Wedding Reviews and Gallery

It's our goal to ensure that every guest who's traveled to Chateau Challain can share a moment in it's history, and enjoy every minute they're here. And it will be our pleasure to make your stay, whether you're a bride, a guest for a wedding or a family staying for bed and breakfast, a memorable one.

Read some recent reviews from our guests and hopefully we'll be publishing your review here soon.

"If you are seeking the ultimate storybook venue and wedding, Chateau Challain and Cynthia Nicholson will not disappoint. The castle and grounds are real-life representations of fairytale settings, unmatched anywhere else in the world. The castle itself is a Neo-Gothic masterpiece with many incredible architectural features, and all suites and state rooms are well appointed with high-end antiques and modern amenities. Even your guests will count their time at the Chateau as once-in-a-lifetime experiences. The grounds have a lake, many well-manicured gardens and stone bridges, all great for photograph opportunities and adding to the French castle mystique.

The location of Chateau Challain is in the heart of the romantic Loire Valley and affords its guests the opportunity to explore the many vineyards and other castles of the region with ease. Every single guest has commented to us how wonderful their experience was (and we can tell they are a bit jealous that we were so fortunate to have found Chateau Challain and Cynthia Nicholson).

The wedding itself was like a broadway production. So many critical components with many moving parts. Cynthia’s crew is second to none. They are incredibly friendly, helpful and multi-talented. For instance, one gentleman on the staff was a bartender, resident DJ, magician, and hog roaster. And speaking of food, wow! From the pig roast to the Michelin-starred dinner, you and your guests will leave the Chateau with one of the best culinary experiences you have ever had. We still talk about the steak and salmon being the best we’ve experienced but do not just take our word for it. One of our guests is a famous restaurateur and believed that the filet was exceptional (he wound up procuring seconds!). The flower arrangements at the wedding in the courtyard were exceptional as were the reception table settings. Our cake was created in mirror image of our request and the fireworks, oh the fireworks…think a professional Fourth of July show in a major US city.

At the head of all these moving parts is the captain and maestro, Cynthia Nicholson. The best way to describe Cynthia is that she is a dream maker. She created a dream wedding for us, a dream we still haven't woken up from. From the first day we arrived (Cynthia arranged for us to arrive a day early), Cynthia included us for a dinner she was making for the staff, knowing that we had had a long journey. She was incredibly generous throughout our stay, and she treated us and our guests like her family. The wedding day wouldn't have been so absolutely enchanting if it wasn't for her. She went above and beyond the call of duty, and she even literally got down on a knee to help me on a horse for photo opportunities. The ceremony that she orchestrated was full of emotion and love; Cynthia and the staff celebrated with us, and we felt they were a part of the wedding. And lastly, the reception was full of fun and joy. I have never seen my aunts and uncles - who are in their 70s - get out of their comfort zone so much and have such a great time.

Thank you so much, Cynthia! For any brides thinking about having your wedding at Chateau Challain, you will truly feel like a princess in your fairytale wedding."

"This venue for a wedding is perfection. Our wedding surpassed all of our highest expectations. Cynthia, the owner, will make all your dreams come true. We had our rehearsal dinner the first night and the way Cynthia decorated it was amazing. The dinner was delicious. The next day we had a breakfast buffet that was delicious too.

Our ceremony was wonderful outside, cocktail reception was great and the dinning room and dinner - perfection. All her vendors from the photographer, videographer, chef, hair, makeup - everyone was super professional and kind. Don't look any further than here."

Through hours of endless searching we came across several different chateaus that offered wedding packages. None of them compared to what we found at Chateau de Challain.

Cynthia was very quick to respond to our inquiry emails and was even so kind as to help us with pricing and package options.

We had some very specific requests. For example: both of us are vegetarian and requested all meals served during our stay to be vegetarian friendly. Also, we had one specific photographer that we wanted to work with, and she made sure to secure him for our big day. We also wanted to have a wine sommelier from a local organic vineyard teach us about fine French wines and cheese pairings. Cynthia was able coordinate and make all of these wishes come true.

We had guests come from all over the world and at various times throughout the day. The majority of our guests arrived with us on a train from Paris while others arrived later that day and even the following day. (Cynthia was very helpful when it came to arranging the train for those of us coming from Paris - she even went so far as to purchase the tickets as a group so we were all together and got the most cost effective rate). A tip for future brides: communication to your guests is paramount and Cynthia does a great job coordinating and trying to get everyone where they need to go. However, at the end of the day it is in your best interest to communicate to your guests yourself and have clear directions as to times and places for everyone to be at and when.

