NEED TO KNOW
- The night before their wedding, Bachelorette star Hannah Brown and Adam Woolard threw a welcome party at Le Negresco Beach Club in Nice, France, on Friday, July 25
- Partygoers followed a “beach chic” dress code, with Brown wearing a silk gown from CINQ and Woolard wearing a custom suit designed by Eric Adler
- Guests listened to an “awesome” playlist curated by the soon-to-be bride and groom, and dined on an “unforgettable” four-course meal
Hannah Brown and Adam Woolard are starting their wedding weekend in style.
The Bachelorette star, 30, and her fiancé, 38, threw a luxurious welcome party for their 101 wedding guests at Le Negresco Beach Club in Nice, France, on Friday, July 25. Everyone “dressed to the nines,” following a “beach chic” dress code.
“We just combined our rehearsal dinner and our welcome party so that everybody could be a part of that, because it’s all of our closest family and friends,” Brown tells PEOPLE.
Woolard jokes that some of his friends didn’t initially understand what “beach chic” meant, but after he sent them photos of his outfit for inspiration, they saw the vision. The groom-to-be wore a custom suit made by Nashville-based designer Eric Adler.
Meanwhile, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette alum was “so excited” to go all out with her dress.
“We’re in the South of France at a beach club! Come on, this is such a fun time to be able to wear a beautiful, flowy gown,” Brown says. “I’m going a little over the top with my welcome party dress, but it’s my wedding weekend, I can do that.”
The Four Engagement Rings of Sybil Rain author wore “The Tatum” gown from CINQ, the same brand behind Lana Del Rey’s wedding dress. The silk charmeuse and silk tulle dress features a draped cowl neckline and a silk tulle watteau with light broomstick pleats pressed into it.
“It has this beautiful organic silk on it and it’s just, it’s so gorgeous. I’m really excited about the dress. I’ll probably be the most overdressed, but I’m the bride,” Brown says with a laugh.
She paired the look with Alexandre Birman shoes and sparkling jewelry from Ring Concierge. For her glam, Trace Watkins was responsible for makeup, Allison + Artist for hair, and Nashville Nail Co. for nails.
As guests arrived, they were treated to tote bags filled with various goodies, including fresh baguettes wrapped in personalized tissue paper designed by Mariee Ami’s vice president of graphic design, Mary Baugh, who was behind all of the wedding artwork.
“[We wanted] our guests get a first taste of the French finest!” Brown says.
VistaPrint provided the tote bags and printed the tissue paper, along with the save-the-dates, invitations, bag tags, cocktail napkins and ribbons.
Brown and Woolard, who first met on a dating app, were especially excited for their friends and family to hear the playlist they carefully curated for the celebration.
“We made a playlist for the welcome party and we are waiting for the compliments on how awesome it is because that was probably my favorite thing of all the wedding planning,” Brown tells PEOPLE, with Woolard chiming in, “No way. Even the wedding dress stuff?”
“The wedding dress was my favorite,” Brown concedes. “But the welcome party playlist, it’s number two.”
Just as elegant as the party’s dress code was its aesthetic.
“We are playing up a French beach vibe with bright yellows, greens and lemons,” Brown says. “We have take-home macaroons for a late night snack, we made a special playlist of some of our favorite songs we like play while cooking dinner and for our comfy nights at home to bring the easy playful vibes to our beachside welcome party.”
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It was also important for the couple of more than four years to create an “unforgettable culinary experience” for their guests.
Alongside her mother and her aunt, Brown traveled to France earlier this year to try Le Negresco’s full menu. From the Mediterranean restaurant’s offerings, they selected a “beautiful” four-course meal.
“A lot of our guests have never been to Europe, much less France. We’re trying to make sure we have some entry level things that will be typical to the palate that we have here, but then there are definitely going to be some traditional French cuisine that we’re going to mix in, just to make sure that it’s a really special, unforgettable, culinary experience as well,” Brown says.
The seated dinner started with candied barigoule artichoke, truffle and artichoke mousse. Next was tuna sashimi, fennel salad, samphire and liquorice, orange and ginger nage. Served for the third course was a roasted saddle of lamb with carrot and spice sides. The meal concluded with red fruits and vanilla biscuits.
Brown and Woolard wanted their party near Hotel Negresco because it’s where they stayed when they went on a “magical” trip through France together. Woolard used to travel to Paris twice a year for work, and Brown tagged along a few times.
“We made one big trip, went through Versailles, Provence, made our way down to Nice and we just fell in love with the southern part of France,” Woolard explains. “And we were thinking about how it feels really, really special, and that was one of the main areas that we just felt really drawn to.”
“We connected,” Brown adds. “We have really fun memories from our time there, especially at the Beach Club, and so that we are getting to have our welcome party there is just truly a dream come true.”
The festivities were planned by Neillie Butler with Mariée Ami.
Additional Credits:
Photography: Daniel Knight Harris
Videography: Storybox Cinema
Content Creation: Signature by Natalie
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