Original subtitles

I'm Dick Strawbridge, and, along with my wife Angel

and our two children...

Welcome aboard, mateys.

..we're now five years... Woo!

..into restoring this once-abandoned chateau.

That's beautiful.

It's brought its challenges...

..and some amazing rewards.

Thank you for my flower garden, Mr Strawbridge.

And across France,

there are dozens of other Brits

who are on their own chateau adventure.

Yay!

We'll meet some old friends...

Smile. I am.

..and new faces.

These rooms really haven't been touched in 60 years.

And we'll reveal more about our own chateau life.

It is SO much better in real life.

There'll be highs...

Yay!

..and lows...

Oh, no.

Oh, God. What a disaster.

..as these plucky Brits...

Time is money.

..transform these once-unloved buildings into incredible homes...

I just cannot believe how much work you've put in for us.

..as well as businesses...

Woohoo!

..and get to live the dream as custodians of their very own castle.

Cheers, everybody.

Today...

Right, we're here.

..new chateau owners turn the key on a new life.

Look at this, wow.

Oh, my God.

I'd forgotten how fantastic this place is. Isn't it?

Another comes face-to-face with the past...

I can't describe the smell, it's the must of a thousand years.

..as she restores an original chateau relic.

LAUGHS: I don't want to do this.

And one couple have wedding jitters.

We're just quickly doing a very quick tidy-up

because the wedding planner is coming.

Hello. Hello, Angel.

So Angel shares the secrets to wedding success.

This is the sort of wedding that most people want nowadays.

They want it to be a bit fairy tale and whimsical.

Chateau owners all over France are now busy preparing

for the new wedding and events season.

Take the spectacular 16th-century Chateau de Lalande.

Sitting in 60 acres, it has 18 bedrooms...

..and even its own chapel.

It's home to familiar face Stephanie,

who moved in here 13 years ago.

After much renovation, she now runs it as a B&B and events business.

I still have to pinch myself every day,

every time I open my bedroom window.

I can't believe I live here.

Located in Centre-Val de Loire, winter has been busy.

It's been a really good year so far.

We've got a lot done.

We got the greenhouse renovated.

Oh, my goodness.

Oh, it's wonderful.

And we finally got the last B&B room finished.

And she launched her first artists' weekend

in the newly-renovated art studio.

If you use your charcoal to follow the curves of the leg like a tube,

then you tend to get a sense of it feeling quite solid.

Now Stephanie's turning her attention to the biggest

and most important event she's ever put on,

her mother Isabelle's wedding to fiance Percy

in just two months' time.

I'm quite nervous about hosting my mother's wedding.

For a start, I've never hosted a wedding here before

and to start with my own mother's, it's amazing.

I'm excited.

Right.

Oh, there she is.

Stephanie's putting her heart and soul

into making sure the bride's journey to the chapel

is anything but bog-standard.

She's doing up an old carriage.

Gosh, I hope it stops.

As soon as I realised I was going to be hosting my mother's wedding,

I knew the carriage had to be part of it, immediately.

This is it.

This was the opportunity to get the carriage working.

Having not been used for almost 100 years,

Stephanie and close family friend Gerry

are keen to see what they need to do to make it wedding-ready.

I've got a LOT of work to do on the upholstery.

I think the mice have been living in there for some time.

Probably. Probably still are. Oh, that's really bad.

Look at this, the whole seat moves.

That's working well, that's easy to do.

Incredible!

So, you put the horse on here.

And I'd be on the back like that.

Faster. Faster. Mummy's getting bored.

He's coming up to the fourth furlong. She's getting bored.

He's getting there. Hurry up. Hurry up, Gerry.

There's no time for horsing around,

with only two months until the wedding.

The carriage needs cleaning, painting and re-upholstering

before the bride can journey to the chapel in it.

37 miles south is the 19th-century Chateau Gioux,

set in five acres of stunning countryside

on the edge of the Millevaches Park.

It's the new home to Yorkshire couple Debbie and Nigel,

who bought it for £280,000.

It was love at first sight.

Just blew you away when you saw it. Yeah, I just loved it.

I'd never have dreamed in a million years that we'd be able to...

I didn't think we'd have a chance. ..to afford this.

It's very, very special.

