Persimmon Dahlias and Live Art at Domaine de la Fauconnie, Dordogne

Inside the manoir, the bride slipped into a strapless ivory satin ballgown by Eva Lendel, its cathedral-length train pooling on the stone floor, while pearl-embellished pins held blonde waves in soft vintage curls. Two pairs of white heels waited on the windowsill: block-heel mules with oversized satin bows and pointed-toe stilettos for the evening. The bridal party gathered on the stone terrace in matching ivory satin pyjamas trimmed with white feathers.

Vows took place under an open-sided wooden pavilion with exposed timber beams and a pendant barn light overhead, a white aisle runner marking the path between seated rows. The couple stood holding hands as the Perigord countryside stretched behind them, the simplicity deliberate: no heavy floral arch, no elaborate backdrop, just the pavilion's raw structure and the trees beyond it.

Frances Mary Sales moved the couple through the estate's grounds as the light shifted: a twirl on the stone terrace with the swimming pool behind, a walk along the gravel path toward the manor house at dusk, and a quiet series against the old stone walls where the ivory satin caught every change in temperature. One striking image shows them in a Nigerian silver-blue sequined outfit and white dinner jacket on the gravel driveway at night. A formal group portrait on the double stone staircase captured bridesmaids in pale powder-blue gowns with dusty rose bouquets and groomsmen in black tuxedos.

Dinner unfolded inside the Orangery, a glass-walled space with a vaulted white ceiling and dark metal structural framework, where La Porte Verte served a menu drawn from Dordogne produce. Live illustrator Anna Dovbiy painted watercolour portraits while guests lined up to watch. DJ James Carr read the room from background warmth to a full dance floor, and by evening's end the newlyweds made their entrance through a sparkler tunnel.

Florist Fairy Fleur kept the arrangements wild-edged: dahlias in deep persimmon, garden roses in faded blush, and trailing amaranthus in burgundy. Tables inside the glass-and-iron Orangery were dressed with low copper vessels and pillar candles that burned down through the evening, pooling wax onto linen. A wooden-easel seating chart greeted guests on the gravel. Cake Baby produced a heart-shaped single-tier cake with ivory piped buttercream borders on a round wooden board.

The aerial view tells the story of the estate's scale: slate-grey turret rooflines, a grand stone staircase, manicured grounds opening to the valley below. The exit down those stone steps, surrounded by guests tossing white rose petals, was one of the day's defining images. By evening, the courtyard's mature tree was strung with festoon lighting, and the space between the manor and the Orangery became its own outdoor room.