inspired florals and French food alongside the couple's more international choices. For a Brazilian couple bringing family and friends to a country already meaningful to them, the wedding was firmly rooted in the place they had chosen without asking every part of the celebration to follow a traditional French format.