Exchange Vows at a Stunning Castle in the Heart of Gascony

Have you always envisioned yourself tying the knot in the grounds of a historic and imposing castle? While Southern France doesn’t leave you short of such locations, Château de Poudenas has more history and more grandeur than most. 

Situated almost exactly equidistant from Bordeaux and Toulouse, this events venue is a listed historic monument and boasts an incredible array of buildings and spaces to allow you to create your perfect celebration. It also boasts an astonishing capacity of 500 wedding guests indoors and up to 800 (yes, you read that right!) outdoors.

So, if you’re planning on throwing a wedding party like no other, this may well be the place for you. Let’s delve a little deeper into what this fantastic venue has to offer and give you some ideas for the various spaces and how you might incorporate our wedding event production services to take your celebration up a few notches. 

Château de Poudenas: A French Wedding Venue Brimming with History and Charm

While many French châteaus offering weddings can claim historical significance, few boast the pedigree of Château de Poudenas. It was initially constructed back in the 13th century by the Lords of Poudenas, who were subjects of Edward I, a Plantagenet and Duke of Aquitaine and King of England at the time. 

It saw many battles over the centuries as a military fortification until a 17th-century makeover saw the castle expanded and given a makeover to give it the Renaissance Italian villa architecture it still exhibits today. This is only a brief summary, mind you. We recommend booking a tour and learning more about its fascinating history.

Aside from the sense of storied history you get from this place, the current owners have worked hard over their stewardship to turn this incredible castle into an industry-leading wedding venue. You can host wedding ceremonies and receptions here from 50 to 500 guests, and there’s on-site accommodation for up to 42 people, including eight premium suites within the castle complex. Your guests will never be bored either, with tennis courts, a pitch and putt golf area, and a pétanque court. Bike tours and wine-tasting tours are also available locally. 

What’s also incredible about this venue is the sheer number of event spaces available. For instance, there are eight different locations where you can hold your reception (six indoor, two outdoor). Most French wedding venues have one or maybe two! 

So let’s walk you through at least some of those options (we haven’t got the space to write about all eight!) and how you might use our production services to make them your own. 

Wedding Production at Château de Poudenas

Let’s make this simple by working our way through in chronological order. For the ceremony, we recommend picking a location within the 10-hectare park. There are plenty of areas to choose from that are relatively flat. 

We would recommend setting up a tastefully decorated wedding arch as a focal point and providing white wedding chairs for your onlooking guests. You could use floor matting to create a more formal aisle and decorate the aisle seats with some nice floral touches. Other couples have chosen to wed under the arches of the main castle building that backs onto the gigantic gravel courtyard (la cour d’honneur). However, we would advise saving that space for your reception.

For your cocktail hour, there’s one space that really grabs you: the swimming pool area around the back of the castle, which is laid to the lawn and nice and level. Being south-facing, it’s the perfect way to while away the afternoon sipping cocktails and eating hors d'oeuvres in the sunshine. There’s also plenty of space to set up a performance area for either musicians or some wireless speakers with background music. 

For larger wedding guest lists, we would also recommend hiring a canvas stretch tent complemented with wedding props such as whiskey barrels (to use as poseur tables) to give your guests the options of shade, and it might also be a good idea to make it the place to order drinks by adding a mobile wedding bar. You can see this exact setup in this video from their Instagram page (in this case, it was for a small local festival, not a wedding).

For the reception party, we have to recommend the stunning courtyard we spoke about earlier. It’s absolutely gigantic and has a capacity of 800 guests. It’s perfectly set up for al fresco dining, and a few rows of string lighting are included from the venue. But we urge you to invest in more (which we can, of course, supply) to cover the whole area with a delightful warm glow. We would also recommend wireless uplighting around the walls in a warm golden hue or a bright purple to make the evening setting even more dramatic. 

Lastly, we also feel this space is particularly well suited to live music (as opposed to a DJ), with plenty of space for a raised stage platform & space for the band & all the equipment they need like backline equipment and the sound system setup. However, some couples use the stables as their location for dancing, and the tight-knit feel of the arched stone roof lends itself better to a DJ, for which we can supply professional-level Pioneer DJ equipment and DJ controllers or you can book a English speaking wedding DJ with us, see our DJ Services page for more info.   

Call Fête24 For Any Wedding & Event Rental Equipment You Need to Hire in the Lot-et-Garonne Region

There’s no question that Château de Poudenas is an incredible location for any couple to celebrate their love story. If you are securing dates at this amazing venue (or another worthy venue in the Lot-et-Garonne area) and want to run through what you might need regarding the sound, lighting & entertainment at your wedding, give us a call and we can discuss your ideas you have in mind for the venue. 

Also, feel free to send an email detailing anything you have seen online or on our instagram & you like the look of it or would like a price for it. Likewise if you have any technical riders requirements of your live band or DJ we can take a look, and we’ll get back to you with a quote.