Details for Saturday Night's Masked Ball

Chateau St Ferriol

If you have read the previous post, then we hope that you have a good idea about what to wear for the masked ball - some key words - elegance, originality, creativity, eccentricity - you get the idea!!
In this post you will find some of the more practical details and we will start with the arrival time.......

We would like all the guests to arrive between 18h and 18h30 - please no later-  this is not a rock up at 21h type of party - even though you may not be leaving till 09h the next day!!

The Ball is at the Chateau in St Ferriol -  rest assured the parking area will be well marked - with a parking attendant and then signs to the Chateau. 

We are very excited to have Clotilde from the MangeTout Catering Company, who will be serving us  wonderful canapés and nibbles followed by a traditional Meshui (slow roasted lamb) cooked on an open fire and of course desserts and all the trappings.  We would ask all of you however to bring some cheese to contribute to the cheese platter.

For the drinks, we will be providing wine and soft drinks (and some stronger stuff) but ask you to bring at least one bottle of champagne or equivalent as for some reason this liquid gold always seems to disappear very quickly!!!

We will have ice boxes at the entrance where you will be welcomed and you can leave your offerings there. We will take good care of it!

There will also a pin board, so please if you have any old or more recent photos of us, please make a copy and bring it along to share it with everyone.  
We will also have a 'love book' where we would love you to write something in it during the course of the evening.  



Many people have also been asking us about 'wedding lists' and presents.  
Eric and I talked long about this and for us the most important thing is that you are coming to share this moment with us but if you want to leave an 'envelope' in our 'love box', it will of course be put to good use (a new washing machine is really needed!)

We are expecting the party to go on for most of the night - there will be lots of surprises  - which we won't tell you about on this blog of course but be prepared to eat, dance and be merry!

Saturday Night Masked Ball at St Ferriol Chateau

 We want our Wedding Party to be a memorable event for all our friends and family, so we've decided to hold a Masked Ball in the medieval St Ferriol Chateau, just 5 minutes from our house in St Julia.
Before you all panic at the thought of having to find a Venetian or Marie Antoinette style costume (unless of course you have one lurking in your wardrobe!), don't worry! Ladies in beautiful dresses and men in suits is great but it's the mask that counts! Bought, borrowed or handmade, freaky, ethnic or sophisticated - anything goes! If you don't have a suit, then find a second hand velvet jacket , make a cape or borrow a pirate shirt with long flowing sleeves!
In our experience of having parties (and we have had lots), the more effort everyone makes, the more electric and exciting the atmosphere is and the more fun it is for everyone.  
Apart from drinking, eating and dancing, there will be other surprises throughout the night, so let your imagination run wild and start planning your outfit now!

Below are some images, which might give you some ideas and inspiration - remember the more effort everyone makes the more fun it will be!

For all the other practical details of the party - directions, timings, what to bring etc will put in a later post.

Places to stay in and around St Julia de Bec

It would be great if we lived in a 60 room Chateau so that all our friends and family could stay with us during our wedding celebrations but alas we are even moving out of our big 5 bedroom house to a smaller beautiful renovated house next door (lovingly designed and built by Eric and friends), so crashing at ours is not an option  - except for Ira of course!!

Below is a list of gites/hotels and chambre d'hotes (bed and breakfast) either in the village or within 7 km. Any search on google will give you more extensive lists.

At the Moulin du Roc (picasaweb.google.com/langevent98/MouliDalRoc) just at the outskirts of the village, there are 4 self catering apprtements, 3 already taken by my family, but Chris the owner is also proposing up to 10 camping spots - the idea also is that you can use the facilities in the Moulin - pool, toilets, bar etc and I know that my Mum will have no problem sharing the fridge/kitchen facilities with any one who decides to camp (or glamp as they say these days)  
We can arrange hire of tents, so let us know asap if you think it would an option for you.  It's 10euros per night for the camping.
(Will do another post later about how to get here, train links, airports, tranport in general)

POST A COMMENT OR A QUESTION AND I'LL TRY TO ANSWER ASAP.  
BOOK ANY ACCOMODATION/CAMPING OPTIONS QUITE QUICKLY. IF YOUR HAVING PROBLEMS CONTACT ME SOONER RATHER THAN LATER!

Look at Gites de France (www.des-gites-en-france.fr) in the villages of St Julia de Bec, Granes, 
St Ferriol, St Just le Bezu, St Louis, Quillan for gites to rent near to us.

Also this site for Band B/ chambre d'hote (www.charme-traditions.com)

In St Julia -our village (mention that it's for our wedding)

www.bb-lepresbytere.com

http://www.monde-du-voyage.com/france/languedoc-roussillon/aude/gite-rural-saint-julia-de-bec-11500.php

Gite in village of St Ferriol (near to wedding venues) Reserve quickly
www.st-ferriol.info

Cardaillac Perez Elisabeth (chambre d'hote)
Bac St Bertrand 11500 Saint-Julia-de-Bec 09 75 82 72 24
In Quillan, small market town 7 min drive from wedding venue
www.nidelice.com  best b&b run by friends Paolo et Didier
www.casalys.com
www.rivesdelaude.com
www.chateauview.com
In Granès 1km from venues
Lelièvre Nicole
15 Grand'rue, Granès, 04 68 20 95 65

 Chalet Karibu

www.chambresdhotes.org 

Informations sur Chalet Karibu Gites à 51 Chemin du Moulin, Granes avec photos. ..

Xavier Deparis 51 Chemin du Moulin Granes 11500. 

Welcome to our wedding blog

If you're reading this blog it means that you have recieved an invitation to our wedding celebrations.
Whether you are coming for Friday and Saturday or just Saturday, either way we hope you are excited as we are!
The idea of this blog is that instead of putting all the information on the wedding invitation, you can consult this blog for all the information you might need to either get to France (!!!), the wedding venues, times, dress code, what to bring etc etc.
You can also ask questions and we'll get back to you or exchange ideas about costumes, offer help or just tell us what you're up to.

Firstly though and very importantly PLEASE REPLY to the invitation, can you attend or not  ....... we need to get the final figures in as sson as we can, so check your diaries, put a big circle around the date, arrange planes, trains, horses and carriage, pay the babysitter double, get someone in to feed the cat while you are away and PLAN for a wild party!!