Ellie and Robert’s Paris Wedding at the Shangri-La

With a beautiful suite overlooking the Eiffel Tower, Ellie and Robert’s intimate wedding was enchanting, luxurious and unforgettable.

“In traditional-style weddings, many people get busy entertaining their friends and family and are constantly worrying about little details throughout the day,” says the bride. “By keeping it small, we were able to relax, enjoy ourselves and create lasting memories.”

Kudos to photographer Brant Smith for capturing this wedding so beautifully. It makes us want to run away to Paris!

Ellie, 31 & Robert, 37

Location: Paris, France

Wedding Date: July 21, 2017

Number of Guests: 9

Wedding Ceremony Location: On the terrace of our suite at the Shangri-La, overlooking the Eiffel Tower

Wedding Reception Location: L’Abeille restaurant in the Shangri-La, “rehearsal” family dinner was at Jules Verne in the Eiffel Tower the previous evening

Why did you have an intimate wedding?

We wanted to make the wedding about us. Instead of using our resources to plan a large ceremony, we were able to have a dream destination wedding without compromising details either of us wanted. Before we decided on the intimate wedding, we were both stressed about every aspect of wedding planning, between finding a venue, paring down the guest list and figuring out our budget. Neither of us are the “plan ahead type” and the idea of burdening ourselves with details such as floral arrangements, seating charts, lighting etc etc. gave us anxiety. After we finalized our decision to keep it to only our immediate families, everything seemed to fall into place for us.

What are some the challenges that you faced planning an intimate wedding?

It was pretty smooth sailing once we decided to keep the wedding small.

Was it difficult to pare down the guest list?

Once we decided to do an intimate wedding, we picked a tiny venue that could only accommodate our immediate families; so it was easy to stick to our plan.

Did you have any ‘issues’ with the small guest list from friends and family? If so, how did you address them?

All of our friends and family were extremely supportive and excited for us once we told them about our intimate wedding and the reasons why we wanted to do it that way.

What were the highlights of the ceremony?

In the beginning, we were tempted to just elope; but then decided we couldn’t have the most important day of our lives without the most important people in our lives. The highlights for me were walking down the aisle on my proud father’s arm and catching glimpses of my mother shedding a happy tear or two throughout the ceremony. We decided to write our own vows and Robert and I loved hearing each other’s for the first time, in front of our families. But for both of us, the real highlight of our day was actually prior to the ceremony. We opted to do a “first look” photo shoot and hired a vintage car to drive us around Paris. Both our driver, Cedric and our photographer, Brant, were extremely knowledgeable about Paris and its landmarks, and it was the most fun and romantic way to tour the city, while capturing the most amazing photos to remember our special day.

What were the highlights of the reception?

We are both big foodies and love French cuisine, so naturally we picked the 2 Michelin star restaurant right in our own hotel to host our reception. The menu was absolutely amazing and we loved that everyone in the wedding party were all able to sit at the same table and to share speeches, stories and laughs.

What was the best thing about having an intimate wedding?

The best part was being able to spend every minute of the with my husband! In traditional-style weddings, many people get busy entertaining their friends and family and are constantly worrying about little details throughout the day. By keeping it small, we were able to relax, enjoy ourselves and create lasting memories. Our photographer Brant, and the event manager at Shangri-la, Olesya, were extremely helpful in helping the day go smoothly and stress-free. We couldn’t h