Located 30 miles east of Limoges,

we saw it nearly become home to bikers Martin and Kim a year ago.

Nice, very nice. You like it? Yeah, very nice. Yeah.

Ohhh, look at this.

Wow.

Whilst Kim fell head over heels...

I want this one.

..Martin, on the other hand...

Hello.

Speak.

I am listening, but we've got to work it out, babes.

We've got to work it out. OK, all right.

While it didn't work for them, it did for Debbie and Nigel,

who snapped it up when the price fell by over £100,000.

We are just ordinary people

who have taken the decision to move to France.

We haven't got millions of pounds in the bank.

We've remortgaged, we've cashed pensions in.

So, we've really pushed the boat out to get to this point.

Because they've stretched themselves,

Debbie and Nigel need to generate income

by opening as a B&B as soon as possible.

They both have experience working with the public.

Nigel ran bars in Benidorm and Debbie, a farm shop back home.

Even though we've both been, in the past,

involved in the hospitality industry,

I think the first guests arriving

will be quite a nerve-racking experience.

They met only five years ago.

This will be a totally new venture for them

and today, they're moving in.

Right, we're here.

Come on.

Bailey.

Amazing, it looks really good.

Bit of work to do, isn't there, but...?

Soon do that. But we'll get there.

It's going to look absolutely beautiful when it's finished.

Look at this. We're here. Wow.

Oh, my God.

Absolutely incredible.

I'd forgotten how fantastic this place is.

Isn't it?

There's no getting away from the amount of work

that needs to be done throughout the chateau

and neither of them have done anything on this scale before.

This is by far the biggest thing we've done as a partnership.

Exciting times.

# There may be trouble... Oh, don't sing, Deb, don't sing.

I've every faith in you.

The good news is that through word of mouth,

their first paying guests are due to arrive in only six weeks' time.

That means they urgently need to get three bedrooms ready.

This is where we're going to knock through, Deb.

Oh, yeah, that's right. We've got the bathroom if we...

What we'll do is we'll have a secret wardrobe

where there's a doorway into the next room.

But how exciting that will be, to come through

the wardrobe into the bathroom? Won't it?

The magical tales of Narnia

in The Lion, the Witch And The Wardrobe

seems to be their inspiration.

Ooh.

We found a wardrobe downstairs

and it would be quite nice opening the wardrobe,

walking through the wardrobe into Narnia,

which is a lovely master bathroom.

So, you go into a cupboard and come out of a cupboard, basically.

Once this is stripped down, it'll be good.

Looks slightly rickety.

First task, getting the wardrobe out of the cellar.

Hang on. Whoa, it won't go in there. OK.

So, we'll have to tip it.

Is it tipping or not? No.

Won't go. Hang on.

That's it.

Then it's two flights of stairs to navigate

to get it to the bedroom still in one piece.

Ah.

Does yours fit? Just about. Perfect. Look at that.

Brilliant. That looks really good. Right.

I think I'm going to now go and get the door frame

and mark it and then we can start cutting through. Right.

Nigel's renovation experience is limited.

And even knocking through a stud wall to create a doorway

is not for the faint-hearted.

He's using a door frame salvaged from the cellar as a template

to mark the hole he wants to make.

Right, I'll put that down.

You hold that there.

If you go backwards now... Yeah.

No, that's not backwards. No, I...

SMASH Oops.

That's why I said go backwards. Sorry, I...

The chandelier's fine, there's just one thing dropped off it,

but it's not broken, so I'll pop that back on.

The next bit is starting to break through.

Once Nigel's finished drawing the frame,

then we'll start to tap through and see...

Then we see what happens.

I've not done anything like this before, so...

We haven't got the money to be able to get people in to do it,

so we've got to do it ourselves, or it won't get done.

A man after my own heart, Nigel.

Nothing beats the satisfaction of giving it a go yourself.

Here we go.

And I reckon you'll save yourself hundreds of pounds.

I'm going to cut through the other side

so it's all loose and then I can just knock through.

It seems to be working.

Deb. Yoo-hoo.

Well done, dear.

We're getting there. We're getting there.

Are you pleased?

I'm really pleased, I think it's going to look fantastic.

There may be less than six weeks to go before your guests arrive,

but you've made a cracking start.

Coming up...

