France · Luberon · Venue guide
A Wedding at Château de Sannes, Provence
Château de Sannes is a wine estate in the southern Luberon, with a French formal garden of clipped box and tall cypresses, a long stone water basin, olive groves and organic vines. In April 2024 I filmed Ana and Binh’s wedding here, planned and designed by Love & Provence – a ceremony in the garden, dinner under a marquee and a party with a live band that went on long after dark.
- Where
- Sannes, Vaucluse – in the Luberon regional park, near Ansouis and Lourmarin
- The estate
- Dating from 1603, around 70 hectares with organic AOP Luberon vines
- Weddings
- Exclusive use, ceremony in the garden, a large marquee for dinner and dancing
- Getting there
- About 25 minutes from Aix-en-Provence and 50 minutes from Marseille airport
The estate
The estate goes back to 1603 – the year still gives its name to one of its wines – and has three bastides from the 17th and 18th centuries. Since 2017 it has belonged to the Gattaz family, who opened a new winery in 2020. Around the château lie French formal gardens, a Roman water basin, a windmill and a dovecote, a truffle orchard, lavender and olive trees, and about 35 hectares of organically farmed vines that make AOP Luberon wines.
The wedding day
Sannes is rented exclusively for weddings, so the whole estate is yours for the weekend. Ana and Binh got ready in the house – the groomsmen around the old billiard table – and walked out across the lawn in front of the château. Their ceremony took place in the formal garden, between two rows of cypresses with the guests seated among the hedges, and from the air the clipped box parterre looks like an embroidered carpet. Portraits by the long water basin, then dinner at long wooden tables in a marquee lit by candles and strings of lights, speeches and a live band until the early hours.
The marquee is also the wet-weather plan, which matters in spring, when the light is soft and the irises bloom but a shower is always possible. The busiest season runs from June to September; late September, around the grape harvest, is one of the most beautiful times of the year in the Luberon.
Getting there and around
Sannes sits on the southern side of the Luberon, about 25 minutes by car from Aix-en-Provence and its TGV station and about 50 minutes from Marseille Provence airport. The villages of Ansouis and Lourmarin are close by – perfect for guests who arrive a few days early – and the estate offers guided tours and tastings of its wines.
Getting legally married in France
A legal French marriage takes place at the town hall of a commune where one of you, or one of your parents, has lived for at least a month. Most destination couples therefore marry legally at home and have a symbolic ceremony in the garden. More about weddings in Provence.
Planning your wedding at Château de Sannes?
Tell me your date and place – I’ll let you know if I’m free.
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