Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte

Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte is a château estate near Melun, about 50 km from Paris, set within 500 hectares of land listed as a historic monument. Its 33 hectares of formal French gardens are the heart of it.

Getting there is easy for a château wedding. By car it is about 50 minutes from Paris via the A4 or A6, then the A5b. By train it is around 45 minutes from Gare de Lyon to Melun, then the Châteaubus shuttle, and the estate even mentions a 20 minute helicopter hop from Paris. The château names weddings among its private events, alongside lunches, dinners, receptions and galas, held between its salons and the French gardens.

The château can be hired in full or in part, and private events run from a table for two to receptions for more than 300 guests. Receptions use the château's salons and the French gardens. The estate also has Les Charmilles, a seasonal restaurant serving outdoors, and Le Songe de Vaux, a space set to classical music, while Les Dépendances and Le Relais de l'Écureuil are its restaurants, with spaces for groups of up to 200. Ask the team about ceremony spaces, the season and the music curfew. In France only a civil marriage is legal, so plan a symbolic ceremony here after marrying at home.

The estate has no guest rooms, but it keeps a list of nearby hotels, guest rooms and campsites on its website, so start there and ask the team about room blocks for a bigger group. Melun is the nearest town, and Paris is about 50 minutes by car if guests would rather stay in the city. For flights, Paris Orly is about 50 km away and Roissy Charles de Gaulle about 60 km, so Orly is the closer of the two. Guests arriving early can spend an afternoon in the formal gardens before the celebration begins.