This Couple Followed Their Provence Wedding With a 5-Day Group Honeymoon in St. Tropez
Jeni Yamamoto has always been a planner. In fact, it was a little forward thinking that helped Jeni meet her future groom, François-Xavier Beckers, back in January 2020. “I was living in Manhattan but was scheduled to move to Williamsburg (just four blocks away from François-Xavier) in February, so I had already set my Hinge location to Williamsburg,” Jeni explains. “We matched on Hinge on a Sunday and set up our first date for the next day at a bar right next to François-Xavier’s apartment.”
After dating for a year, the pair began working on designing Jeni’s engagement ring together—but François-Xavier decided to surprise her by moving up their timeline and organizing a special retreat while they were visiting his family in Provence. “We planned to do a quick weekend trip just the two of us to Mallorca—a place FX has always loved and I had never been to,” says Jeni. “When we got into the rental car and drove to La Residencia, I knew something was up because FX would never book such a nice hotel for no reason.” François-Xavier realized Jeni had caught on and sped up the timeline even further. “As soon as we unloaded our luggage, we went to the pool bar for lunch,” she shares. “We sat down, he immediately pulled the ring out of his pocket, and asked me, ‘Will you be my wife?’”
The couple decided to get married in Provence, as they spend a lot of time at François-Xavier’s family home in L’Isle-sur-la Sorgue. “We knew we wanted to get married close by so we could host an event at home to make the wedding feel more personal and special,” explains Jeni. “We visited a few venue options and instantly fell in love with Domaine Des Andéols. The property is beautiful and has such a unique mix of Provence charm and modern design.” To time the celebration when the region was in bloom with lavender, they booked a date on June 24, 2023. “Venues and vendors were backed up with bookings from Covid so instead of compromising on time of year, we selected our ideal weekend two years out,” the bride shares.
While Jeni admits planning an international wedding with a language barrier came with some stress, her planner Géraldine of luxury events agency Les Grands Moments helped smooth the process. “I was searching for planners and stumbled into her profile,” says Jeni. She loved her edgy aesthetic and slid into her DMs to recruit her to plan her grand outdoor celebration.
Both Jeni and François-Xavier put a lot of thought into choosing their attire for the big day. The groom wore a custom three-piece suit with a tailcoat designed by David Hart and fully committed to making the right choices when it came to selecting every fabric and finish. “Going to the fabric shops and old school New York tailors was such a unique experience,” remembers Jeni. “We did feel a bit crazed because there were so many little details to decide. We were agonizing over choosing between 50 shades of almost identical gray—constantly looking at swatches in direct sunlight, indirect sunlight, full shade, and during the night. It was worth it, though, because we loved the finished product.”
Meanwhile, Jeni went to Spina Bride in New York City to find her gown—and ended up buying the very first dress she tried on. “I was way too excited and emotional; as soon as I got home, I regretted my decision,” says the bride. “That dress was sparkly with a lot of tulle and an asymmetric neckline—it wasn’t very me. I called Spina in a panic, and they allowed me to exchange the dress for another one by the same designer, Lihi Hod. I went back a few months later with a cooler head and picked a less embellished dress in a more streamlined silhouette that was much more my style. I also added a cape by Lihi Hod for the ceremony for a bit more drama.”
