If you’ve seen the 2008 film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, you’ll understand why Nick Turner writing “Dracula Musical” on his Bumble profile was captivating for screenwriter Julia Yorks. She quick-wittingly started the conversation with “Maholo,” another reference from the movie. Nick wasted no time setting up a date, especially because he had a three-week-long trip to South Africa for his grandfather’s 99th birthday coming up. He failed to mention, though, that he was literally leaving their date to go to the airport and met Julia with his suitcase in hand.
By the time he was at his gate, he called a friend and proclaimed he was “in love.” Julia practically skipped all the way home to tell her roommate she hoped she would be invited to Nick’s grandfather’s 100th birthday. Come next year, they would be in Cape Town together, celebrating Grandpa Jim’s centennial—and their first anniversary. In September 2019, they would celebrate even more happy news: their engagement.
The couple knew they wanted a destination wedding somewhere in the French Dordogne region where Nick’s parents live. Most venues in the vicinity only accommodate 30 guests, so when Julia found the Château du Doux online with its impressive 80-person capacity, she immediately booked it. Due to the pandemic’s travel restrictions, the couple was only able to visit the château a few months before the wedding. But it was worth the wait. “Not only is it stunning and spacious, but it still somehow manages to feel home-y—probably because the British family who runs it are some of the warmest, loveliest people I’ve ever met,” Julia notes.
The wedding weekend was complete with events, local cuisine, and the best French wine. On April 29, 2022, the celebration began with a barbecue, live music, drinking games, and karaoke. “My dad’s emphatic rendition of ‘Hey Jude’ really stole the show, and the chorus became a rallying cry throughout the entire weekend,” Julia laughs. On Saturday, guests were shuttled to the nearby village of Sarlot-la-Caneda for a day trip. They all returned to the château for a family-style rehearsal dinner.
The aesthetic for the wedding day was effortless elegance. With help from planner Sarah Thomas, every detail of the black-tie affair was incredibly thought out yet casually laid back. Julia and Nick enlisted Marcos Sanchez to photograph the weekend’s events.
Over the course of three years, the wedding was postponed five different times. “You’d think that since I had literal years to plan this wedding, I would have figured out all of my looks in advance,” Julia muses. “But the extra time only led to extra indecision. . . And a closet full of extra dresses I didn’t end up wearing!” Two of the five outfits she wore that weekend only came together a few days before she left for France—a plot twist for someone who considers herself a planner.
Her Friday night Borgo de Nor Juliet dress featured protea flowers as an homage to Nick’s father’s South African heritage. The bride’s parents surprised her that weekend with a Cartier bracelet, and she never took it off. Nick sported a button-down and trousers from Proper Cloth with a Sandro jacket.
On Saturday, Julia donned head-to-toe DÔEN. She intended on changing into a feathered dress for the rehearsal dinner, but after a tailoring snafu, she opted for a last-minute switch into a satin tie-back dress by The Bar accessorized with Poppy Finch earrings and Midnight 00 tulle heels. These shoes were actually her first wedding purchase several years earlier in 2019.
“A French wedding calls for a French designer!” Julia declares about the next day’s Margaux Tardits dress. “I loved the flowy lightness of the dress–it was like wearing a cloud.” A fortuitous and properly placed Instagram ad led her to her Dorsey Lee earrings. Linzi Buckley and Niki Treacy kept her beauty look ethereal and glowing.
The couple’s nine-month-old niece, Coco, acted as the flower girl and was the star member of the wedding party. “Honestly, the only silver lining to postponing so many times was that, at the time of our original date, Coco wasn’t even born!” Julia confesses. “Not to mention she’s the only other gal I’d let wear white!” The groom looked dapper in his bespoke Articles of Style tuxedo and his late grandfather Jim’s Omega watch.
Before the ceremony, guests sipped on Champagne as Aquarius Strings strummed film scores. “I could hear the Jurassic Park theme through the open window as I was getting my makeup done,” Julia recalls. As a professional screenwriter, Julia felt the pressure of writing vows that would be heartfelt and humorous but never trite. “Ultimately, we decided that since so many screenwriters before me had perfectly articulated our feelings about love and marriage, we’d use their words instead of our own,” she explains.
Before the ceremony began, each guest received an envelope with handwritten quotes from the couple’s favorite media. During the service, everyone stood up one by one and read theirs aloud. Because Julia and Nick already eloped in 2020, the bride was unsure how to make the exchange of rings memorable, sothey did a “ring warming ceremony.” Guests passed the rings around, imbuing the bands with their love and good vibes before returning them to the “newlyweds.”
A strings duo serenaded the party during cocktail hour before DJ Mixology took over with saxophone accompaniment. “If you have the opportunity to add on the sax, add on the sax!” Julia advises. Her mother even started a conga line that lasted for four whole songs.
Duck—a Dordogne specialty—was prominently featured throughout the three-course meal. Julia’s father delivered his speech, bringing the room to tears—until everyone started singing the “Hey Jude” chorus, making the weekend come full circle. The newlyweds shared their first dance to the appropriate “La Vie En Rose” by Louis Armstrong. For the rest of the evening’s dancing, the bride changed into a Self-Portrait mini dress and silver Miu Miu platforms.
Later, Sarah ushered everyone outside for a group photo in the pitch-black countryside. “I casually told friends that our photographer ‘had a cool drone thing,’ and amazingly, everyone believed me!” Julia says. When guests looked up, they saw an explosion of fireworks across the sky as Bruno Mars played on the speakers.