Another couple are hoping to impress a wedding planner,

but are told some home truths.

My first instinct is you've got a lot of stuff.

I think de-cluttering would be quite a good idea.

Angela helps with the sums.

That's not the right figure.

Really? Was it too much? No, it's not enough. Oh. Right.

And Stephanie starts her carriage restoration.

I'll steam-clean them to within an inch of their lives.

But it's Gerry who gets a blasting.

And it's coming all over me.

Hold it.

In south-west France is the stately Chateau de Brives.

It sits in 30 acres, has 25 rooms and five outbuildings.

Antique dealers Sarah and George bought it for £415,000,

nine years ago, when they decided they wanted a new challenge.

The chateau is the best antique that I ever bought.

Well, I remember seeing it from the road, actually, and we just

both looked at each other and thought, "Wow, this is so amazing."

It's located 58 miles from Bordeaux.

As it hadn't been lived in for 20 years, it was a wreck,

so they've done major renovations, both inside and out, to turn it

into a family home, for themselves and children, Tatiana and Alexi.

This house means everything to us.

All of us, the children, too.

We're all very, very passionate about it.

Tati, especially, I think Alexi

would be happy anywhere, as long he's got Wi-Fi, but...

It's just a lovely family home that happens to be 200 years old

and a rather grand chateau.

Although they still deal in antiques,

they need the chateau to start paying for itself.

It's very vital that we have a second source of income

and there is an enormous amount of pressure in owning a chateau.

Mm. We're hoping weddings will be the answer.

Friends in the area were doing similar things and other chateau

owners, so we thought, "We've got it all here, let's make a go of it."

As they're starting a new business venture from scratch

and will be investing both time and money into it,

they've found an expert in bespoke events to advise on where to start.

Well, we're quickly just doing a very quick tidy up because the

wedding planner's coming and I want it to look the best it can for her.

Some anxiety of the wedding planner coming, but

as we have no experience whatsoever, we have to have a wedding planner.

I'll put that away.

Hide everything in the cupboards.

Yeah, OK. Big moment.

SHE CHUCKLES

Time's up. Wedding planner Samantha's arrived.

The stakes are high, they'll soon find out

if their home of nine years is right for a wedding venue.

Hi. Hi. How lovely to see you.

Hi, Samantha, George. My wife, Sarah. Hi.

Really lovely to meet you. Hi, thank you for coming.

Wow, what an incredible place you've got.

It's really, really beautiful,

got fabulous proportions, really, really good.

Come on in and have a look. OK, thank you.

Wow, what an incredible place.

Samantha knows what makes a perfect wedding venue.

If all goes well, she could help

drum up business for Sarah and George.

So, this is our main salon.

OK.

In here, what we're hoping to do very soon is to completely

redecorate, fill in all the cracks, et cetera.

So it would really just generally have a good freshen up? Yes.

Mm. Before, obviously, it was let out as a venue? Yes. OK.

That sounds a really sensible idea.

OK, I think my first instincts is it looks great,

but it does look like a family house at the moment. Yep.

So I think maybe you might need to

lose a few of the personal photographs and what, have you?

Declutter. We're selling it as a venue, so it would probably be a

good idea just to tuck those away. Of course. OK.

So, after years of turning the chateau into a family home,

they now need to de-personalise it.

Not easy when your stock in trade is antiques

and you've filled your house with them.

The plan would be to let out five bedrooms and some communal areas.

So, into the dining room. OK.

Looking overall, it's a great space, but obviously,

you've got a lot of stuff.

I know it's your business, but I'm slightly concerned

about people knocking things, so I think along with the redecoration

of the main salon, I think decluttering would be a good idea.

More upmarket boutique hotel. I think less is more. Yep. OK.

OK. So, Samantha, I'll take you upstairs and you can see the

bedrooms that we're offering.

Tell me what you think about them.

So this was the room I thought would be nice for the bride to

have as her dressing room. OK.

Again, it's a beautiful room, but

try to make it a little bit more commercial. Yeah. Yeah.

It's starting to dawn on Sarah and George just what needs to be done

to change their cosy, private home into a chateau suitable for clients.

Another selling point, as a wedding venue,

is that the local church borders their grounds.

So these are the gates that we're going to re-instate. Mm-hm.

