The Château de Palays can host weddings and large private receptions for up to 299 seated guests, hired exclusively for four days. The reception wing opens onto a 600-square-meter inner courtyard and a 200-square-meter marquee, and the family can sleep in the château's own wing. The château stands on the Arize at Montesquieu-Volvestre, in the Haute-Garonne, on the border with the Ariège. Its foundations date from 1420.
Weddings and receptions
The château is rented with exclusive use of the site for four days. The couple can stay in the château's living wing and prepare the reception as they wish, with their own caterer, florist, DJ and lighting. The venue states that it meets the regulations for receiving the public. There is no time limit and no noise restriction on the evening, and the party can continue the next day with the guests. The château does not offer seminar packages.
Rooms and capacities
The reception rooms occupy one wing of the château. They open onto the inner courtyard and onto a 200-square-meter marquee with a canopy lining and a wooden floor. In all, the covered area reaches 300 square meters, and the marquee can be doubled to 400 square meters. Up to 299 guests can be seated.
The inner courtyard measures 30 by 25 meters and is enclosed by red brick walls. It can be used for dinner, drinks or a rest between moments of the day.
Accommodation
The living wing, or logis, occupies the west wing of the château. Upstairs it has eight bedrooms and five bathrooms. On the ground floor there is a large lounge, a dining room, a fully equipped kitchen and storage with freezers and refrigerators. Two more gîtes can be rented in the farm next to the château, about 50 meters away: the Gîte du Jardin and the Gîte du Porche, with 12 places each. Guests may also pitch tents under the walnut trees in the park.
Catering
The château does not provide catering. You choose your own caterer, and the logis kitchen and its cold storage can be used during the stay. Florists, DJs and lighting suppliers are also free to choose.
History and setting
The first traces of the château go back to the 14th century, when a tower and perhaps a small fortified enclosure guarded a crossing at the meeting of the Arize and the Pas du Rat stream, on the border between the counties of Toulouse and Foix. In 1444, Jean de Massot became lord of Palays. The château has since been handed down over 17 successive generations.
At that time Palays was a small lowland fortress: a square of brick walls crowned with battlements on false machicolations, served by a wall walk and flanked by four round towers. Moats protected the base of the walls and a drawbridge led into the large inner courtyard. The modest seigneurial house stood on the south-east side, framed by a vaulted chapel and the main tower.
The park covers more than two hectares along the Arize, with sequoias and magnolias more than a hundred years old, stone pines and flower beds.
Getting there
The château is at Montesquieu-Volvestre, 31310, in the south of the Haute-Garonne, on the Arize river. Ask about access and parking for guest coaches when you plan the day.
