France Destination Wedding | Tina + Yann | Tara Lilly Photography

Enjoying an intimate and relaxed France Destination Wedding with Tina + Yann.

Updated: February 2024

A France Destination Wedding with a no stress, go with the flow vibe was important to Tina + Yann. They chose to focus on the coming together of two families. Rather than stress about things having to be a certain way.

“It was quite an emotional day, after 9 years together and this being the symbolic wedding (having officially gotten married in Sydney a few weeks before), I guess I never really expected that. What also made us happy was that we could see that everyone else had a great time too. It was a wonderful moment to catch up on old times, all we really wanted was to enjoy the moment with our family and friends.”

Tina + Yann chose France as their wedding destination to ensure that Yann’s Grandmother would be able to attend.

It is clear to see that family is at the centre of their beautiful day, and I love that their daughter Anaïs was such a beautiful part of their ceremony!

Planning a wedding from afar is tricky enough. Add in the busy life of a parent and things can get interesting.

“Planning a wedding from a distance, with a very energetic 1-year-old daughter is quite an interesting scenario, as much as we had an idea of what we wanted, everyday life meant that we probably left a lot to chance and instinct.  There was no opportunity to ‘test’ anything, so we didn’t really know what to expect when we arrived in France.”

A stroke of luck would have it that Tina + Yann’s day would come together beautifully.

“Everything just seemed to fall into place.  We drove from Yann’s home in the Alps to Etoile sur Rhone two days before the wedding, as we approached Valance we started to see these beautiful sunflower fields, and I was thinking ‘I wonder if there would be an opportunity to come back to these for our wedding photos’, driving up to La Poulatte, we realised that the house was surrounded by sunflowers, it really was the icing on the cake.  The house itself was wonderful, beautiful structure, rustic charm, tastefully renovated, we loved that the owner had kept the character of the building.  We didn’t want new and shiny.”

Often things don’t go quite as according to plan on a wedding day, and Tina & Yann’s destination wedding in France was no exception.

“…because of my klutzy nature, I smeared red lipstick all over the front of my dress when putting it on, we totally ruined the ‘first look’ because I needed Yann to fasten the back of my dress, and I had the most beautiful bouquet which I  completely forgot about when walking down the aisle.  Oh, and we didn’t bother with the first dance, because we absolutely loved the band so just couldn’t wait to start dancing.  Disaster?  Not really, just funny memories.”

Those are the stories that make the day unique and unlike any other.

“All I remember thinking is how perfect this moment was and how lucky we were to have these beautiful people in our lives.”

At the end of the blog Tina + Yann shared their favourite moments of the day, as well as all the amazing vendors who made their day so memorable.

Enjoy!
-T & S

We have more French destination weddings on our blog with Lauren + Erik as well as Cody + Lauren!

A family orientated stress-free France destination wedding was the goal. Tina + Yann got it spot on with their perfect, imperfections.

Here are Tina & Yann’s favourite moments captured on the day; Family at the heart of each of them!

“Totally impossible to choose 3 favourite photos because I love them all!  While I absolutely love the couple pictures, (and the ones of my dress!), these ones are chosen more because of the moments that they represent.”

Planner|Laura Dova| @laradovaweddings
Ceremony & Reception Location | La Poulatte, Etoile sur Rhone
Dress | Amy Taylor Collection | @amytaylorcollection
Officiant | Celia Drummond
Florist | Le Passager du vent
Caterer | Pignol
Hair | Angela Coiffure | @angelacoiffeurprive
Make-up | Sarine Ti  | @sarinetiii
Band | Beach Pop Band