Whimsical Avantgarde Wakandan Wedding at Chateau de Varennes in France
This fete in France brought all of my senses to life at first glance of the imagery captured by Christina Bernales. I can hear the laughter, smell the dahlias and roses courtesy of Fleurs de Fee, feel the sunshine on my shoulders and almost taste the beauty of this dinner scene. NKT Events made sure every one of those details (and beyond) were carefully curated for this duo to soak in their best. day. ever.
From the bride... As we had family and friends from coming all over the world, we decided to explore European destinations as a middle option for family coming from the US and Africa. When we found the Chateau de Varennes in France, we knew that we had found our venue. A 400 year old family estate that was all inclusive and had experience hosting international weddings, we fell in love! As we were also planning a destination wedding, it was important for us to have a wedding planner that had experience working internationally so when we were introduced to Nyachia from NKT Events, we knew we were in good hands. We worked together to bring my theme to life as an "Avantgarde Wakandan Affair: Chic whimisical elegance with a fusion of tradition."
With roots from Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, our wedding weekend was kicked off with a Zimbabwean song and dance performed by the grooms family while inviting guests to the celebration wearing traditional dress in beautiful red and golden tones. I love jewel tones and I wanted my ladies dressed in burgundy as an ode to the region so we went with a bold color palette of burgundy, dark blue grey and dusty rose with gold accents. I also had to pick a color that worked across a diverse set of women so from there we were able to match the rest of the colors with the mood we were going for. We definitely wanted color as part of our wedding as neither of us are plain folks.
The most special part of our wedding was the fact that we had people from all over the world meet in the countryside of France. These were people who have known us for a majority of our lives and have been a part of many milestones and we were grateful that they could be there as part of our big day. We had over 13 countries represented, Tobago, Australia, Djibouti, Dubai, Netherlands, Switzerland and South Africa, just to name a few. As a special thank you to our guests and also as a suprise to the groom, we had a special fireworks display that was the perfect ending to our unforgettable wedding weekend.
Photography: Christina Bernales | Event Design: NKT Events | Event Planning: NKT Events | Floral Design: Antoinette Martin | Wedding Dress: David Tutera Collection | Cake: Muriel Arcos | Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Weddington Way | Catering: Nathan Muir | Hair Stylist: Ciara Coiffure | DJ: Prestige Animation | Groom's Attire: The Black Tux | Groom's Attire: Koeles Clothing | Wedding Venue: Chateau de Varennes | Groom's Shoes: Gucci | Linens: Mademoiselle Coton | Make-Up Artist: Annette Thornton | Rentals: Joli Bazaar