Weddings at Domaine de Canaille happen entirely out of doors. The villa stands above the sea at Cassis, inside the Calanques National Park, and wedding guests do not go into the house: the terrace over the bay and the grounds around it carry the whole day, with a tent put up in case the weather turns. The domain holds only two weddings a year, each of about a hundred guests, so that its neighbours are not disturbed, and the wedding party has the entire property to itself.
A hotel that became a private house
The villa occupies the site of the former Revestel hotel, whose guests included Virginia Woolf and Winston Churchill, according to the domain’s own account. It was renovated in 2017 and now has 600 square metres of living space, set on an estate of 60 hectares beneath Cap Canaille, the cliff that rises behind the property.
The setting is the national park coast rather than a village street. A private path leads down to the beach in under five minutes, and the village and port of Cassis are about a 15 minute walk away, so the harbour is within reach on foot. Marseille airport is about 45 minutes by road.
A wedding held on the terrace and in the grounds
The arrangement is simple and unusual. Weddings of up to 110 guests take place on the terrace above the bay and in the grounds. The terrace measures about 400 square metres, which looks over the bay of Arene. Because wedding guests stay out of the house, the outdoor spaces are the whole venue, and the pool, the deck and the lawn belong to the celebration in a way they would not at a property where the house is also in use.
The tent is the one piece of contingency the domain describes. It goes up for bad weather, so the wedding stays outside even when the forecast does not allow it. No seated dining capacity or ceremony layout is given, and 110 is the stated limit for a wedding rather than a figure for any single arrangement of tables.
How the spaces relate is straightforward from what the domain describes. The terrace is the principal gathering place and looks over the bay. The pool and its deck lie beside the villa, the lawn with the hot tub rises behind, and the private path runs down to the beach. The house itself stays closed to the wedding party. No running order for the day, ceremony location within the grounds or position for the tent is given, so those are matters for the planning conversation rather than facts to assume.
The size of the estate and the size of the wedding sit comfortably together. Sixty hectares of grounds hold a party of up to 110, and the domain keeps its wedding calendar short, at two a year. The wedding party is not sharing the terrace, the pool or the path to the beach with another group, because the domain is let to one party at a time.
The villa’s own scale is modest by comparison. Its 600 square metres of living space sleep 24 people, against a wedding of up to 110, and the wedding takes place around the house and not within it. Couples who picture a ballroom or an indoor dinner will find a different format here, one built on terraces, decks and open ground, with the tent as the only covered space the domain mentions for the celebration.
The terrace, the pool and the deck
The outdoor spaces have distinct characters. The pool measures 13 by 5 metres and is heated to 26 degrees from April to October. A wooden deck runs beside it, under pine trees, with the sea visible beyond. Another wooden deck, with lounge seating and sun loungers, looks down onto the bay, where boats lie at anchor. On the lawn above, a hot tub is kept at 38 degrees all year, with the rock face of Cap Canaille behind it.
Inside, the villa has sea view salons, a home cinema with a giant screen and a kitchen with a breakfast bar, though these belong to the stay rather than to the wedding, since guests at the celebration do not use the house. The activities the domain says it can arrange are described further on.
About twelve bedrooms for 24 guests
The domain sleeps 24 in about twelve bedrooms across two buildings. The main villa holds nine. A master suite of 90 square metres occupies the top floor, with a sea view bedroom, an office, a large bathroom and two private terraces. Below it on the first floor are seven en suite bedrooms with shower rooms, five of them facing the sea and six of them twin rooms, and a twin room with a garden view is on the ground floor.
A separate house at the entrance to the estate has three more twin bedrooms. One of them is available only on certain dates and at a supplement. The domain states that each house sleeps at most 15 people, which sets the ceiling for any one building.
Twenty four beds against 110 wedding guests means that most of the party sleeps elsewhere, in Cassis or along the coast.
Staying a week or four nights
The rental terms turn a wedding into a stay. A week is required from mid June to the end of August and for large weddings, and at other times the minimum is four nights. A couple marrying here therefore books the domain for several days, and the 24 who sleep in the villa and the house at the entrance share it for that whole period, with the pool, the terrace and the grounds at their disposal. Breakfast arrives each morning, and the villa’s sea view salons, home cinema and kitchen with a breakfast bar are there for the days around the wedding.
The domain lists what it can arrange for the days either side: boat trips in the Calanques, kayaking, paddle, climbing, hiking, electric bike tours and yoga on the beach. The beach is under five minutes away on the private path, and the village of Cassis is about 15 minutes away on foot, so the party has both the beach path and the town within reach.
Breakfast and an optional chef
Fresh bread and pastries are delivered each morning for a traditional French breakfast, with a cooked breakfast as an option. A chef on site is optional. The domain says the chef can offer family cooking, table service, a buffet or a gala dinner. Menus, wedding catering terms and approved caterers are not set out, so the food for a wedding is a matter for the enquiry.
Taking the whole domain
The domain is let only as a whole, the villa and the house at its entrance together, and it can be rented only on those terms. The rental fee for a wedding of up to 110 guests starts from EUR 40,000 and rises to EUR 130,000, depending on the dates, the number of guests and the length of the stay. A week is required from mid June to the end of August and for large weddings. Outside those periods the minimum is four nights.
That structure explains the price range. The fee covers the rental of the whole domain, not a per head package, and the wide spread reflects how much the date and the length of stay change the cost.
Planning a wedding here
A few points are worth settling at the start. The first is the weather plan: the tent is in place for rain, and the guest count and the layout beneath it are a conversation for the domain. The second is where wedding guests will sleep, since the domain sleeps 24. The third is the legal ceremony, which is not described, so a couple intending a civil or religious ceremony in France will need to ask what can be arranged on site.
The domain accepts only two weddings a year, a limit it sets so as not to disturb its neighbours, which means dates are limited before any other consideration. Cassis, about a 15 minute walk away, is close enough for guests staying in the village to walk to the property.
A wedding for about a hundred guests
Domaine de Canaille suits a couple who want a wedding of about a hundred guests held entirely outdoors on a private estate in the Calanques, with the sea and the cliff as the setting and the whole property reserved for them. The principal consideration is that the house stays closed to wedding guests, so the celebration depends on the terrace, the grounds and the tent. The villa itself, with its suite, its salons and its pool, is a place for the smaller group who stay.
Read the Domaine de Canaille profile for the facts and fees, see the magazine issue for more photographs, browse weddings in Cassis, Provence and France, read about the region in the Wedding Atlas, or check your date with the domain.
