Saying “I do” in a french wedding chateau is as fashionable as carrying the latest Chanel handbag for today’s Hollywood celebrity. Marrying in a castle means “becoming part of a fairytale,” says Mindy Weiss, Eva Longoria’s wedding planner “You’re walking into a chapter of a romance novel.”
French Wedding Horse and Carriage
Anyone, especially non-celebrities can rent a french wedding chateau venue and get married in France and have a fairytale castle wedding of their dreams. For the true fairy tale princess wedding, a horse drawn carriage is an essential. Cinderella, you shall get to the wedding.
Some advice on selecting a horse and carriage for your castle wedding.
- a pair of horses makes more of a wow statement. Also this offers you a back up if one of the horses at the last minute is lame and not able to pull the carriage. This is only a back up plan if the horses are big enough in the first place to pull the carriage singly. Ask the carriage providers if both horses work in pairs and drive singly as well. As if they have single and pairs wedding harness. .
- how big is the carriage. Is it big enough for you and your wedding dress. Carriages for smaller horses are smaller inside as well. A carriage pulled by a pair of horses over 16 hand high is roomy and makes a great impression. You will not feel squeezed and your wedding dress will not get all crushed.
- think about the weather. Does the carriage you are considering have a canopy or a glass cover. You should ask for a Victorian carriage or a Landau for this very reason
- Ask how the carriage is going to be decorated – at the very least you should get a pair of brass lanterns and flowers. Do the horses wear plumes? Ask what colour schemes they can offer or if you can provide flowers of your colour scheme.So the flowers do not get blown to smitherines, companies usually use artificial flowers. If you want additional colour real flowers can be added for your static photos.
- Do the pair of horses match – colour, height, blaze and socks and stepping action.An unmatched pair of horses is no where near as impressive as a pair of blacks, browns or bays – any matched pair of horses for that matter. Ask to see a video if at all possible. Long white socks and blazes look stunning and are very popular. You could ask if the company will braid the horses manes with your colour scheme. It is just my opinion but I think that Friesians albeit looking very majestic also look very funereal and over-bearing being all black with no socks or blaze to lift their appearance. I think they are best selected for funeral processions and not weddings.
- If you are going to have a video think about the stepping action of the horses. Horses bred with some hackney blood have a lovely knee-high stepping action which looks incredible. Dutch bred gelderlander horses usually have some hackney blood in them for that high stepping action. It seems a shame to go to the expense of a horse and carriage and then not have a horse that looks the part – fine and elegant. Cobs and cart horses are more suited for pulling gypsy caravans and look more rustic.
- Ask what attire the driver and groom (not your man – the one holding the horses) will wear.
- Think about the distance that you need to travel. Horses do not go at 100 kilometres per hour and are limited on the distance that they can travel.You certainly do not want to spend dall of your wedding day travelling from your home to the church and then to the reception venue. Also if you are travelling a long distance any wind could play havoc with your hair if you have an open top carriage.
- Think about safety. Unfortunately in some countries wedding carriage drivers are not regulated and you get some cowboys. Check that the harness looks symmetrical. I have seen wedding carriage business promotion material with a horse harnessed to a carriage with the shafts being set at different heights. I have seen carriages for shetlands hitched to a cob. Not only does it look ridiculous but it is down right dangerous. I have seen professional companies turn up with grooms that are under 10 years of age and that are just there for the photos and who would not be able to hold a horse in an emergency.
According to Brides editor in chief Millie Martini Bratten, “The average U.S. wedding costs $27,850”. In 208 the average price for an English wedding was just under 20,000 pounds. The guests for a hometown event average 165 and 47 for an overseas location.
However, a destination wedding at a luxury wedding castle attended by 30-40 people might run to $10,000-20,000 a day, not including airfare.
At our french castle our horses and carriage are offered to our wedding clients with compliments for their fairytale wedding.
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