Ever since I moved to France in 2006, I fell in love with its culture ,its chateaux's (castles), food, champagne and red wine and mostly its mantra 'la joie de vivre!' (the joy of living).... Hence for my milestone birthday 2 weeks ago, I decided it was time to bring it all together to create a night to remember...
I spent weeks visiting different castles in and around Paris, until I stumbled across the most exquisite and perfect little pavilion known as le Pavillon de Musique de la Comtesse du Barry in a town called Louveciennes just 30 minutes from Paris...
The countess du Barry, did of course have her own castle, but seeing that her castle lacked the view of the river Seine, she asked her lover, King Louis XV to build her this pavilion which sits on the plains of the Seine valley, which boasts only reception rooms for her parties (she is totally a woman after my own heart!) and with perfect visibility of Paris in the distance to the terraces of Saint-Germain-en-Laye..... en route to Versailles....
Now back to me.... ;)
I hosted a banquet dinner for all my fabulous friends and family seated along stretched out tables adorned with nothing except candelabras, red rose petals, french wine and french food (by Decourcel).....and Ruinart for the champagne.....
For my dress, I can not disclose the designer as I literally stumbled upon it in a small discreet boutique in the heart of the Sentier district. It was exactly what I wanted, something 'Fabulous!' - floor-length, dark blue, a touch of lace, a splash of flowers and topped with a tiara! I matched the dress with a pair of fuchsia pink pumps by Tamaris (I love their shoes, comfortable and gorgeous!)...
My good friend and graphic designer Abla created this gorgeous Marie Antoinette 3-layer cake complete with plumes and edible white roses !
And another fabulous friend, Karen Schneid founder of Oh La La Confectionary in South Africa especially made and brought with her from Johannesburg 10kg of pure sweet Napolianic joy for our feast !
I love treating my guests with a little party favour bag when they leave. I wanted to make sure that the little goodies in the bag resonated with the feel of the party so I chose to include in the bag the following:
A pink faux-fur keyring (reminiscent of Marie Antoinette's spirit for the eccentric), a miniature vanilla scented candle (a smaller version of the candles that I used along my banquet tables), a cocktail glass shaped magnet (symbolic of celebrations!) and 2 'vintage' French dessert treats: 'nougat tendre aux amandes' (tender almond nougat) and a juicy sugar sprinkled fruit square...
I ran all over Paris with my very patient mother, from store to store, markets, and hidden boutiques to source the perfect combination of goodies...
It certainly was a night to remember - a night of romance, and music, great food, my entire gorgeous family who flew in from all corners of the world and a room packed with my dearest friends and my amazing handsome Mr Frenchie - je t'aime mon amour! Merci bcp for the perfectly royal ambiance and all the love!!
(And a huge thank you to Andres Goldberg and Filip Yip for the photos xoxo)
