castelnau de fieumarcon wedding in gascony

The hottest wedding, in every way. Fran and Jonathan were originally set to be married at the Ace Hotel Shoreditch… but then covid happened and the Ace never reopened after lockdown. So, they pivoted to a super-stylish civil ceremony at Islington Town Hall followed by the wedding weekend to end all wedding weekends a year later at Castlenau de Fieumarcon in Gascony.

They'd never actually set eyes on their new venue in person before arriving with all their family and friends in tow, but they weren't worried: they knew they were bringing the party no matter where they ended up (they're certified experts at international partying: I love living vicariously through Fran's sequin-soaked Burning Man adventures via Instagram). Basically, they're exactly the type of laid-back couple who know how to have first-class fun wherever they go, finding the finest new friends along the way — a number of the guests at the wedding Gascony hadn't even met the bride and groom when they had their civil ceremony the previous year.

And they were, of course, entirely right to be so relaxed: Castelnau de Fieumarcon turned out to be mediaeval-village-wonderland, packed with rose-dotted cottages to house hungover friends after staying up all night, a pool perfect for a wedding-morning dip, and the most picturesque lane to walk down for a confetti-strewn stroll.