She spent $2,500 to rent a French castle

renting a – Celina Tolbert, a social media manager based in Paris, spent about $2,500 on a three-night fantasy-themed 30th birthday for 21 friends at a château about 80 miles southeast of Paris—despite starting with a 2,000-euro budget. Her biggest regret wasn’t the cost,

When Celina Tolbert started looking for a French château to host her 30th birthday, the whole idea began as a joke. She isn’t rich, and she didn’t think she could afford what would amount to a small fantasy wedding—inside a castle.

Then she started browsing Airbnb. She found hundreds of small châteaux across France, and many were, at least on paper, within reach.

In February 2025. Tolbert. 31. a social media manager from North Carolina based in Paris. decided to spend about $2. 500 hosting a three-night. fantasy-themed celebration for 21 friends at a château about 80 miles southeast of Paris. What she wanted wasn’t just a party. It was permission to treat herself, the way her life had always treated her imagination.

“I didn’t think I’d be able to afford to host a 30th birthday at a French chateau,” she said in explaining the starting point.

Her plan started with a firm ceiling: a budget of 2,000 euros for the château itself. Tolbert is “whimsical,” and she has a collection of fun costumes. For her 30th, she wanted something “just for me, as an act of self-love,” including putting on a silly fantasy costume and renting out a château.

The challenge was fitting the math and the guest list together. Tolbert didn’t want to spend more than 2,000 euros, or about $2,301, on the property itself. But finding a place in that price range that could accommodate more than seven people proved difficult.

Expanding beyond the Paris region changed what was possible. Eventually she found a château accessible by train from Paris that could accommodate up to two dozen people for 1,318 euros.

Tolbert said she was surprised the numbers could land in a “sweet spot” that was affordable, beautiful, and big enough for everyone—especially once she looked at the total cost, not just the booking.

After securing the property for 1,318 euros, she spent roughly 800 euros more on food, alcohol, and decorations. That brought the total to a little over 2,100 euros.

To her, it didn’t feel like overspending. It felt like a milestone she’d been circling for years.

Tolbert compares it to a wedding. She justified the expense by thinking about the kind of money other people her age might spend on a wedding or on kids. She doesn’t plan to have children. Her partner and she had a civil union instead of a wedding because he doesn’t believe in marriage. and she has her own hangups around it.

In 2023, they held a small celebration at his parents’ house. At the time, they couldn’t afford to hire a venue—but the memory left an “itch” in Tolbert’s mind. She wanted, one day, to rent an entire place and throw a big celebration.

By 2024, that itch finally had two paths. She could spend the money she’d saved on something like “a really expensive dog,” or on renting a château. She chose the château.

The château itself came with space that made the fantasy feel real: two dining rooms, a ballroom, and a living room.

The theme was “magical fantasy forest.” Tolbert and a friend decorated with glitter, moss, leaves, and wooden details. For guests’ arrival. they set up a make-your-own potion station. built a pre-party playlist of medieval covers of modern music. and laid out food on a table her friend had beautifully tablescaped.

Guests wore chainmail, and several of Tolbert’s friends were excited to finally have an excuse to buy cute corsets.

The weekend wasn’t about elaborate performance for its own sake. It was snacks, drinks, and dancing—with Champagne in the mix. Tolbert describes herself as “a pretty simple girl at heart.”

When it was over, her emotions were clear: she was happy she spent the money. She said the experience was magical and that she would “100% do it all over again.”

Her single regret wasn’t about the price tag. It was about the photos.

Tolbert wished she had paid a local person to take better photos. She couldn’t afford a professional photographer or videographer, but she said she would have at least hired someone nearby to capture the weekend properly.

For her, the cost bought more than a location—it bought a rare, self-directed moment in a season when most celebrations are negotiated. The money mattered, but so did the missing evidence that the moment happened exactly how she felt it in real time.

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