S12E7: Et Voila - Destintation Weddings in France
Planning a destination wedding in France?
From choosing your vendor team to guest experience and everything in between, this episode has everything you need to know!
Guest: Anne-Laure Renaud, Et Voila Weddings
This week on The Wedding Dish podcast, we’re dishing about…
Why is planning your wedding with a goal of having an incredible experience - for the couple and the guests - so important during the wedding planning process?
How do you plan for an extraordinary experience?
For our couples who are planning destination weddings, how does that process work? Where do you even start?
Why should couples consider planning their destination weddings in France?
What advice do you have for couples who are planning a destination wedding in France?
... and more!
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Meet Anne-Laure, Et Voila Weddings!
I am French, living between France and the UK (London). I studied business and marketing, and during my studies, I was involved in the planning of student parties and events. I loved it, and after graduating, I moved to London to get experience in event planning. I worked for a luxury events agency called Banana Split as their French translator as they were planning a good number of ultra luxury events on the French Riviera, but were finding it hard to communicate with the local vendors (both for language and cultural reasons). This is what gave me the idea for Et Voila Weddings, helping couples plan their destination wedding in France. I did not do it right away, though. I went to work a bit for NetJets (private jet time share) and then for Amnesty International, always within the events teams, gaining extra experience, before setting up my business in 2011.
I am also a "boat life" lover and took 2 sabbaticals, 1 year each, to live on the water and sail - the first time was just me and my husband sailing around the Atlantic, the second time we took our 5-year-old daughter and sailed the Caribbean. I believe that experience of having to rely on your own skills only gave me / or maybe just is a testament to? - my mindset of getting things done and if you have to learn it or do it yourself, then that is what needs to happen... ;)
“As a wedding planner I love to be organised and to keep everything in order. I also love design and love to make everything look beautiful and harmonious. But what really moves me in what I do, the core of it, is togetherness - the reason we organise these very special events is to bring people together, to create moments and experiences they will all share together as a group, a family, a close community. Everything we do we only do to support that goal of offering a unique, high in emotions moment to a special group of people gathered to celebrate a couple, love, life, family and friendship. The planning and design are just ways to enhance and elevate that experience, because a seamless flow and a beautiful setting enables people to enjoy these special moments more deeply and fully.” - Anne-Laure, Et Voila Weddings
Business Details
What areas do you serve?
Paris, Provence, and the French Riviera
What's the coolest thing about owning your business?
The obvious one is the liberty of choosing your hours. Another great thing is that I get to choose to work with vendors that share my values of client service, attention to detail, and team spirit. It has been a journey, and it has not always worked perfectly, but now, after 13 years of doing this, I have a great network of vendors who I know work to our standard and are great team workers, and it makes the job so much more fulfilling and fun!
What challenges have you had to overcome?
Oh, we had so many things happen to us over the years. Once we had a florist whose van half fell into a ravine on her way to the venue. The van could not fall any lower, but it could not be moved, and the wedding was just a few hours away. She managed to download and start setting up, before completely losing it in the middle of set up, so I had to talk to her, reassure her that her van would be taken care of, that right now the priority was to set up and that once we would all be set up and as soon as we could we would dispatch a few people from the venue and the catering staff to help move her van. She found her cool again, and we worked as per plan. But that was intense!
I had another situation like this last year, this time with a catering truck, and all the food and drinks got locked inside the truck in a small ravine 2 km from the venue... Our incredible vendor recalled all their chefs and started re-doing all the food they could in the kitchen while calling for assistance on site and sending new trucks to bring the food to the venue once we had access. In the end they managed to retrieve the truck; they had to saw through a side, they got all the food and drinks out and transferred to the new truck, and we managed to serve with minimal delay. Oh, the importance of working with reliable, committed people...
And of course, a typical one is wet weather. Couples tend to underestimate when we plan for wet weather, and do not want to put money into plans for a hyphotethis of rain... but when the day comes and the forecast isn't good, all of a sudden the half OK plan that was just a plan B isn't good enough and we are asked to work miracles to transform it into a great plan A without all of the things that would be needed... It is often stressful and we have to have painful conversations with our couples, but we always do our best, and again, having a team of vendors that are there to serve to the best of their ability to make our couples' day the best and make them happy is everything.
What advice could you offer to couples planning their weddings?
Make time for wed-min in your calendar. I am saying this both as a wedding planner and a feminist: this is probably the first element of your new married life that you will need to invest a lot of time in. Start to share the mental load now ;) and make time in both your calendars to sit down, discuss, and make decisions together. It can be once every 2 weeks at the beginning, and make it once a week from 6 months prior. My advice is to make it a date night with a nice cocktail or glass of wine.
Tell us a little bit about your wedding.
I got married very traditionally in my hometown. If I were to get married today, I would definitely have a south of France wedding over 3 days, and a great pool party the day after the wedding. I think they are the best!
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