Filmed on the French Riviera, Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘To Catch a Thief’ (1955) is a classic golden oldie starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. The film showcases a timelessly romantic and utterly glamorous French Riviera with spectacular landscapes, cliff top views, coastal roads, palatial hotels, sun, sea and sand. The film was made only months before Grace Kelly became the Princess of Monaco.

‘Jean de Florette’ (1986), ‘Manon des Sources’ (1986) and ‘La Gloire de Mon Père’ (1990) are all screen adaptations of novels written by celebrated French writer Marcel Pagnol. The films show Provence at the turn of the century; some of the rural areas are today still as charming and rustic as they were in the early 1900s.

‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’ is an American 80s comedy starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin. The screenplay focuses on two con artists whose playground is the French Riviera. Many of the Riviera’s finest establishments such as the Grand Hotel du Cap Ferrat and the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild feature in the film.

For a romantic comedy / chic flick, the 1995 box office hit ‘French Kiss’ with Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline was filmed both in Paris and in various parts of the South of France, predominantly in the village of Valbonne and in Cannes.

‘Priceless’ (French: Hors de Prix) is a 2006 French film starring French comedian Gad Elmaleh (Jean), a barman who works at a luxury hotel, pretends to be a millionaire and sparks the interest of Irène (Audrey Tautou), a gold-digger who has a serious penchant for rich men, jewellery and designer clothes. Much of the film’s hotel action was filmed in Monaco’s famous Hotel de Paris.

Starting Russell Crowe alongside Oscar wining French actress Marion Cotillard, Ridley Scott’s ’A Good Year’ (2006) tells the story of a British investment broker who inherits his uncle’s château and vineyard in Provence. The film sublimes the superb landscapes of Provence’s Luberon valley featuring the Vaucluse villages Bonnieux, Gordes and Ménerbes. I have been able to scout out several venus in Provence which resemble the Chateau featured in the film.

2010 French flick ‘Heartbreaker’ (French: l’Arnacoeur) stars the stunningly beautiful Vanessa Paradis along French beau Roman Duris. The film features a local wedding venue with the finest cliff top view on the French Riviera; the Domaine du Mont Leuze, during the wedding sequence towards the end of the film.

Here is a little picture of us taking a break between sets at an event we performed at this summer (I’m the blonde on the right). We will be working on promotional videos very soon!

Kerry Bracken, reporting live on an autumnal Sunday evening from her couch in Cannes. Over and out.

“Dear Kerry,

Your work on this website has been a blessing to me and my husband!  We are a young couple who lives in Canada but dreamed of being married in the romantic French Riviera.  We always follow our dreams despite knowing the way.  But when it came time to pick a priest, photographer, and videographer I did not know where to begin!  Then I found your lovely website!  It really was a blessing  Your suggestions and reviews allowed us to select extremely talented people to join us on our special day.  We were married at a villa near Mont Boron, Nice.  Father Peter Madan preformed the ceremony.  I can not say enough wonderful things about that man!  He was perfect!  Father brought an amazing harpist and violinist to create a truly romantic atmosphere.  Alban Pichon was our photographer.  He captured beautiful images of us through out the ceremony.  He is very talented and provided us with wonderful images very quickly after the ceremony.  We selected Saskia Aafjes as our videographer and she did an amazing job, especially editing the final video with music.  The team worked extremely well together on our special day, June 2nd, 2011.  

Thank you for creating this website!  Without your recommendations, our wedding day would not have been as special.  I wish many wonderful things for you and your career as a wedding coordinator.  Thank you for helping me create a truly unforgettable riviera wedding!  

Warmest Wishes,  

Janelle”

The Mas Provencal is not only a gastronomic experience, it is a feast for all the senses. Starting with sight, the most immediately impressive thing visually about the restaurant is not the exterior of the building which looks quite ordinary, is not the view (of which Eze has an abundance but the Mas Provencal has none), but is the interior of the restaurant. The Mas Provencal is covered from wall to wall with floral compositions, plants and vegetables, waterfalls, colourful vintage furniture and intriguing looking home-made contraptions some decorative some functional used for serving food. Moving onto hearing; the hat-clad silver fox keyboard / clarinet player was entertaining in an extremely old school, utterly wonderful way. Now for taste; the cuisine is not refined or gastronomic but it is simply amazing. Staring with a basket of raw vegetables that you can cut yourself or bite off in chunks rustic style and dip in the most delicious Tapenade and Anchoiade, moving on to the tasty bits of marinated small fish and squid with heaps of delicious herbs and seasonings, Charcuterie meats and freshly baked bread… that’s just the appetizer! Next up comes a choice of several dishes for an entrée from which I was prior advised to go for the risotto which is cooked then served in a giant parmesan wheel so when it’s scooped out and served in front of you onto your plate is gooey, creamy, cheesy and oh so tasty – I definitely had seconds. For the Plat Principal a choice of a selection of meats and fish from which I chose the veal fillet and Gregory the beef Entrecote which were both served with amazing mash potato and tasty mixed vegetables. And as if we had any room left, dessert was followed by Petit Fours served from spoons and flowers hanging from a tree and nice strong Italian espresso coffee. The Mas Provencal was all we could talk about on the drive home and I haven’t stopped recommending it since and I am already looking forward to my next gastronomic adventure at the Mas Provencal. Thank you Mr Heinz!

Sitting on the sofa drinking coffee after a well deserved lie in following a fantastic 3-day wedding weekend for the lovely Miki & Tom, I am tired but happy and looking forward to weddings 4 to 13. I will shortly have many fabulous Real Wedding photos and videos to share with you, so more to come from me soon.

x Kerry

P.s. thanks to whoever up there controls the weather; you did a great job on holding off the storms until today!!!

A. “a busman’s holiday”
n.Informal
A vacation during which one engages in activity that is similar to one’s usual work

B. “too much of a good thing”
Idiom
Excess which may cause one harm

C. “all work and no play”
Proverb
Without time off from work, a person can become both bored and boring

D. “a mild obsession”
v. Intr
To have one’s mind excessively preoccupied with a single emotion or topic

However… there is one person who does not agree with any of the above, that person happens to be one of my clients / Bride to be / brilliant wedding blogger / journalist; Georgia Peters. If you are looking for  inspiration, trends and just beautiful eye candy images, take a look at Georgia’s blog Before the Big Day. In the My Wedding section of her site, Georgia chronicles her wedding planning exploits and I feel honored to be featured in the following article: http://beforethebigday.blogspot.com/2010/11/my-wedding-planner.html