If you are a romantic couple, who wants to offer an out-of-this-world experience on your big day, then a destination wedding in a Castle, in France, would be a dream come true. And we cannot talk about châteaux for weddings in France, without mentioning the Loire Valley.
Considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this region is known for its rich cultural heritage and numerous castles. If you are looking for the best venues for a destination wedding in France, we’ve prepared a complete guide with the best options. All of the selected castles offer accommodations, as we do know how important it is to have all your guests around.
Top 10 Châteaux for weddings in France
See the best venues to get married in the Loire Valley:
1. Château de la Bourdaisière
Located in the heart of the Loire Valley, between Tours and Amboise, this historical property dates to the 14th-16th centuries. Once you arrive there, you’ll be mesmerized by its architecture and its lush gardens. A curious fact about this Château-Hotel: they are famous for their tomato production, and they have a National Tomato Conservatory and a tomato bar.
Accommodations
If you want your guests to stay closer to you, you can accommodate up to 75 people in this 3-starred hotel that offers 25 rooms and 4 apartments restored and decorated by its owner Prince Louis Albert de Broglie.
Your wedding
For your wedding ceremony, their 55-hectare park is the perfect spot. In this area, you and your guests can also enjoy an outdoor swimming pool (in season), a tennis court, and a jogging path. In case you prefer to host a more intimate celebration, the château’s chapel can be used for a ceremony for up to 20 people.
As for your reception, Château de la Bourdaisière has a vaulted large ballroom that can seat up to 300 people. At this incredible space, we can create any style of decor. Whether it is a château style dinner with super long tables and tall candelabras or a bold and modern style decor.
2. Château de Rochecotte
The former residence of the Duchess of Dino and the Prince of Talleyrand is in the heart of the Touraine region and the Bourgueil vineyards, 3 hours away from Paris and 30 minutes from Tours.
Accommodations
For your château wedding in the Loire Valley, you can privatize the property – it remains exclusive to you from 5:00 PM until 11:00 AM the next day. The Château de Rochecotte offers 37 rooms and suites – they can be rented the day before or the day after the event.
Your wedding
Do you dream of a charming outdoor wedding? If you have up to 150 guests, a garden ceremony under the shade of the cedar of Lebanon would be the best option. On the other hand, if you are into a more intimate ceremony, you can celebrate it in their Chapel.
Looking forward to doing an impressive cocktail for your guests? Doing it at their Italian terrace would be “le crème de la crème”.
In Château de Rochecotte, you can also offer your guests dinner at their restaurant. Just for you to have a glimpse of their cuisine, among their main courses you might find roasted sea bass cutlet, shrimp cream, pressed vegetables and melting apples; monkfish in a citrus strainer and garden herbs; farm poultry supreme and foie gras poached in sweet Vouvray; and beef filet Wellington style.
To end the night in the best style, you can have a dance floor in one of the lounges.
3. Château Le Prieuré
What about celebrating your wedding cocktail on the beautiful terrace with a panoramic view of the Loire River? The Château Le Prieuré offers this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Can you imagine the photos? They will be no less than amazing!
Privatization for weddings
For your destination wedding, you can privatize the entire property. If you choose to do so, you’ll have access to their 21 rooms and suites, which combine modern comfort and Renaissance-style decor. Privatization also allows you to use one reception room and a dance floor.
The Château Le Prieuré also provides a great menu for a wedding, including delicious French wines and champagnes. Their chef, Richard Prouteau, offers a creative and subtle cuisine highlighting the products of the region. If you are looking for a real French experience, add the Croquembouche as the dessert.
Activities
During your stay, you and your guests can enjoy a wooded park, a mini golf course, a tennis/basketball court, and an exceptional cellar.
4. Château de la Flocellière
Can you imagine getting married in a Castle with 900 years of history? The Château de la Flocellière was built in the 11th century and its owners are proud of its history – and they won’t hesitate to tell you everything about it. During all this time, poets, and eminent personalities lived in this domain, which makes it even more interesting.
Destination wedding
If you are planning a big destination wedding, the property will be privatized for you and your guests – the Château can host up to 100 people. Then, you can celebrate both your ceremony and reception outdoors, on its beautiful garden or terrace.