So tomorrow, I'm going to dig out here, try and get them open,

sand down all the metalwork and then repaint them.

Hopefully, they'll be as good as new. Here's the church.

Oh, this is gorgeous, isn't it? Really lovely.

Directly in front of the house. Yep. So here we go.

Oh, OK, this is amazing, isn't it? It's really pretty.

I think it seats 100, 150 people quite happily.

Again, that's great. No, this is an absolute treasure, I think.

Oh, good.

This chateau and its perfect location should make it

a superb wedding venue, but Samantha needs to be confident

they can do the work needed to make their home suitable for weddings.

I think it's really good, actually.

The house itself and the accommodation

and the church are gorgeous.

They just need to turn it into a little bit more of a venue

than a family home.

For somebody who's never been involved in anything like this,

obviously they're opening their doors to share their property,

it's a lot to take on. But, yes, I look forward to working with them.

You're not worried about how many things we've got to

do in the time, or...?

No, I think the main thing is the decorating in here, one of the

bedrooms she thought needed a bit of upgrading and obviously the gate.

Getting that working. That will be done. So, yeah.

I think we have a nice long list, but we can get through it. Yeah.

And with the wedding season fast approaching,

there's only one way to get the job done, and that's to get started.

115 miles away, at Chateau Gioux, new owners Debbie

and Nigel are creating a magical entrance to the

en-suite for their first guests in three weeks' time.

Nigel's finished knocking through the wall

and has put in his doorframe.

When it's completed, I think it's going to look very special.

And Debbie's got her own project, too.

She's found some old shutters in an outhouse

and wants to transform them into a screen for one of the bedrooms.

We're going to put new hinges on them.

Obviously, sand them down and

repaint them, make them look a little bit old, a little bit chippy,

and use them as a screen in the bedrooms.

I think my major concern will be Nigel saying it's not good

enough, basically!

I'll be fine with it.

But Nigel is a bit more of a perfectionist about paintwork

than I am, I quite like the old, shabby look.

Oh, you've done a good job, there. That's come up nicely.

You daren't say anything else. That's good.

Then do you want me to take these hinges off?

Those could do to come off and then I can get on with painting.

They're gonna take some shifting, I'm afraid.

Yeah, that one's snapped off.

Have you damaged my...? Yeah, look. The screw has broken.

I'm too strong.

What can we do?

Use a big hammer.

Stand back. Stand back.

How far do you want me to stand back? That'll do.

Right.

Not the solution, Nige.

I'm going to have to try and drill it out.

SHE SIGHS

What about the rest of them?

They all need drilling out.

They'll all need drilling out.

Though for Nigel, there's no such

thing as a straightforward drilling out.

I've got a big hammer, I've got a drill,

and if that doesn't work, I've got the angle grinder.

You've pulled it apart by banging this out. I'll mend it.

No, I've tapped it back in gently,

but you've pulled all these out, look. Well...

You've pulled all these out.

That's part of the hazard of having... No, it isn't.

Right, I'm going to try and drill it, first. OK.

Hey. There we go. Well done.

Will you cut those off, or? Yes. Close your eyes.

All right, I'll move away.

There, how was that? Good job.

All ready for a lick of paint.

37 miles north, at Chateau de Lalande,

Stephanie and close family friend Gerry are restoring the carriage

for Stephanie's mother's wedding in five weeks' time.

Who wouldn't want to sit on that on their wedding day?

I think I'll have to use them cos they've got cut-outs and everything.

I'll steam-clean them to within an inch of their lives.

Could you not put the fabric over the top?

And then use your magic machine?

You just want me to staple gun everything. Staple it.

Staple it.

The carriage is over 100 years old.

Left by the previous owners, it's been gathering dust for decades,

so Stephanie's first job is to give it a good clean.

Stephanie, it's coming all over me.

Hold it! If I...

Yeah, but it's amazing how it's cleaning it.

You can see the difference between the clean part where the

light's coming through and the dirty part.

Carriage and Gerry, thoroughly jet-washed,

they turn their attention to the paintwork.

I thought it was black but in fact, first, originally, it was blue.

Yeah, you can see that.

I've got two different colours which I hopefully will match.

Come on, I'll show you. We don't

have paint quite that colour, I don't think.

