Some venues do half the work for you. Château de Chantilly is one of them.

Francis and Grace, both from New York, brought their family and friends to France to get married inside a château that most people only see in postcards, a 16th-century estate just outside Paris, home to the second-largest collection of antique paintings in the country after the Louvre. We spent the day moving through rooms and gardens most visitors never get access to: galleries lined with centuries-old artwork, halls built for a different era entirely, all of it now the backdrop for two Americans getting married with their closest people around them.

Dinner was served in the château’s most striking room the one surrounded by paintings that have never once left the property. Try filming a toast in a room like that and not feel the pressure to get it right.

By the end of the night, the formality gave way completely: fireworks over the grounds, and a dance floor that didn’t stop until well past what anyone had planned for.

This one has stayed one of my favorite weddings to talk about, not just because of the setting, but because of the team behind it. Photography was in the hands of Alexandra Vonk, a Dutch photographer whose work on this wedding is honestly some of the best I’ve seen from that day, worth a look at her version of the story too. On camera with me was Federico Sammartino, a Milan-based filmmaker I’ve worked alongside on several projects, and someone I trust completely on a second camera for a day this size.

Venue — Château de Chantilly

Photography — Alexandra Vonk

Videography — Alex Sofo Wedding Films

Second Videographer — Federico Sammartino

Wedding Planner — France Wedding Planner

Hair & Makeup — MedvedArt

Band — SHINE Live Band Paris

Floral Design – Oz Home