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Courtney Bowlden Photography Blog

Photographing classy, timeless, and fun couples around the world. Sharing the details, inspiration, and education with you here. 

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Hi there! Welcome to the blog, a place to share wedding beauty, engagement inspiration, and plenty of photography tips. I'm glad you're here and I hope you'll stick around and check out some of my posts!

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chateau wedding venues in france

10 Stunning Chateau Wedding Venues in France & How To Plan Your Destination Wedding Abroad With Ease

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Wedding

10 Chateau Wedding Venues in France & How To Plan Your Destination Wedding Abroad No Chateau wedding venues in France planning guide is complete without the wedding venues themselves. After 17 years of photographing weddings and elopements across France, these are the chateau wedding venues I know and recommend across different regions, budgets, and styles […]

chateau wedding in france

Plan a Romantic Château Wedding in France: A Helpful Guide For Planning a Destination Wedding

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Wedding

Plan a Romantic Château Wedding in France: A Helpful Guide For Planning a Wedding in France When couples first reach out to me about a château wedding in France, they almost always have the same starting point: they have found a venue that took their breath away, they know they want it, and they are […]

black and white image of a bride and groom facing each other and embracing in paris at the best places to elope

The 7 Best Hotel Wedding Venues in France

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Wedding

The 7 Best Hotel Wedding Venues in France When couples come to me asking about France as a destination for their wedding, one of the first questions I ask is whether they are drawn to the complete flexibility of a private château or the comprehensive hospitality infrastructure of a luxury hotel wedding venue in France. […]

The 13 Best Château Wedding Venues in France

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Bridal Education

The 13 Best Château Wedding Venues in France: A Photographer’s Guide to the Most Beautiful Estates in the Country There is a particular moment that happens when you arrive at a French château for the first time — when the car turns down a long allée of linden trees, the gates open, and the building […]

Chateau de Challain

Château de Challain: The Ultimate Guide to One of France’s Most Extraordinary Wedding Venues

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Wedding

Château de Challain: The Ultimate Guide to One of France’s Most Extraordinary Wedding Venues The first time I drove through the gates of Château de Challain, I did what I suspect most people do: I stopped the car before I reached the courtyard and simply looked. The building rises out of the Loire Valley countryside […]

best chateau wedding venues in france

Chateau de Champlatreux: The Most Stunning Wedding Venue Right Outside of Paris

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Wedding

Chateau de Champlatreux : The Most Stunning Wedding Venue Right Outside of Paris There is a particular moment that happens when you turn off the highway north of Paris and the road narrows between rows of mature trees that have been growing here for centuries, and the château appears at the end of the allée […]

Chateau Tourreau wedding

Château de Tourreau: A Provence Wedding Venue Guide

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Wedding

Château de Tourreau: A Complete Guide to Provence’s Most Celebrated Wedding Venue There is a moment that happens at Château de Tourreau that I hear about from nearly every couple and wedding professional who has experienced it. You turn off the road in Sarrians, pass through the gates, and the cypress avenue opens ahead of […]

villa cetinale elopement

Villa Cetinale Elopement: An Elegant Lemon-Themed Destination Elopement in the Heart of Tuscany

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Elopement

Villa Cetinale Elopement: An Elegant Lemon-Themed Destination Elopement in the Heart of Tuscany There is a particular kind of couple that finds their way to Villa Cetinale. They have usually been to Italy before — have walked Siena’s medieval streets, have sat with a glass of Chianti watching the Tuscan hills go golden in the […]

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