That's actually not far off as it is.

This is the "something blue" for Mummy.

I think it's good.

Like a true chateau-owner,

Stephanie wants to restore the carriage as faithfully as possible.

This is very tricky because, look,

there's this incredibly delicate red line that I want to try and keep.

Two lines.

Retaining such fine detail will demand a skilled and steady hand.

Why don't we just paint over it? Gerald!

It's going to be such a minute job.

I know. I'm going to do it.

Stephanie wants to paint in between the red lines the blue paint.

It's gonna take her three days to do one wheel.

And I think it should just be painted blue.

See where you're doing that, see where I've already, the red line?

Yep. Why don't I paint it blue and see what you think?

Uh, OK.

Stop, stop, stop.

Stephanie, that looks lovely.

This has got a little red line in it, though.

Yeah, but Stephanie, that looks as

if it done by somebody at Playschool. Stand here. Yep.

This is as close as people are gonna get.

You can't see the red. I can see the red.

That's because you're looking for it.

You don't say, "That's a lovely

"blue, oh, look, there are two red stripes."

I'm just going to get on with the wheel, Gerald.

With Isabelle's wedding just over a month away,

Stephanie and Gerald have their work cut out,

as restoring the carriage is just the start.

Coming up...

Sarah gets top tips from wedding queen, my Angel.

It does not take a lot to use this chair, but reupholster it.

So you've done those yourselves? Yes. Gosh. But it's super easy.

And at Chateau Gioux...

It looks really odd jutting out like that. Yeah.

..Debbie has doubts about Nigel's DIY.

It looks a lot worse today.

You're not supposed to say it looks worse.

Becoming a wedding venue is no easy job,

as Angel and I know only too well.

That is not very impressive at all.

We've hosted over 40 weddings...

Woooo!

..including our own.

We're married!

So we've got some know-how about nuptials.

You may kiss your bride.

That's why today, chateau-owner

and antique dealer Sarah has made the long journey over to our place.

Oh, goodness that's amazing.

How beautiful!

She and husband George want to host weddings at their chateau

and I can't think of anybody better suited to give her

business advice than my Angel.

Hello. Hello, Angel.

How gorgeous. Welcome.

You drove this down? I know.

What a woman!

Everyone's staring at my great big purple van.

No, I tell you what, that's amazing.

Have you got goodies in the back?

Yes, I have, loads.

Your goodies?

Yes, I have, lots and lots of things, have a look.

Let's have a little look.

Angel's asked Sarah to bring over some of her antiques so she can

show her how to make the most of what she's got

to dress a wedding table.

Linens and crockery and...

Bring them in. Fab. OK.

Thank you.

That is quite heavy. Yeah. Right.

Inside, it's straight down to business.

I'd love to have a brainstorm with you first.

Perfect.

Tell me where you're at with your business.

How many weddings do you want to do a year?

I think around the five number.

OK. Yep.

Five weddings. Yep.

Have you got anyone helping you on this?

Yes, we do have a wedding planner on board.

You don't want to be the wedding planner? Five weddings a year?

I...

Don't, to be honest, because I've already got my antique job.

Yeah, OK.

And I don't think I could split myself that much.

What bits do you want to do? I'd love to understand.

What bits do you expect your wedding planner to do.

That's wedding planner. Yeah.

And this is Sarah.

Well, we're responsible for the venue, obviously, the chateau.

Yeah. We do have the church.

Who will do the catering on the main day?

Are you going to get another company?

Yes, through the wedding planner.

She would have those contacts.

Right, OK, so that's the wedding planner.

Marquee, tables, chairs? Is that all...?

Wedding planner.

Can I ask, how does it work with finance, then?

Does your wedding planner take a percentage of everything,

or do they take a fee?

She has told us that we can charge 4,000 per wedding.

And then she's paid her fee per hour.

And what do you have to provide for that 4,000?

It's the use of the chateau for three days and nights,

the B&B for 6-8 guests, obviously the wedding itself.

Yep, so...

You will earn, with your five weddings... Yes.

..20 grand. Yeah.

That's not the right figure.

Really? Was it too much?

No, it's not enough.

But everything you can do yourself makes this go up.

It makes a big difference. Yeah.

