Château Eza
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A Destination Wedding at Château Eza, Èze — Intimate French Riviera Wedding Photography
There are venues, and then there are places that completely stop you in your tracks. Château Eza is the second kind. A 400-year-old former residence of the Prince of Sweden, clinging to the ancient rock walls of Èze — a medieval village perched over 400 metres above the Mediterranean, somewhere between Nice and Monaco on the French Riviera. The kind of place where you walk through a stone archway, up cobblestone streets so narrow the flowers brush your shoulders, and suddenly the whole Côte d'Azur opens up beneath you. Cap Ferrat stretching out on one side, the glittering sprawl of the coast on the other, and nothing but sky and sea beyond it.
And on the 5th of October 2024, two Americans from New York brought 34 of their favourite people to this extraordinary place and got married there.
THE VENUE: CHÂTEAU EZA
We need to talk about this place for a moment, because it deserves it.
Èze has been here for over a thousand years. The village itself dates back to around the 10th century, though people have lived on this clifftop since roughly 2000 BC. It's been held by the Romans, seized by the Moors, fortified by the House of Savoy in the 1300s, stormed by Ottoman forces in 1543, had its walls destroyed by Louis XIV during the War of the Spanish Succession, and finally voted unanimously to become part of France in 1860. The place has stories in its stones. You can feel it in the walls, the archways, the way the light falls through gaps in buildings that have been standing since the Middle Ages.
The château itself was built over 400 years ago as part of those medieval walls. In the 1920s, Prince William of Sweden arrived in Èze on a boat trip with his father, King Gustaf, fell completely in love with the village, bought up a cluster of old stone houses and joined them together to create his winter retreat. He stayed for over thirty years, writing and painting, and locals simply called it the Prince of Sweden's Castle. After the Prince left in 1953, the building was eventually restored by a Swiss diplomat named André Rochat, who opened it as a small hotel in the late 1980s. Today it's one of the most exclusive boutique hotels on the entire Riviera — just 14 rooms and suites, a Michelin-starred restaurant with a glass-fronted dining room that looks out over the Mediterranean, and the kind of intimate, unhurried atmosphere that only comes from a place with 34 guests and 400 years of history.
"I've photographed weddings all over France and Europe, but walking into Château Eza for the first time genuinely took my breath away. You come through these tiny cobblestone streets, not entirely sure where you're going, and then suddenly the whole Mediterranean is just... there. 400 metres below you. It's the kind of place that makes everything feel cinematic without even trying." — Dominic
THE MORNING: GETTING READY
Kristen and her girls — Katelynn, Kayla, Danielle, and Catherine — took over the Médiévale Suite from 10am. Hair and makeup by the brilliant @jenhawkins_hmua and @catgibbonsbridal, champagne doing the rounds, that slow build of excitement that starts quiet and gets louder with every passing hour. Katelynn as Maid of Honour was doing what every great Maid of Honour does — holding things, finding things, saying the right thing at the right moment, keeping the whole morning feeling calm even when the energy was very clearly building towards something enormous.
The detail shots in that suite were a dream. Kristen's jewellery laid out, the veil catching the light, the custom denim jacket that we absolutely loved, and the Make-A-Wish donation favours — the kind of thoughtful touch that tells you everything you need to know about who these two are as people.
At 2pm, the dress went on. Bridesmaids cleared the room, and then — that moment. Every single time, it gets us. The room went quiet, Katelynn's eyes filled up, and Kristen looked absolutely incredible.
We then moved to the Royale Suite for bridal portraits — Kristen had an inspiration photo she wanted to recreate on the balcony, and honestly, with the French Riviera as your backdrop and a bride who looks like that, it practically shot itself.
Meanwhile, up in the Château Suite, Chandler was getting ready with Connor, Nicholas, and both dads — Jim and Frank. Chandler in his white tux looked absolutely sharp, completely composed, the kind of calm you see in grooms who are just ready. No nerves, just pure excitement. The groomsmen were brilliant — Connor as Best Man keeping things light, Nicholas (who was also officiating the ceremony, which is one of those details that makes a wedding feel truly personal) going over his notes between suit adjustments.
"There's something about watching a groom get ready in a medieval château on the French Riviera that just feels like it belongs in a film. Chandler in that white tux, the stone walls, the light pouring in — Ruby looked at me at one point and just said 'this is ridiculous.' In the best possible way." — Dominic
THE FIRST LOOK
At 3pm, we took Kristen and Chandler into the cobblestone streets of Èze for their first look. And Kristen was clear about how she wanted this, she wanted to walk towards him, and see him before anyone else. So we positioned Chandler at the end of one of those impossibly beautiful medieval lanes, surrounded by ancient stone and trailing flowers, and Kristen came around the corner towards him.
The moment he saw her. Honestly.
There are first looks where people cry and first looks where people laugh and first looks where people just go completely still because the person they love most in the world is walking towards them and they can't quite believe this is real. This was the third kind. And then it was all three at once.
Family photos followed, and then we had Kristen and Chandler to ourselves for couple portraits around the town — weaving through the medieval streets, finding corners of light and ancient doorways and those views that just go on forever. Back at the hotel by 5pm, carefully routed to avoid any early-arriving guests, because these two had thought of everything.
