Wedding | Emily & Izzy

Tell us a little about yourselves!

We’re from North Yorkshire, UK (Izzy) and Indiana, US (Emily) and have been living in France for the last 5 years, with our little black street cat, Réglisse, who we adopted 4 years ago in Lyon. We both love the sea, travel (especially all over Greece), and being outdoors and active.

We met in 2017 in Marseille, on an eight-month ‘Teach English in France’ program. We started as friends and quickly fell in love—both with each other, and with the city itself. By the time the program wrapped up, we knew we’d end up back in Marseille one day to build a life together.

It took us a little while to navigate our way back (we finally made it in 2024!). In between, we survived a year and a half of long distance while finishing our degrees, lived in Dublin for two years, and spent three years in Lyon. Now that we’re back where it all started, we’re not leaving anytime soon.

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

We always knew we’d get married in Provence; it was just a matter of finding our perfect venue. In true Emily style (she’s a project manager), we drew up an Excel with loads of venues in the area, with plans to visit as many as possible. As it turned out, Le Prieuré Notre-Dame de Conil was the first venue we visited and it just felt right.

We wanted somewhere steeped in history yet timeless, showcasing Provençal charm in an intimate setting tailored to our smaller guest count. Having our entire day outdoors was non-negotiable, so a gorgeous courtyard for dinner was top of the list.

Conil ticked every box. Founded in 1142, the location is stunning and bucolic—so naturally beautiful we hardly needed any additional decoration. Between the romantic courtyard, the welcoming team, and the fact that the dancing took place inside a deconsecrated chapel, it was an easy yes. We visited one other location just to be sure, but it only proved that Conil was the one.

How many guests did you have?

48—it was an intimate wedding with Izzy’s close family then all our best friends.

What was your budget?

We had a vague budget of 10k EUR in mind, but it became apparent very quickly that this was unrealistic for us, especially given the venue we wanted. In the end, we spent double this! But it was more than worth it.

Tell us about your outfits.

We were very conscious of the fact that you only wear your wedding dress once, so it didn’t make sense to us to spend a huge amount. We also both wanted dresses that felt understated and effortless, as this aligns best with our personal styles. We took inspiration from Pinterest during the hunt, which really helped us pin down exactly what we wanted.

In the end, Emily got very lucky and found the dress that ticked all her boxes on Vinted (from Coast) and we had it tailored by someone locally.

Izzy found her dress online after a lot of searching, from the brand House of CB. We both opted for silver shoes to add a modern touch, and both pairs were intentionally different but complementary.

The second dresses we changed into during the party were quite a last-minute choice! But they made dancing and running around to speak to all our guests so much easier, so we were happy we incorporated the outfit change.

What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?

We wanted the wedding to feel authentically ‘us’ and we didn’t want to be constrained by traditional expectations. When we first sat down and went through a list of all the typical wedding elements, we just couldn’t see ourselves doing many of the usual things (walking down the aisle one by one, first dance, bridal parties, to name a few examples).

After a lot of thought, we ultimately came to the realisation that we could just throw the traditions out of the window, and piece together a wedding with elements that we truly loved and that made us feel like the best versions of ourselves on the day.

Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?

We wanted everyone to feel happy and comfortable, and to just be able to enjoy themselves without feeling constricted by any wedding formalities. Part of that was an informal feel to the meal, so we opted for a big Italian buffet.

Izzy really wanted her Grandma, a pianist by trade, to play at the wedding, so we set up a piano for background music during the cocktail hour and it worked beautifully.

We wanted to limit the presence of people that we didn’t know well during the wedding, as we felt it could interrupt the convivial, intimate feel. For this reason, we didn’t have any wedding coordinator or planner, and we opted not to have a DJ. It also made sense to us for a close friend to officiate our ceremony—he’s a complete natural at this sort of thing and put together a wonderful, personal ceremony.

Finally, due to some friends and family travelling from far afield (US, UK), we wanted a venue that would allow for 2 days of celebration, with capacity for several people to stay on site overnight, plus a pool for the next day post-wedding.

Any tips for couples getting married?

Do what you want for your wedding!!! We can’t stress enough how happy we were that we decided to follow what we actually wanted when it came to the planning, not what was expected or what tradition imposed.

Choose your priorities and non-negotiables in terms of your budget; what are you willing to spend big on (for us this was the venue and photographer) and where are you willing to cut back a bit (we made a lot of small savings by reducing spend a bit across most other areas).

Take a lot of time to envision and imagine, taking inspiration from all over to create a Pinterest/vision board. This really helped when it came to working with our vendors; in fact, all of them wanted to see our wedding inspiration Pinterest board, to ensure they would be able to meet (and exceed!) our expectations on the day. It also kept us both aligned throughout the planning phase and ensured that between the two of us we had the same references for how we wanted each element of the wedding to look. Visuals go so far in ensuring your day is everything both of you imagined.

Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?

Our photographer, Marine Arborio, was incredible. We were both a bit nervous to be in front of the camera, and she put us completely at ease from the start. The photos she captured feel truly ‘us’ and we couldn’t have asked for a better memory of our wedding day.

La Cucina Di Alba, the vendor we chose for our evening meal, honestly made our night run so smoothly. As we had no wedding planner, we were checking in with them throughout the afternoon/evening and they were truly so kind and went above and beyond to make sure the evening was perfect (despite the owner having both a newborn at home and a broken arm!).

Finally, shout out to the local jeweller who made our wedding rings. Mermere worked with us on a super tight deadline and perfectly encapsulated the essence of Marseille’s sea in our rings.

Photographer: Marine Arborio @marinearboriowedding | Flora: Ziggy Fleurs @ziggyfleurs | Ceremony Location: Prieuré Notre-Dame de Conil @notredamedeconil | Reception Location: Prieuré Notre-Dame de Conil @notredamedeconil | Hire/Rentals: Azur Sono @azursono; Location Maccio @locationmaccio | Ceremony Space: Prieuré Notre-Dame de Conil @notredamedeconil | Makeup/Grooming: CStellart MUA @cstellart | Hair: CStellart MUA @cstellart | Catering & Beverages: La Cucina Di Alba @la_cucina_di_alba | Cake: Pure Delice @pure.delice_ | Next-Day Lunch Catering: Zouzou Croques @zouzou.croques | Dress/es: House of CB (Izzy); Coast from Vinted (Emily) | Party Dresses: Meshki from Vinted (Izzy); Free People (Emily) | Nails: Carli Beauty @carli.beauty_ | Engagement Ring/s: Susannah King London @susannahkinglondon | Wedding Rings: Mermere @mermere_ | Shoes: Linzi (Izzy); Odaje (Emily)