I need to take you over to my orangery. Yeah.

The Orangery is where we host the wedding breakfast

and party afterwards.

Angel has another way of generating income,

given most planners need to hire in extras.

These are the chairs and tables that we use.

Brilliant.

Now, to hire a chair in France,

you're probably looking at five euros.

Really?

So we went to our local charity shop

and you've probably seen millions of this type of chair.

It does not take a lot to use this chair, but reupholster it.

So you've done all those yourselves?

Yeah. Gosh. But it's super easy.

I think, buy a staple gun, look on the Internet about upholstering

chairs, because this is the simplest upholstery you can do.

OK. Honestly.

You know, you're taking it from wedding planner hiring it in

for loads of money, and not being very good value,

or hiring it from you.

She's got a point, Sarah.

The more you do yourselves, the more money you earn.

Simple, really.

Back at their own chateau, to save money,

George is tackling the restoration of the chateau gates

and has roped in 17-year old daughter Tatiana to help.

It'll mean wedding parties have easy access to the church.

How do you want me to help?

What we've got to do is try and get the gates open.

Mm-hm.

So we must dig out this.

OK.

Dig it out, try and get them open.

Then wire wool them down, get all the rust off,

and start painting them.

Sounds good.

So it looks lovely for the church.

So, let's get to it.

Getting these gates working again would be a unique asset.

The bridal party could have a nice quick walk

straight from the church to their reception at the chateau.

They probably haven't been opened in...

Could be 30 years.

But it is coming up quite easily, so far.

We've got stone here.

That must be the original level we have to get to.

It's amazing how deep it is.

Well, that's about the same level, now, look.

Should work, now.

That's it.

Yeah, that's one.

There we go.

So that's the first time they've been open for a long, long time.

Now the next job is to sand them down and give them a touch of paint.

Mm. Brilliant.

Good stuff.

There's nothing like a bit of elbow grease to get a project moving,

but there's a lot of work to be done before these gates

would pass muster with a bridal party.

115 miles away, Debbie and Nigel are busy

trying to finish their magical Narnia-influenced doorway,

ready for the first guests to enter their en-suite

in three weeks' time.

That wants to go back in there.

He's now got to fit the wardrobe to the bedroom side, but Nigel

is relatively new at chateau-scale DIY, and there's a problem.

It doesn't quite fit against the wall at the top.

I altered it yesterday to make it tidy, but it's pulled it in

too far, so there's too big a gap on the left-hand side.

So I need to now undo what I did yesterday to make it fit.

Could you just not have a gap?

No, 'cos that has to be solid against the wall.

Right, OK.

If there's any gap, there's a chance of movement.

So how are you going to make it up?

So I need to now move this across.

What, this whole panel?

Yeah.

Which is how it was before.

Unfortunately, it's back to square one.

It needs to be about there.

Right.

That wasn't as difficult as I thought, then.

Well, we haven't seen it up yet.

Hang on, this is all. Oh, right, yeah.

No, that doesn't look right, does it?

You're going to have to move that back a bit as well, Nige.

It looks really odd, jutting out like that.

Well, that's how it was yesterday,

so it just needs to be moved back a little bit.

But it looks a lot worse, today.

You're not supposed to say it looks worse.

Don't worry, Nigel, you'll find a solution.

Just let it go. Yep.

Right, let's try that, see if that's any better.

There.

Door's on and they can finally see if it works.

That good? Yeah. Yeah?

Here we go. Moment of truth.

Hold your breath.

Oh, wow! Oh, wow!

How does that look? Brilliant.

That's gonna look good.

Happy with that.

I think it will be a little bit of intrigue when people walk in,

won't it?

They'll say, "Where's the bathroom, I thought this was ensuite?"

Exactly.

You can open the door and go, "Da-da!"

Like magic.

Now over to Debbie for some creative touches.

It's a really great feeling,

actually getting started on the proper work.

I think Nigel would take issue with this being the proper work, Debbie!

Though to be fair, the pressure is all on you, now, to make it lovely.

Ah, that's looking nice.

Do you like that? I do.

Good. Makes a real difference.

Also, we've saved some money by using up old stuff.

Short arms and deep pockets.

That's Yorkshire born, Yorkshire bred.

Strong in the arm and...

