Do I favour you?

Apparently we are once again following our cousins across the pound, and starting to get in to wedding favours. These are small gifts given as a gesture of appreciation or gratitude to guests from the bride and groom at the wedding reception.

There are lots of interesting ideas out there, one being the French tradition to give 5 dragées (pronounced dra-ZHAY ), whole almonds coated with a sugar shell in various colors, to each guest at their wedding. The five symbolises Health, Wealth, Happiness, Longevity, and Fertility.



Another idea, but not necessarily a tradition but still very French, is to have a box of mini macaroons at each table setting. Some of the best are made by Laduree and I can personal vouch for how lovely and yummy they are!

Also anything that is a local product to the Cote d'Azur would be appropriate.

Chateau de Massillan

I fell in love with this venue, it’s not really the French Riviera, but it is so beautiful I have to mention it. I can’t be alone in thinking this either, for when we went to visit they were already booked up for 2009. However, I should mention they only host one wedding a month. This is nice for other guests wanting to visit, but sad for moi!

The Chateau de Massillan was originally built back in 1550 as a hunting lodge. The current owners are interior designers, and you can tell as soon as you step inside.

You have to take over the whole Chateau, for a minimum of 2 nights, and they can accommodate 26 guests. So if you are looking for a magical, intermit venue for your wedding party, you might want to add this to your venue visit list.

Count Down to Wedding in Cote d'Azur

Mr and Mrs Smith

I love the Mr and Mrs Smith concept and often go to their website for inspiration and latest travel news, and have just done so and discovered they are now offering a wedding planning service. Under the find a venue France is listed, yippeee, and you can search by city wedding, country wedding or wedding with a view!!

I Do?

Do I hire a wedding planner or do I not, is the real question. The wedding industry is huge in the USA, especially in terms of dollars ($90billion). The UK is slowly following suit and people are looking more in to hiring a wedding planner. However, I have to say if my wedding was in my own country I wouldn’t even consider hiring anyone, as I feel that I could do just as good a job as them, and I know many of us look forward to the wedding planning process and take extreme joy and pride in planning every detail. But when we are talking about a wedding in a foreign country, where I don’t really speak the language, suddenly it sounds like it might be a good idea.

• They can help set up visits to potential venues
• They can save you money as they get trade rates
• They can deal in the local language
• They can make sure on the day everything goes to plan whilst you just relax and enjoy

But a deciding factor might also be about the cost. Some examples of how they charge their fees

• 10% - 15% of the overall budget
• Flat rate for day of services plus 15% of vendor contract costs
• Fee based on number of guests
• Flat rate based on amount of work needed
• Hourly Rate

So if you decide that hiring a Wedding Planner is for you make sure you:

1. Establish what their fees are and get them in writing, along with a list of the tasks that they are to be responsible for.
2. Ask the names of at least two couples whom the wedding planner has recently worked for and contact them for a reference.
3. Let your wedding planner know what your total budget is. You may wish his or her guidance at establishing how to distribute the total budget over all the items needed for the wedding.

Some local wedding planners:
http://www.eventsandhome.com/
http://www.alchimieoriginelle.com/
http://www.riviera-runners.com/
http://www.seaviewwedding.com/

However, if you feel you can find a venue you on your own in France, then great, as most of the venues have an events planner and their service is in included in to your booking, and they can do everything a wedding planner would do at no extra cost!!

Rayol-Canadel-sur-Mer /The French Riviera Garden

Is in fact two tiny villages, Le Rayol and Le Canadel which are co-joined in a single commune, located along the rugged seaside between the Saint-Tropez peninsula and Le Lavandou.

The nearest airport is Toulon approximately 50Km. I would recommend that you travel to the village via the hilltops (for those that don’t suffer from car sickness), take the RD27 road. The road is about 12 km long, and winds round the Maures national forest, and just when you are lulled into thinking the pretty broom and evergreen forests were going to stretch on forever, you are suddenly confronted by one of the Var region's most spectacular coastal panoramas, as the immense Mediterranean Sea literally explodes into view. (You might want to stop the car and get the camera out!

The area is known for the winter-blooming yellow mimosa and a couple of great little beaches.

Plage du Canadel

The sand is very fine and reasonably white and the seawater is a crystal clear, beautiful shade of light blue. There are several places to eat and drink on the beach.

The beach is easily accessible with reasonably good parking near the beach. Alternatively you can walk from the main road

Plage du Rayol

The beach consists of both pebbles and sand and is backed by pine trees, but it is nicely protected from westerly winds by the jutting Cap Nègre

It is a 10-15 minute walk down from the main road, there is not much parking but there is a place to get food.

If you don't want to just lie on the beach you should visit the Domaine du Rayol This is a large botanical garden divided into different botanical regions of the world, including of course Le Jardin de la Méditerranée. It takes about one and a half hours to follow the marked, 2 km itinerary, but you should plan on a half-day for a leisurely tour, exploration and photography. It's just a couple minutes drive down from Le Rayol, and there's parking at the entrance. Entry is 8 € adults, 5 € kids.

You might also like to check out Club Tropicana which is a Restaurant-bar-disco right on the beach. It might be nice as a possible venue for a rehearsal dinner, or if like us your wedding is running over the weekend, a party for the night the guests arrive in to town.
Club Tropicana
Plage du Canadel83820 Le Rayol Canadel
Tél. +33 (0)4 94 05 61 50