Time for yet another wedding – this time from amazing Alicia Swedenborg. The wedding was held on a warm day in spring at the House of Nobility in Stockholm, Sweden. And can you believe that the dress was made by the groom’s brother? Well, the beautiful bride, Louise, was so sweet to tell us a little bit about their big day, so let’s pass the word on to her, shall we?

The most important thing to me was that it was our day and not the bride’s day. It’s so often that it’s all about the bride, but to me it was all about me and Marcus. Us as lovers, friends, partners for life. Making it our day, our thing. We chose the music, food, colors, flowers, cake, wine, etc all with a little bit of “us” in them. We danced to “our song” (Everything I do with Bryan Adams), one of the flowers in my bouquet and his corsage was “our flower” (a white orchid). We wanted the guests to feel the wedding was very “Louise and Marcus”. One could say that the whole wedding was traditional with a twist of “Louise and Marcus”.

What was the best part of the day? Everything! Each moment was the best! The preparations in the morning, the wedding ceremony, the photography session, the mingling, the wedding dinner, cutting the cake, the first dance, the party, the wedding night! But if I have to choose only one thing I would say the wedding dinner. 25 people held speeches for us, including me and Marcus who each held a speech for one another. Time flew and each speech or performance was amazing! To receive so much love, warmth and closeness from the people you love the most all at one time is truly overwhelming!

The last 18 hours as a Ms:

The night before the wedding Marcus followed me to my parent’s porch, just like he did that very first night we met. All at once it felt like going back in time 7 years. We felt shy with one another and excited about the next day – our wedding day! We decided to not talk or see each other until the next day in the church. Marcus spent the night in our apartment and I slept in my parent’s apartment. I remember waking up the next morning and thinking. “Today is the day. The day that I’m getting married!” The sun was shining. My bridesmaids arrived at my parent’s place at 8:30 in the morning.

Me, my parents and my bridesmaids had a huge and cozy breakfast and after that I ran off to the hairdresser and make-up artist. Then I grabbed a cab and went back to the apartment. I must have looked so funny wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but with a beautiful hairdo and make-up. My parents took loads of pictures when I walked through the door. Everything had to be documented. My dad was absolutely shining with pride and my mom looked so happy. I helped my bridesmaids with hair and make-up and then we had lunch (dansk smörebröd with shrimps and mayo). After that we got dressed together. My dad had ordered 2 cabs to take us to the church. The bridesmaids took one cab and me and my dad took the other. I was so nervous during the cabride. Happy and nervous. Excited! My dad walked me down the isle. Me and Marcus had chosen the melody “May it Be” from Lord of the Rings played on flute and organ. It was beautiful! Everything felt unreal! The happiest day of my life!

Louise was so sweet to give a couple of tips and pointers for future couples:

• Make sure you don’t have to think about anything other than yourself on your wedding day! Put all the responsibilities on other people.
• Don’t let other people tell you how your wedding should be. It’s your day!
• Enjoy every second. Take a few seconds every now and then during the day to reflect and think about how incredibly happy your and how much you are enjoying every second. The time flies…
• Eat a big breakfast and a small lunch. You need the energy.
• Hire a really good photographer. It’s so worth the money. The pictures will make the day feel everlasting and forever memorable. Alicia is truly amazing. She made us feel beautiful and at ease and we also had a lot of fun!




 

Thank you so much, Alicia, for letting me share these pictures – and thank you so, so much Louise for taking some time to give us a peak into your wedding day. Best of luck to you and Marcus!

Vendors:
Calligraphen AB: Invitations, wedding programme, party programme and thank you cards.
Interflora in Upplands-Väsby centrum: Wedding bouquet, bridesmaid bouquets, corsages and flower arrangements.
Chokladfabriken: Wedding cake
The Soul Band: Band
Alexander Randström: The designer behind the wedding dress and bridesmaids dresses. Alexander is the bride’s brother in law (the groom’s brother) and a fashion designer. If you wish to contact him, send him an email:  a_randstrom@hotmail.co.uk

I’m especially attracted to these pendants and earrings, which I have found while scouring Etsy. I prefer the simple pieces, although in combination with a small precious tone or pearl, they really do come into their own. The pale, pale aqua-coloured ones would be so chic at a beach wedding… And I could see the winter bride wearing the white and frosted earrings… and the romantic, bohemian bride would look gorgeous with the delicate pink necklace.

All images are from Etsy (from top, left hand corner to lower, right hand corner): Swept from the Sea, Oceano, Newsprout, Ghostship, Beach Glass Memories, Ghost Ship

While nothing beats the stunning, traditional croquembouches made of airy profiteroles and coated in crunchy caramel, I think that this faux croquembouche made of Ferrero Rochers makes quite a pretty centerpiece for the coffee table, don’t you think? (And equally delicious!)

It’s really easy to make: Find a styrofoam cone (this one was about 20cm / 8″ tall), toothpicks and two boxes of Ferrero Rocher (about 32 pieces for one cone). Then, push a toothpick into the cone, about 1cm / 0,5″ from the bottom of the base. Leave about about 1cm / o,5″ sticking out, then gently press a Ferrero Rocher over the toothpick sticking out, with the paper facing the cone. Now repeat this procedure along the base, and moving up in rings to the top. You might want to snip the point off, so that you can pin a final Ferrero Rocher to the top of the cone.