Thick in the head!

The worst of the work is over in there, I think, isn't it?

It is, yeah. Now it's just cosmetic.

Tidying up, painting and making a really nice room, isn't it?

It's gonna be a lovely room.

Will be a beautiful room, yeah.

But there's no rest for chateau owners.

Debbie and Nigel still need to decorate the other bedrooms,

before their first guests arrive in three weeks' time.

37 miles north, with Stephanie's mother's wedding looming,

she's busy renovating the dilapidated carriage

for the bride's journey to the chapel.

She's put the re-painting on hold,

in favour of upholstering its original cushions.

It's just, disgusting.

I can't describe the smell, it's the must of a thousand years.

Eurgh!

And a bit of cat in there, as an undertone.

Oh!

Maggots have fallen out of it.

Dead.

Desiccated maggots.

This is worse than I had feared.

I don't want to do this.

I mean, I've had to do some pretty gross things in this chateau,

but I think this might be the winner so far, now.

It's just a bit of dust.

Stephanie starts by removing the old covering.

Usually, I try to leave the old fabric on,

whenever I upholster, so that in the future, people will be

able to see the original fabric, but this is just too disgusting.

As this is the very first thing mummy will experience on her

wedding day, it would be nice if it was in full working order

and actually clean,

otherwise the bride will be a little bit smelly for the rest of the day.

Voila!

And I'll just hoover this around the edges, where the maggots were.

Oh, there's one.

Oh, dear, bride Isabelle's chosen this moment

to check on how her daughter's doing.

Dead maggots fell out of it.

Well, they were dead, why worry?

Fine, if you're happy with that, we'll just leave them!

I think you're making work for yourself.

No, I'm really happy to hand over to you

if you think you could do a better job.

Stephanie's re-using the original buttons on some silk

and cotton fabric she bought in London ten years ago.

With one thread, not two threads.

Stephanie?

Yep?

You won't be able to... it's because it's through leather.

I might actually need that thing that Percy created for me.

Yes, OK.

She's working with a handy tool called an awl to pierce

the heavy material.

Having not used one before,

following the instructions is essential.

Right, pull out thread,

double the distance of the seam you want to sew.

But it's not as straightforward as she'd hoped.

I've done something tremendously bad.

I'm going to have to start again.

Yes. We're going to wheel in.

I understand nothing.

Well, sadly, I'm in a very similar situation right now.

The instructions are written in as confusing a way as humanly possible.

I have put the awl aside

due to slight problems

with my mastery of it.

Plan B is to attempt to sew it the traditional way,

which is much harder to push through.

Oh, well, it works.

We'll stick with that.

Fingers crossed Stephanie finishes that sewing,

and gets the carriage painted in time for her mother's big day.

Coming up...

Angel helps Sarah get nifty with napkins...

Oh, it's going to be like a rose. Yeah.

Oh, my gosh, that's amazing.

..to create a wonderful wedding table.

Da-dah!

I think it's looking lovely.

I think it's absolutely beautiful.

And at Stephanie's, there's an oversight with cushion covers.

Were you wearing your glasses when you done this one?

I did, I forgot.

I thought that bit wasn't going to be seen!

In south-west France, George

and daughter Tatiana are renovating the chateau gates

so future wedding parties can access the church next door.

This afternoon, we can do some painting on these.

Yeah, that would be good.

Make them look a lot, lot better.

Which colour are we doing it?

We're gonna do it white.

Do you think it would be a good idea to get a smaller paintbrush

to really get inside the...?

Is that something you want to do?

Do you want to kind of...? Yeah, I would like to do it.

Work behind me.

You do the curly bits and I'll do these uprights?

That sounds like a plan, yeah.

OK. Looks good.

I think that once everything is done, it's gonna look really good.

I'm happy. Me too.

It's really, really good.

Looks really nice and it just blends in with the house.

It really does. Yeah, well done.

High five.

Good start, chaps.

But there's still a lot more to do before the chateau gates

are wedding-ready.

Back at our place, Angel is showing Sarah how she can use her own

antiques to help boost income and create a unique wedding venue.

These are gorgeous, did you get this at your fair that you went to?

Yes, we did, they're Italian.

We've a bit of a fetish about candlesticks.

I can tell!

