Victoria
&
James
Saturday 29th June 2024
Château de Brives
We are getting married!
Welcome to our wedding website – we’re so glad you’re here.
We’ve created this website as a helpful resource and hopefully it will help answer some of your questions and provide you with the need-to-know details in the lead up to the big day and celebrations in France. Here you will find our schedule for the weekend, including directions to the Château, timings, accommodation ideas and a little bit about both the bridal and groom parties.
Don't forget to RSVP below and leave us a song request for the dance floor too!
We are both so looking forward to celebrating with you all and just wanted to say a huge thanks for all the love and well wishes so far.
Love James & Victoria x
The Wedding Day
Saturday 29th June 2024 From 3pm
Join us at Château de Brives for our wedding ceremony, lots of delicious food and wine and then we’ll see you on the dance floor!
Wedding Schedule
15:00 Arrival
15:30 Ceremony
16:00 Reception
17:00 Wedding Breakfast & Speeches
20:00 Evening Reception
22:00 Late Night Snacks
00:45 Carriages
We’d advise having a light lunch prior to arrival.
Post Wedding Pool Party
Sunday 30th June 2024 1-6pm
Cure your hangover back at the Château for the Berridge-Cane Sports Day! Followed by a dip in the pool, hair of the dog and plenty of option to refuel with wood fired pizzas.
Unfortunately we cannot accommodate children on our wedding day , we hope you’ll enjoy a child-free day with us!
Rsvp
Let us know if you can make it!
Meet us at Château de Brives
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Château de Brives
Route de l'Oumarie
17800 Brives-sur-Charente
France -
Airports in order of proximity:
Bordeaux
La Rochelle
Bergerac
Nantes
Limoges -
Gare de Cognac SNCF serves regional TER trains. SNCF Intercités trains travel between Paris and Saintes, from which you take a TER train to Cognac.
Gare d’Angoulême SNCF serves the fast TGV trains, from which you can then take a regional TER train to Cognac. TGV trains cover the distance between Paris and Angoulême in less than 3 hours.
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Driving to Cognac from Calais takes just over 7 hours (depending on traffic) and provides a means for you to get around the local area when arriving. The Le shuttle takes around 35 mins from Folkestone to Calais, be aware that using the French toll roads will include additional costs.
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Please note that there’s no Uber in rural France! All taxis must be pre booked.
Here’s some local taxi companies you can contact, or better yet, arrange with your accommodation.
Taxi Jon Cards Cognac +33643794686Taxi de Cognac +33680546849
Taxi Grande Champagne +33635381450
Taxi 2000 +33545824005
Taxi du Breuill +33545326718
However we will be providing transport from central Cognac on the wedding day, we’ll be in touch closer to the time to arrange with those staying in the town. -
You’ll find a selection of hotels to suit all budgets in central Cognac and there’s also plenty of private gîtes and Airbnbs in the region, search ‘Brives sur Charente’ or ‘Cognac’.
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We’re humbled to have you join us on our special day and appreciate your presence rather than your presents!
Many of you have travelled long distances to share our wedding day with us, so please do not feel obliged in any way but if you insist then money towards our honeymoon would really make our day.
Our Story
Our story started back in 2017 when we both met whilst working for the police on the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea with James having only joined the job 7 months prior to Victoria. This meant we didn't get the chance to work together very often but when we did it was always a laugh. Some examples include the time when Victoria was reviewing James’ body worn camera footage after an arrest and caught him singing, whistling and talking to himself and shared it with the team or the time when James saved Victoria from being assaulted by a 90 year old man with dementia.
After a few years of working together on the same team we decided along with some other colleagues to move into a house share in Putney. Initially just as close friends our relationship grew as we got to spend more time together and a trip to the cinema to watch ‘A Star Is Born’ led to some hand holding and the start of a romantic relationship. This brought to end the need for separate rooms at the house and after a few months together Victoria moved into James’ bigger much better room.
We spent another year in Putney whilst trying to save money until, with a lot of help from our parents, we were able to buy our first home together in Surbiton and finally have a place to call our own. Arguably the biggest commitment in each of our lives but one we had no doubts about as it just felt right. We have now spent 3 years here and got the chance to make it a home and one of the best decisions we had ever made.
Last year having been given multiple subtle hints it was finally time to take the next big step in our relationship and having landed on Loch Lomond on a seaplane James proposed to Victoria next to the Loch in Scotland. Since then, the wedding planning started and after looking at a huge number of places we finally found our perfect place to get married in France at the lovely Chateau De Brives and we can’t wait for you all to share this special day with us.
Our Wedding Party
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Iona Davey
MAID OF HONOUR
I met Iona on a course immediately before joining the police in 2016. Since then our love of food, wine, theatre, travelling and so much more has firmly cemented our friendship. I can’t talk about Iona without mentioning the best holiday to date; our mini tour of Canada. Any mention of this still annoys James to this day. She is my go to for trying new restaurants, seeing new places and is always there to listen to the various stresses our job involves. I still remain hopeful that one day she will move to Surbiton so we can have wine and cheese nights all the time and can’t wait to share our special day with her!
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Helen Bayntun
BRIDESMAID
Helen is my only sister who has been there since day one. My oldest memories of Helen are when she used to babysit on a Saturday night and I would spend the evening trying to persuade her to let me stay up to watch Casualty. She is mum to my lovely nephews Luke and Daniel who we both absolutely adore and who, in turn, are completely obsessed with ‘Ginger James.’ So much so that Daniel cried when we got engaged because he thought he was going to lose him forever! Helen is the oldest of the Stenning siblings and is always there to provide sound advice.
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Rossario Markie
BEST MAN
I first met Rossario when he used to go by the name Ross during secondary school. We didn't go to the same school but had had similar friendship groups and would often meet up and hang out. Climbing into Butlins over fences and enjoying a free day out will always be a fond memory of our time together. Living down south at the seaside means we don't get to see each other that often but we have always remained in close contact. I had the privilege of being best man for his and Rachel’s wedding back in 2016 on what was a brilliant day, so no pressure. A calm and collected man who I'm looking forward to sharing our special day with. If you need any advice on fake tan and how to pluck eyebrows he is your man.
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Sean Gailey
BEST MAN
I met Sean back in 2009 and became friends with him 6 months laters during our time abroad in sunny Afghanistan. We laugh about it now but we will both admit we didn't like each other at first, think this has something to do with the fact he thought I was a girl due to my long hair. We have spent many a night out since then travelling all over the UK and abroad, I just hope he has forgotten some of those stories or saves them for another occasion. Finally he has found someone to keep him under control and together with Katie have created a beautiful family with young Thomas, who I have been given the honour of being godfather too. You shouldn't have a problem finding him as he will be at the bar and has an abnormally large head.