Why is a chateau one of the best places to get married?
The solid foundations of history
It could be the call of history appealing to our roots. Or simply a question of continuity and balance. Getting married in a chateau means something. In our imagination (and nothing is more powerful than our imagination!) it means setting up a home on solid foundations that are anchored in history. And the history of the chateau becomes yours.
It also means offering a historical and reassuring backdrop for togetherness, partying, spending time together. It might also remind us of childhood games (should we have abandoned them) and take us back to fairytales... Finally, getting married in a chateau in France harks back to the transmission of high nobility and royalty, from which our customs and traditions descend. On a day so rich with symbolism, it's only natural to choose a chateau as the wedding venue.
Why Vallery?
Having lived them for over thirty years, Vallery can claim to know all the ins and outs of wedding receptions; The best season for a wedding near Paris, for example. Magic, extravagance, fever and fire are the ingredients of these magical parties at the chateau. Costumes, lights, music, rituals, gastronomy and wine are the spices necessary for the alchemy of exceptional receptions in this princely domain. Vallery has inherited all these themes since the Renaissance, already under the impulse of Maréchal de Saint André.
So, on the estate, you are free to entertain your guests for two, three or more days in any season. You are free to dance until dawn when the torches are still swinging to the music of the park. Free to taste great wines in the medieval cellars. You are also free to choose your own caterer, to organize your wedding ceremony in the chateau, the church or to set up a chuppah in the Rose Garden.
A to Z
From the day before to the day after, from the ceremony to the brunch, from the medieval cellars to the all year-round heated swimming pool, take advantage of the unique concept: the whole estate for an exclusive wedding. In addition to the "Love, fire and snow" winter offer, you will feel like at home in all places and all times at the Château de Vallery.
This is one of the advantages of getting married in a chateau, particularly the Princesses and Princes of Condé castle, 1 hour south of Paris: you are there and you don't need to move anymore - to do this, a retroplanning of your reception project is available on this site. From 3pm to midday the next day or from the day before, for a week D day, the estate welcomes and sublimates your event A to Z.
Nature & Heritage
The forest stretches as far as the eye can see at 180° North and the rest of the panorama shows the small village of Vallery and its farming fields which merge into the horizon. And then, since its Middle Ages, the Citadel of Princes, Muses and Night, overlooks the Gâtinais plains, some one hundred kilometers from the capital.
At the end of the festivities, one will certainly visit the Cathedral of Sens, whose construction was started in 1130. This tour can also extend to Fontainebleau and its chateau, the first favorite residence of François 1st of France. This course can then cross Barbizon, the cradle of pre-impressionist painting, the medieval chateau of Nemours, etc.
Before/After
It is of course appropriate to organize the civil ceremony in your home town and country beforehand. It is often advisable to set a date a few weeks before your wedding reception at a French venue. This allows you to be entirely available for the festivities and fully enjoy your guests and the estate. To be agreed with your wedding planner or the venue team, of course.
Getting married in a chateau, especially in Vallery, means taking advantage of the jewel and its box. Especially during holidays, your guests will appreciate continuing their stay in the north of Burgundy by its heritage or the wine route. And why not head a little further south-east for winter sports in the Alps after a winter wedding?
Patrice Vansteenberghe, architect (Kenzo, Virgin Megastores, Christian Dior, etc.) and owner of the chateau since 1990, is also the author of "Princes, Muses and Weddings" published by Éditions Gourcuff Gradenigo.
Patrice and the "fabulous team" will welcome you to Vallery and help you to organise your reception. Set aside a full morning or afternoon to tour this chateau that will soon be "yours", there or on virtual tour.
