Wedding at a château: five venues between the Vallée de Chevreuse, Beauce and Perche, southwest of Paris

Organiser son mariage

A château is rarely chosen from a photograph. Many couples planning summer weddings take advantage of winter to visit venues when owners’ schedules are lighter and you can assess a room without the buzz of a June Saturday. Southwest of Paris, between the Vallée de Chevreuse, the Beauce plain, the Perche hills and the Loir Valley, five châteaux have made hosting events their second life: a manor house ringed by moats, a Second Empire residence welcoming guests since 1981, a fortified farm, a Baroque château restored after decades of neglect, and a Renaissance manor that has remained in the same family since the 19th century. Here’s what each has to say—and what they offer on the big day.