In case you wish to do an intimate wedding, just a part of the castle can be rented in the historical reception rooms for about 35 people.
5. Château des Briottières
Built in the 18th century, the château has been in the same family for 7 generations. Above all, this venue is the ideal environment for an idyllic moment with your loved ones.
Accommodations
The Château des Briottières allows couples to privatize the property for weddings.
This real family owned chateau turned into a 4 stars hotel can be privatized for weddings. It can host up to 32 guests. Mostly, you’ll spend the night in elegant and refined rooms, with canopied beds, antique period furniture, wallpapers and materials from renowned houses.
Your wedding
Located between three rivers, the Mayenne, the Sarthe, and the Loire, its gardens are just the perfect place to celebrate an outdoor wedding.In its garden with centuries-old trees, you can spend quality time with your guests during a cocktail and enjoy the nice view on the château’s beautiful facade. Then, you can host an intimate diner in one of its lounges.
Activities
Feeling a bit overwhelmed with the wedding day? Don’t worry, you can book a massage in your room. How about offering a welcome party at the pool for family and friends? The property has an outdoor heated swimming pool surrounded by slate walls and a one-hectare flower garden. Moreover, at its park and garden, you might enjoy activities such as a ping-pong table, trampoline, children’s games, cycling, football, and fishing in the lake. If you are in an adventurous mood, you can do a hot-air balloon flight.
6. Château de la Tortinière
Situated just 15 kilometers from Tours in the Touraine area, this charming family-owned château is also a 4-star hotel. This means that this property is ready to offer you a refined luxury experience. At first sight, its exteriors and gardens will certainly enchant you. Once you get into its interiors, elegant decor, antique furniture, paintings, and architecture shall not pass unnoticed. And when you get into its rooms, be ready to delight yourself with a stunning view over the Indre valley.
Activities
The hotel also offers many facilities during your stay for your destination wedding: a tennis court, heated swimming pool, billiard room, massage room, sauna, table-tennis table, and the Château’s terrace, a magnificent wooded park that overlooks the Loire valley, and boats for drifting along the Indre river and discovering the Loire châteaux. Your guests will never be bored, since it also offers incentive or relaxation activities, such as team cooking lessons, wine cellar visits, and hot air balloon rides.
Your wedding
The large terrace overlooking the Indre valley would certainly be a good option for an outdoor ceremony. For your wedding reception, the Château de la Tortinière has three options: the Dining Room can host up to 20 people, the Rotunda for up to 50 people, and the Orangery for up to 80 people. Their chefs are ready to prepare a mouth-watering meal that will satisfy your expectations and wishes. Also, the hotel has its own sommelier, who can help you choose one of the many fine wines that Touraine has to offer. Your guests will thank you!
They open booking for wedding only at a certain time of the year, so get in touch with your Loire Valley wedding planner to know more about it.
7. Château de l’Épinay
Located 1h30 from Paris by TGV, this property is surrounded by French gardens and beautiful rose bushes.
Activities
If you are looking for a restful weekend with family and friends, this is the right place. There, you’ll find a natural swimming pool treated with plants, bicycles to ride along the banks of the
Loire, tennis courts, canoes, and trampoline. If you want the utmost relaxing experience, you can use the wellness area (jacuzzi, hammam, fitness) and the Douces Angevines Spa.
Accommodations
Since you are planning your destination wedding, the Château de l’Épinay offers you 24 rooms with 63 beds – all of them with meticulous decoration that combines the ancient and the contemporary.
Your wedding
If you are getting married there, the Castle offers the possibility to privatize the property from Friday at 7 pm (subject to availability) to Sunday at 7 pm. With that, you and your guests have access to the whole park, the terrace in front of the reception room, the front of the Château, or the surroundings of the pond. Its capacity is for events for up to 200 people. In case you want to do an indoor reception, the stone reception room has been renovated to accommodate up to 130 seated guests in an elegant and authentic setting.
8. Château du Rivau
Looking for a truly magical scenario for your destination wedding in France? The Château du Rivau offers an extraordinary setting, just like in fairy tales. One of the oldest castles in the Loire Valley, it has been renovated for the past 25 years.