This property will exceed any expectations you have!

"We had our dream wedding here last week and everything was absolutely wonderful! The chateau is truly the most beautiful venue with so much character, the interior is impeccably furnished with amazing unique pieces and the grounds are also beautifully designed and maintained. We had a very small elopement style wedding (just us and our parents attending) and the staff were incredibly attentive and helpful, we felt like royalty the entire time!

The best part is that planning was so easy since Cynthia coordinates everything and offers complete elopement packages, which really took the stress out of wedding planning! As a lazy bride that wanted the perfect fairytale wedding, I couldn't be happier to have found Chateau Challain. Cynthia has a great team setup to ensure you have your perfect wedding.

We loved our photographer Janis who was so fun to work with and was great at directing us (we are not a photogenic couple!). The chef at the Chateau is also amazing and all of the food was so delicious, especially the incredible chocolate cake he made.. I am just hoping I can make it through the next year without pulling the anniversary slice out of the freezer!

Chateau Challain is definitely the place to go for the perfect fairytale wedding that you'll never forget (and have the best pics!) Big thanks to everyone at the Chateau during our stay, we couldn't be happier with our wedding!"

"We want to start by saying that our experience with Cynthia Nicholson from the first moment we contacted her to this date has been nothing but exceptional. Cynthia truly made our dreams come true. The ultimate definition of a "Fairytale Fantasy Wedding".  Chateau Challain is a memory that will forever be talked about amongst our family and friends.  Our wedding was truly magical, filled with love, joy and out of this world beautiful. It was as if it was out of a storybook. Cynthia and her staff at Chateau Challain was so accomodating, friendly, efficient and warm.   Cynthia spared no detail and is a truly talented woman. Not only is she talented, but she has such a warm and loving disposition. She is caring and very communicative. Cynthia even flew down to meet us to help with planning.  Anything we needed or wanted she did her best to make it happen, and even with short notice at times. The Chateau is definitely immaculate! The property was gorgeous and well maintained. It is extremely overwhelming once you drive onto the property for the very first time.  Impeccable details to every room in the castle.  

The food was incredible. The band was so amazing. We can't wait to come back and visit again. The experience we had was more than we ever dreamed and could of asked for. The process was so easy and Cynthia went above and beyond to make this experience as stress and worry free as possible. We truly felt like the King and Queen of the Castle.  We would do this a million times over again!!!!"

"Absolutely, 100%, the most unforgettable & memorable trip of a lifetime. During the first week, we stayed at Chateau Challain to celebrate Sherri & Kenneth Fontaine's wedding. Each day leading up to, and after the wedding was filled with activities including a bike ride to a vineyard for lunch, horseback riding, archery, visits to Mont St. Michel (where I got to dip my feet in the English Channel) & St Malo, dinner in a vineyard complete with a 5-star Michelin chef, a hog roast, drinking Veuve Clicqout at any and all opportune times and partying 'till dawn. Each of these were done with elegance, luxury & the utmost sophistication. The food was rich, plentiful & absolutely delicious.

Then there was the rehearsal dinner & wedding itself. The rehearsal was "Great Gatsby" themed and everyone dressed their best and the Chateau decorated and designed their carriage house to really bring you back in time. The wedding was incredible (to say the least). The bride was gorgeous in the dress she designed, and the groom was dressed to the nines! The band at the reception made you feel as though you were front row at a concert. EVERYONE was on the dance floor all night! Their kids surprised them with a song they had been practicing for months. Maya sang, Ben played the sax, Aaron was on the piano & Paul (Sherri's Uncle) was on guitar. As if things couldn't get more impressive, they finished the night off with an amazing firework show! The owner (Cynthia) & staff (Patrice & Daniel) at Chateau Challain are some of the finest & hard working people I've ever met. They were so above and beyond accommodating and payed attention to every detail. No glass ever went empty and some of them were working 20 hour days a bunch of days in a row to keep everything running smoothly. Never a complaint from any of them. Every time we went on an excursion as a group, we would arrive and the Chateau staff would already be there preparing lunch (or dinner) and making sure our visits were perfect.

I know I speak for everyone when I say a HUGE heartfelt thank you to Kenny & Sherri for an wonderful week!"