That’s it! Leave it as is, or decorate with a couple of flowers, if you like. One cone took me about 20 minutes in total to make, so they aren’t really too labour intensive… and the good thing is, you can easily make these well in advance of your wedding or party… (although, if your habits and cravings for chocolate are anything like at our house, you shouldn’t push your luck too far…)

I imagine a bride wearing a delicate pink dress with lots and lots of tuille, and of course she would wear her hair up in a sophisticated bun – while the groom wears a classic smoking, of course. The wedding cake would be white with lace icing, or decorated with flowers and satin ribbons. Ballerinas always receive such lush bouquets at the end of their performances! So I opted for classic peonies as the main flower, because they are so romantic, and because of the many layers of petals, which I think mimic the elaborate, princess ballerinas costumes so well…

Placecards and chairs are at the same instance classic and modern – transparent in material and classic in shape. The guests will of course be refreshed with sweet champagne and airy and juicy french macarons.

I think that the first time I saw antique keys being used in weddings was when Jessica Claire used them to adorn her Save-The-Dates. Since then, I’ve noticed quite a variety of the concept – and also as placecards and escort cards, as necklaces, as decorations on gifts…

With all of that inspiration, I couldn’t help but realise that really, vintage keys – there really is something about them…

Oh, and look what I found while cleaning up in the basement the other day! Aren’t they beautiful?

4 keys – 3 of them most definitely antique, if we judge from the amount of rust on them. I have no idea as to what they have been used for. The doors in the cellar have been changed a long time ago, and the keys were hidden on a hook behind a door which is always open. I will compose some stories about what stories these keys must have revealed in times gone by, while I try to figure out what to do with them. Frame them, perhaps? Maybe spray paint one of them in a pretty colour, perhaps turquoise like the key in the top picture, top right… and then hang them up on the wall?

Let’s go to Rome. I love to step into the majestic Pantheon, the larger than life Colosseum, carry a gelato to a piazza and soak in the some by the edge of a refreshing fountain, while observing the elegant Italians… and at night, a walk down the Spanish steps… mmmmmnnn.

The engagement shoot you see here was taken here, in Italy’s fantastic and romantic capital city. The groom, Bram, had decided to surprise his fiancée, Rina, with a couture engagement shoot, by inviting who he knew was his absolute favourite photographer, Jennifer Skog to Rome, where the couple had decided to take a trip from Holland, where they are from. Rina was in tears over the surprise, and had recognized Jennifer immediately when she introduced herself… the day after, beautiful, beautiful pictures had been taken with tomantic Rome as the stage.

I loooooove the evening pictures – there’s something very Audrey Hepburn / Roman Holiday about the whole style and atmosphere, don’t you think?

Ahhh, Rome. I must go back there soon some day. See the rest of the series here.

Thank you so, so much, Jennifer Skog, for sharing these amazingly romantic pictures with us!

Blush pink and gold is so ultrafeminine and glamorous, and completely in trend with the whole vintage vibe which is so dominant these days. I love to pair the palette down with juicy berry pies rather than wedding cakes, decorations made from inexpensive materials such as yellowed pages, garlands of tea-stained coffee filters. I can’t help but think of an intimate wedding or bachelorette party in a boutique hotel or apartment in Paris, with the Eiffel tower round the corner, decadent curtains and glittering chandeliers…

While we’re wishing for the warmness and sunlight to stretch over to our side of the globe, we can dream away for a couple of minutes to this gorgeous, Swedish wedding on a hot summer’s day, photographed by supertalented Erika Gerdemark.

I absolutely love the softness and warmth of these pictures. When you collect and research, evaluate and prioritise a good portion of wedding pictures every day, it’s great when someone like Erika makes it so easy to just fall in love, don’t you think?

Let’s start with the groom’s preparations:

This wedding was held on Ekerö just outside of Stockholm on one of the hottest days of 2009. The couple, Linda og Björn, chose to have their wedding at Rastaborgs Slott, a small castle in the countryside in beautiful surroundings.

I think that the pictures that absolutely sold me, were these ones of the bridesmaids in peach coloured dresses. I can just feel the softness of the beautiful dresses in the gentle, warm breeze on such a beautiful day. One of the bridesmaids played the saxophone while the bride walked down the steps to meet her husband in the garden where the ceremony was held.

As per Scandinavian tradition, the guests are allowed to steal kisses from the bridal party whenever the other party leaves the table. Here, the groom returns to find a guest kissing his new wife!

Siiiigh. Anyone else feeling an urgent need to be a this beautiful summer wedding?

See the full wedding series on Erika’s blog, here.

I have always loved, loved, loved Alphonse Mucha’s paintings – the goddess-like ladies in flowing empire dresses and the lush crowns of flowers.

So I get really giddy, whenever I see modern images like the one above. I really love this picture from the latest Hermés campaign, and especially the floral hair wreath. Having said that, what is there not to love? They can be big, fluffy and bohemian, greek inspired or discrete and simple. And, as proven in the image above, an untamed crown of flowers can easily be combined with a chic silver bracelet.

Ask your florist to make one for you, or check out Etsy. There are plenty of etsy shops which create beautiful hair wreaths with Which Goose being my favourite…

Would you wear a floral hair wreath to your wedding?