Your wedding
The Rivau gardens offer many possibilities for your secular or religious ceremony: Secret Garden, Orchard, Forest, Path of the Fairies, and Court of honor of the castle. Depending on the season, you will find the space you need.
If you want to host a cocktail, there is a central courtyard open to the gardens to host your cocktail party in an original and friendly atmosphere. For the reception, the Salle de la Toison d’Or is a 17th-century barn that can host a wedding dinner of 80 to 300 guests from April to October. Its acoustics, along with its freestone walls and the lightning project are just perfect to create a magical atmosphere. If you are an old stone lover, this is the place for you.
Accommodations
Can you imagine the experience of sleeping in an ancient Castle with modern comfort? Here, seven luxurious rooms are available for your guests. For the newlyweds, there is the special Roi René suite.
9. Château de Beauvois
Have you ever wondered how it feels to go back in time? Perhaps, at the Château de Beauvois, you can do that – its 15th-century Renaissance tower was once King Louis XIII’s favorite destination for hunting trips. Surrounded by an idyllic setting, one of its main attractions is the Gourmet French restaurant, Louis XIII. Are you a wine lover? They have an underground wine cellar housing over 50,000 of the rarest bottles.
Accommodations
During your stay, you can enjoy the Riad Cigar Lounge, a heated outdoor swimming pool and bar, basketball, and tennis courts, and more. To accommodate your guests, the Château de Beauvois has 35 rooms and suites that harmonize modern comfort with decor reminiscent of the royal origins of the establishment.
Your wedding
Want to celebrate your wedding ceremony? Château de Beauvois offers luxurious and romantic open spaces, like the superb terrace with a classic French-style garden. There, you can also have a delicious aperitif and cocktail over laughter and conversation for up to 110 guests.
For your reception, the hotel has three salons: Le Royal (135 m² with 120 seats), Le Duc De Luynes (45 m² of dancefloor), and Le Anne d’Autriche (35 m² ). All of them are luxuriously decorated with noble materials (marble and wood).
10. Château Allure du Lac (Château Crystal)
Located near Grez-Neuville, elected the prettiest village in the Loire Valley, the Château Allure du Lac is 20 minutes away from Angers. As the name of the place suggests, there is a beautiful lake on the property, where you can stroll around its 2.5-kilometer shoreline.
Accommodations
To accommodate your guests, the château has 14 en suite bedrooms that can host up to 28 people. All of them are beautifully furnished and decorated with crystal chandeliers, antiques, and comfortable beds.
For the couple, the Tower Suite bedroom-a master suite offers a fairy-tale experience with a drawing room and a foyer. There, you can find an antique staircase that leads up to a huge circular bedroom with an original hand-painted domed ceiling.
Your wedding
Your ceremony might be celebrated in its chapel with a beautiful stained-glass window, gold-trimmed oak paneling, and a stone rib vault ceiling. Or, if you prefer to have an outdoor wedding, there is an island on the lake that offers a beautiful tree canopy – which is also a great place to have a cocktail. How about having a reception under the stars? The lakeside terrace would be the perfect spot. You also have the option to host your party in the sumptuous Silver Reception Room.
Plan your Château Wedding in France
If you fell in love with the stunning chateaux in France, the first step is hiring a wedding planner, who knows all the local vendors and can help you to organize everything for your destination wedding. Get to know Sarah Chancel, a wedding planner in the Loire Valley.
Most common questions about Château Weddings in France
How much does it cost to have a wedding in a château in France?
A château wedding in the Loire Valley might go from 40000€ to 200000€+ for 100 guests.
Château venues’ rental might go from:
- 2500€ to 9500€ without accommodations;
- 9500€ to 45000€+ with accommodations for your guests.
Can I get married in a château in France?
Surely. As mentioned in this article, the Loire Valley region is famous for its romantic castles and many of them are available for events – and most of them even have accommodations for your guests.
How much does a marriage cost in France?
The costs of a wedding in France might depend on the region where you are getting married, the number of guests and the style of the celebration.
Paris and the French Riviera/Provence being the most expensive.
Loire Valley is still more accessible. However, many couples are starting to take it into consideration for destination weddings, as it offers many options for the big day.
Can foreigners get married in France?
Yes, of course. However, if both are non-residents, they are only allowed to have a symbolic ceremony.