I think you're going to be astounded how quickly you can do this.

Just some ivy from the garden can transform her candlesticks

and a wedding table.

If you want to start decorating, sort of stuff like this,

there's all different ways, because you can use wire,

but also green garden sellotape.

OK.

To stick things and if you take sort of little bits, like this,

I just gave that essentially a crown.

This is the sort of wedding that most people want nowadays,

they want it to be a bit fairy tale and whimsical. Mm.

You make it look so easy.

I love the wonkiness of everything.

All I'm doing is giving you a bit of confidence to give things a go.

Yes.

Ah, that one's better.

Da-dah.

Voila.

As an antique dealer, Sarah's not short of vintage table linen,

and Angel has a trick up her sleeve when it comes to napkins.

Now...

So keep it like that.

OK? Then roll from the end.

You just need to find somewhere...

To secure that.

..shove the end in.

Oh, gosh, look.

Bring round the rose petals.

Oh, it's going to be like a rose. Yeah.

Oh, my gosh, that's amazing.

I want to do it on one that's not so absolutely massive.

I think they're all the same, unfortunately.

Pretty, though.

A little more foliage, and a few finishing touches

create a stunning wedding table setting.

Da-dah. I think it's looking lovely.

I think that's absolutely beautiful.

Really beautiful.

We've used your stuff.

Yes.

Well, you've given me some wonderful ideas today.

Thank you so much.

You're really, really welcome.

Gorgeous, and doing the same wouldn't cost Sarah a penny,

just some creative ideas.

Angel's an extremely talented woman.

I absolutely adored doing the table with her.

I think it will create a much more individual wedding,

not the same as everybody else's and she's given me

just so much insight into what I'm venturing into

and a lot of information about the fact that I could do an awful lot

more myself and certainly earn some more money out of it, actually.

It's been an absolute pleasure.

No, thank you. It's been fabulous.

You're totally magical skilled lady.

Oh, no! Business lady.

So give us a hug. Thank you.

Best of luck with everything. Oh!

Yeah, shame it's raining.

Take care.

Lovely to see you, Angel. You too, lovely to meet you.

I'm delighted to hear it's been a useful visit.

Now to put it all into practice.

170 miles away,

Stephanie's made amazing progress with her mother's wedding carriage.

These are the cushions re-upholstered

and ready to go back into the carriage.

They're quite heavy, aren't they?

Yes.

That one goes on top, there.

Other way round, facing me. Facing me.

No, but, Stephanie, surely. Like that.

Yeah. That's what I was going to say.

Were you wearing your glasses when you done this one?

I did, I forgot.

I thought that bit wasn't going to be seen.

No, don't worry, nobody's gonna notice that.

Oh, I can't believe it, I've got to do more upholstery.

Two months ago, this was a neglected old carriage

that hadn't seen the light of day for decades.

Now, it's been given a new lease of life.

It's been re-painted in the original colour

and the cushions have been beautifully re-upholstered.

It's become a charming carriage fit for a chateau wedding.

All that's left is for the bride to give her stamp of approval.

Oh!

Do you like the colour? I love the colour.

Wait till you see the cushions. I love the...

Oh, my!

Oh, Stephanie.

Comment as-tu?

How did you manage that? Gosh, you did it.

Well done!

Oh!

Mummy immediately seems to have slipped into the role of Queen.

I feel extremely regal.

She probably expects us to have little flags.

Why didn't I order little flags?

You've done beautifully well, thank you.

Come here.

Stephanie has done a fantastic job with it, I'm extremely proud of her

because that means we have restored something else from the chateau.

I'm worried about her, because there is still so much to be done.

Stephanie's on it.

She's done a spectacular job with that carriage

and I'm really looking forward to seeing the bride ride in it

on her wedding day.

Next time...

George and Sarah search for hidden treasure.

Very possibly, there is treasure right below my feet right now

and we're going to be getting our tickets to go to Barbados.

Lean it against the wardrobe.

God, it's heavy, that.

Debbie and Nigel work flat-out ahead of their B&B opening.

I might have to have a little lie down in a minute.

Shall we?

Not that sort of a lie down!

And at Stephanie's, Gerry gets carried away decorating

the wedding chapel.

Can I have Percy and Isabelle, are you here?

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