THE CEREMONY
At 5:45pm, 34 guests gathered on the terrace at Château Eza. And let's just take a moment to talk about that terrace — because when your ceremony backdrop is the entire Mediterranean coastline stretching out hundreds of metres below you, bathed in the warm light of an October evening on the Côte d'Azur... you don't need much else.
Nicholas stepped up to officiate — and having one of your closest friends marry you, someone who actually knows your story, who can speak to who you really are as a couple — it makes everything hit different. The ceremony was personal, warm, funny in the right places, and completely heartfelt. Kristen and Chandler had written personal vows, and if you've ever been in a room (or, in this case, on a terrace suspended above the Mediterranean) when two people are saying the things they really mean to each other, you know that nothing else in the world exists for those few minutes.
Thirty minutes. That's all it took. And then they were married, with the whole of the French Riviera as their witness.
"Shooting a ceremony on that terrace, with the sea stretching out behind them and the sun doing that October thing where everything goes warm and golden — I actually had to remind myself to keep shooting and not just stand there staring at the view. It was one of the most beautiful ceremony settings we've ever had the privilege of capturing." — Ruby
COCKTAIL HOUR & GOLDEN HOUR
From 6:15, drinks flowed on the château grounds while guests soaked in the views and the last of the afternoon warmth. With 34 guests, everything felt intimate and relaxed — no rushing, no timetable anxiety, just people who clearly love Kristen and Chandler enjoying one of the most beautiful settings any of them had ever seen.
DINNER AT THE MICHELIN-STARRED RESTAURANT
At around 8pm, guests were seated in the Château Eza restaurant — and this is where the venue really showed what it can do. A Michelin-starred kitchen, a glass-fronted dining room looking out over the Côte d'Azur as the last light faded and the coastline started to sparkle with the lights of a thousand villages and villas and yachts below. The food was, genuinely, some of the best we've ever seen at a wedding. Course after course of refined French and Mediterranean cuisine, beautifully presented, and you could see people's faces with every plate that arrived. This wasn't wedding food. This was an experience.
Speeches were woven throughout dinner — and we love that format, because it keeps the energy rolling and the room alive. Every speech landed, every toast meant something, and the intimacy of 34 people meant that every word reached every corner of the room.
THE EVENING: FIRST DANCES & THE PARTY
At around 10pm, after dinner had wound down and the last plates were cleared, Kristen slipped away for an outfit change — because of course she did, and of course she absolutely nailed the second look too — and then it was time.
The first dances. Kristen and Chandler first, then Kristen and Frank, then Chandler and Diane. Two different songs, three dances, and the kind of moments that had even the most composed guests reaching for their phones and their tissues simultaneously. @wildfire_djs and @louispalmermusic had been setting the tone all evening, and from the moment the dances opened up to the floor, it was on.
Thirty-four people. That's all it was. And they filled that dance floor like it was 200. The energy was unbelievable — properly, joyfully, arms-in-the-air unbelievable. There's something about a small wedding where every single person in the room genuinely loves the couple and genuinely loves each other and everyone has had Michelin-starred food and excellent wine and they're dancing in a medieval château on the French Riviera — you just can't manufacture that kind of energy.
Kristen and Chandler were also up for night shots in the town, which — yes please. Èze at night is something else. The cobblestone streets lit by old iron lamps, the village quiet, the couple still buzzing from the party, the Mediterranean just a dark shimmer far below. Some of our favourite images from the entire day came from those twenty minutes.
THE END OF THE NIGHT
We left Château Eza having made friends. Genuinely. That's the thing about intimate weddings with the right people — by the end of the night you're not just the photographers, you're part of it. Kristen and Chandler's crowd were warm and welcoming from the very first moment, and by the time we were packing up our gear we'd been hugged more times than we could count and had about six invitations to visit New York.
These two Americans came to the French Riviera with 34 of their favourite humans, took over a 400-year-old château perched on a cliff above the Mediterranean, ate Michelin-starred food, danced until their feet hurt, and got married in one of the most beautiful places on earth. And they did it all with so much warmth, so much joy, and so much love that it was impossible not to get swept up in it.
"Some weddings you photograph. Some weddings you experience. Kristen and Chandler's was the second kind. We walked in as their photographers and left as their friends, and that's the highest compliment we can pay any couple." — Ruby
Kristen and Chandler — thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for bringing us to Èze. For trusting us with your day, your people, your story. You two are so obviously, so completely made for each other, and being there to witness it was a genuine privilege.
We left the south of France with full cards, full hearts, and a very strong urge to move to a medieval village.
With all our love,
Dominic and Ruby xx
YOUR SUPER SUPPLIERS
📸 Photography: @dominiclemoinegrams
🎥 Videography: @dominiclemoinegrams
💒 Venue: @hotelchateaueza
👗 Wedding Dress: @justinalexander
💐 Floristry: @ferrismara
💇♀️ Hair & Makeup: @jenhawkins_hmua & @catgibbonsbridal
👠 Bride's Shoes: @lulus / @lulusweddings
🎵 DJ & Ceremony Music: @wildfire_djs / @louispalmermusic
👔 Groom's Attire: @suitsupply
⌚ Groom's Accessories: @louisvuitton
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