u/leka--

I’m looking for a venue in France for a wedding weekend, but it feels like I'm looking for a unicorn as I'm struggling to find the right thing.

I’m not looking for a traditional wedding venue, château or rustic farmhouse. I’d actually much rather find an architecturally beautiful hotel, restored village, private estate or design-led property that just happens to host weddings or private events. I want to avoid how much outside decoration I'll have to bring in. And we don't have a huge budget (although not sure yet what it'll be because no idea how much this kind of place will cost!!)

The vibe I’m after is somewhere between Mediterranean modern, contemporary clean, Belle Époque and Art Deco. I like an aesthetic that's clean, elegant and understated rather than ornate. So like warm wood, beautiful furniture, terraces, gardens, interesting architecture, airy lighting. I love places like Castel Bay, Domaine de Fontenille and Les Roches Rouges.

Ideally we’d be able to privatise the property for a long weekend so that around 110–130 guests could all stay together on the same estate (it doesn’t have to be one building though, could be a restored hamlet, boutique hotel or collection of houses, or perhaps somewhere most guests could stay with other options nearby).

Our preferred regions are Provence (around Aix/Marseille) or the Vendée/Loire, as my fiancé is French and those areas are particularly meaningful to us, but Paris is also an option.

The budget isn’t enormous, so I’d especially love suggestions for places that aren’t marketed primarily as wedding venues. Hidden gems, hotels, estates, vineyards, hospitality projects, former monasteries, restored villages, architect-designed properties, anything along those lines.

Has anyone come across somewhere that fits this description? Am I trying to find the impossible here?

I’m looking for a venue in France for a wedding weekend, but it feels like I'm looking for a unicorn as I'm struggling to find the right thing.

I’m not looking for a traditional wedding venue, château or rustic farmhouse. I’d actually much rather find an architecturally beautiful hotel, restored village, private estate or design-led property that just happens to host weddings or private events. I want to avoid how much outside decoration I'll have to bring in. And we don't have a huge budget (although not sure yet what it'll be because no idea how much this kind of place will cost!!)

The vibe I’m after is somewhere between Mediterranean modern, contemporary clean, Belle Époque and Art Deco. I like an aesthetic that's clean, elegant and understated rather than ornate. So like warm wood, beautiful furniture, terraces, gardens, interesting architecture, airy lighting. I love places like Castel Bay, Domaine de Fontenille and Les Roches Rouges.

Ideally we’d be able to privatise the property for a long weekend so that around 110–130 guests could all stay together on the same estate (it doesn’t have to be one building though, could be a restored hamlet, boutique hotel or collection of houses, or perhaps somewhere most guests could stay with other options nearby).

Our preferred regions are Provence (around Aix/Marseille) or the Vendée/Loire, as my fiancé is French and those areas are particularly meaningful to us, but Paris is also an option.

The budget isn’t enormous, so I’d especially love suggestions for places that aren’t marketed primarily as wedding venues. Hidden gems, hotels, estates, vineyards, hospitality projects, former monasteries, restored villages, architect-designed properties, anything along those lines.

Has anyone come across somewhere that fits this description? Am I trying to find the impossible here?

Hi all, recently engaged and starting to think through wedding stuff because people keep asking me questions, and I need some thoughts!

Tldr; asking friends to be bridesmaids feels like a snowball situation, but will I regret not doing it?

I have 3 sisters and a brother, and I want them all to be part of my bridal party. I'm also considering having some friends, but have various reasons for not being sure about this:

Lucy is probably my closest friend, she lives close to me and my fiancé and I love her tremendously. If there was one person who isn't my sister who I'd want to be a bridesmaid it would be her. I would love her to know how much she means to the both of us.

Lucy and I used to live with Ellie and Bea, and I'm very close with them as well. We have a close friendship group with them and their partners and have gone on holidays together, have a Christmas do together, etc. So I'd feel like I want them there too, and asking Lucy without the two of them would feel like I'm putting them in a hierarchy.

Then there's Hannah, who we also used to live with. I'm less close with her, but she's very much in the friendship group too. She would definitely be a more 'political' bridesmaid so to speak - she'd be left out being the only woman in the group not asked. I love her and the only reason I wouldn't ask her is we just aren't as close as I am with the others.

Finally I have 2 older friends from uni, Louise and Natalie - neither of them actually are having/had bridesmaids, but both said I would have been one. Louise and I send voice notes every day and also work in the same field so spend a lot of time together; we're also planning our weddings at the same time so chat about it a lot. Natalie and I speak less often but have lots of history, and I'd feel really bad not asking her.

If I ask all of these people to be in my bridal party, that will be 10 people, which seems way too many, but maybe I'm wrong? We're on a smaller budget, so I'm probably going to have to ask them to buy their own dresses (within a colour palette rather than specific styles) and won't be able to offer make up etc. So maybe it's unfair to ask.

Main issue: I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Secondary issue: will I be missing out on something by only having my siblings and none of my closest friends there in those special moments on my wedding day?

TIA!!!

Nosy me wants to know what was happening around 4pm on kings parade? About 4 fire engines and some unmarked police cars were all hanging about looking quite chill so presumably not something too dramatic.

Hi there, I've had no end of issues with my HomePod mini, many of which I'm sure are down to the fact I live in university accommodation so I don't have control over my internet services and have to register it on the college IoT.

It functions basically; AirPlay with video and audio works (although I frequently get dropouts, which disconnecting and reconnecting fixes), and I can set reminders and timers with Siri (although I'm often told at first that it can't communicate with my iPhone despite being on the same network and right nearby). But I noticed that the temperature & humidity sensors had stopped working, and I was also getting a notification in my Home app saying that it can't communicate with the HomePod and peer-to-peer connections are not enabled in my network (I know this, but somehow the HomePod still functions ok).

After several weeks of frustration and trying to fix, the only way I could get it to work as normal was to reset, set it up in a new home. After I was confident it worked, I then moved my Apple TV over to the new home as well. but within 24 hours of doing so, the sensors stopped responding again. I've since tried this fix again, and had the same issue: it seems to be triggered by adding the Apple TV to the home.

I've been in touch with the college IT team and they've tried a bunch of things, none of which have worked 😞 I'm so frustrated with this situation, I know it's fussy but I use the temp/humidity sensor for baking and it's such a pain that it doesn't work!

Please help!!