While we didn’t want a traditional wedding (and we had legally married the day before), we still had to go through a bit of the motions, even if it was just for show. You can’t ask nearly 80 friends & family to fly to France and not give them a bit of the usual wedding song & dance.
The day began around 8am with another chateau breakfast downstairs, followed by the usual hair & makeup for myself, my mother and my two sisters/bridesmaids. There was an off-the-rails moment during wedding planning where I couldn’t stop spending money, so this was the morning me and my sisters donned our matching feather-trimmed pajamas in the bridal suite, drinking crémant and listening to Celine Dion as everyone got ready. Bill exited stage left at some point to get ready in the Vineyard Barn with his family.
Then, it was time for the show. It may have seemed to our guests that I was holding things up and running late, but I’d like everyone to know I was ready on time and waiting behind that door for a good 10 minutes while Jacques the French accordion player ignored his cues to stop playing. Every time our wedding planner thought he was wrapping up a song, he’d start a new one.
Bill walked out with his parents and I walked out with mine, to the incredibly wedding-appropriate song ‘November Rain’ by Guns ‘n Roses. It was only the instrumental intro, so we missed the lyrics “Nothin’ lasts forever / And we both know hearts can change.” Bill and I split up the lyrics to Prince’s ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ to “marry” ourselves:
Dearly beloved
We are gathered here today
To get through this thing called “life”
Electric word, life
It means forever, and that’s a mighty long time
We wanted it to be the world’s shortest wedding ceremony and after clocking in around three and a half minutes, I think we accomplished it. At least it was the shortest ceremony in Chateau Rigaud history. We exited to the Carl Carlton version of ‘Everlasting Love’ and joined our families in the library for a private toast and to FaceTime my grandmother back in Cambridge who couldn’t make the trip.
Then, it was back outside for “cocktails & canapes” on the vineyard-facing patio with passed hors d’oeuvres, a chef’s station with oysters, sausages & scallops and a bar serving three signature cocktails: an Aperol Spritz, a Hugo Spritz and a Paloma. We also had a Polaroid camera and guestbook for people to take photos and leave notes.
Moving across the courtyard and into the barn, we sat down for dinner with wine and speeches from my best friend Katie and Bill’s brother Tom. The menu:
Lemon poached salmon, wasabi crème fraiche, garden oil emulsion, beetroot & wild rice cracker
BBQ fillet of beef, beef beignet, potato fondant, seared foie gras, garden greens, spiced seasonal purée, confit shallot & red wine jus
Caramelia chocolate délice, apple, blackberry, puffed rice
After post-diner espresso martinis served to everyone at their tables, we retreated to our room for a quick costume change, returning for a shark/dinosaur dance party, the traditional toppling of the croquembouche, fireworks, and the elite combination of skinny ciggs and pornstar martinis. At the edge of the dance floor near the DJ, they set up a door covered in about 50 types of French cheese. Literal pounds of it. Every time you’d dance near that edge of the dance floor, you’d be smacked in the face with the stinkiest cheese smell and immediately need to dance yourself across the room.
After late-night pain au chocolat and hot dogs, the night ended with more late-night cocktails back at the chapel bar.
Photos by Stuart Dudleston