Here’s a little something for you to feast your eyes on, while you take a break from the Christmas frenzy… beautiful, elegant images from a winter wedding. And that dress… ooooh, that dress. I want that dress.

Have a very, merry Christmas everyone ♥ ♥ ♥

here

“Hunter boots can definitely become a girl’s best friend on her wedding day”, read one comment on the post from Audrey’s and my Shabby Chic Beach inspiration shoot. “Speaking from experience”, she added.

And then, there it was – the real wedding with the Hunter boots. I’m sure it doesn’t come as a surprise, but I need to say this: I really love it, when I get to see my readers’ weddings and share it. Charlotte and Jesper had a travel and history inspired wedding, full of DIY details. From the invitations to the placecards – to the dress designed by the bride herself and sewn by her talented grandmother! So many ideas to be inspired by, like the “patchwork blanket guest book” and the thoughtful gesture of providing rolled up blankets for the guests. Even though it rained that day, you wouldn’t be able to tell – there’s so much happiness in these pictures :) Charlotte was so sweet to tell us more about the wedding day and the details – be sure to read this after the lovely pictures photographed by Think Photography (be sure to check the gallery too, for many more pictures!):

I never knew I had a lurking bridezilla inside and I’m sure Jesper didn’t either! As it turned out, I did, and I went into wedding planning armed with enthusiasm, the most beautiful blogs saved in ‘my favorites’ and 10 months before the big day :-)

We wanted a wedding that reflected us as a couple and chose to build the wedding around two themes: Travel and History. We both travel alot (Jesper is now in Antarctica!) and we used old maps for invitations, church-books and all the other little things where paper was involved. We also made all our guests travel to Jelling although we have no relations there today…but Jespers family originally came from the area and we loved the idea of being married in one of the countrys most historic churches, so the choice was easy although I must warn future brides that getting married far away from home, does not necessarily make the whole process easier!

I am so fortunate to have a wonderfully talented grandmother who agreed to make my weddingdress from my own design. I wanted it to be elegant and ‘princessy’ but still fun and flirty – I think she succeeded and I absolutely loved the dress :-)

I always dreamed of having the wedding outside in a beautiful spot, but then there’s always the worry of the weather – so when we saw the covered patio of Hopballe Mølle I knew immediately that this was the perfect venue for us. They were wonderful and let us supply all the decorations for both reception and dinner. 

My mother volunteered to make our wedding cake and Jesper and I spent a few weekends creating the sugar-roses to decorate it. After having cake in the afternoon, Jesper and I went out in the rain to have our portraits taken and to entertain the guests while we were gone we had created little puzzle-books and some even defied the weather and went to play games in the garden, which was lovely.

The flowers were mostly wild-flowers and cornflowers from my grandparents garden and I wanted them to have a ‘wild’ and ‘messy’ look to give an overall happy, easy feel. As favors we made blackberry-jam, which I think was the thing that most people commented on afterwards :-)

Thank you, Charlotte and Jesper for sharing your beautiful wedding with us! You can really tell how much heart and soul you put into the day. I wish you all the best for your future! :)

Vendors:

Photographer: Think Photography
Wedding dress: Homemade
Groom’s attire: Hugo Boss
Shoes: Pedró García
Hair: The bride :-)
Makeup: La Frisette
Venue: Hopballe Mølle
Cake: Homemade
Flowers: Homemade
Invitations & Stationery: Homemade

Photographed by Piteira Photography – be sure to check out the full gallery here

Ah – to get married in Southern Europe. While I like to appreciate and celebrate everything we have up here in the North – well, there is something very appealing (especially on a grey first day of December) about celebrating love somewhere warm, sunny and exotic. Joonas from Finland and Tânia from Portugal got married in Portugal, even though they live in Finland. Kerry from Piteira Photography tells us:

“They planned almost everything from Finland with the help of Tânia’s family in Portugal, and DIY’ed most of the decor and details at the reception themselves, the theme was “romance” and pink and white were the predominant colours. Because Joonas’s family doesn’t speak any Portuguese the ceremony was conducted in English so that both sides of the family could understand and it was really awesome to see the mix of 2 cultures and languages brought together by the love shared between the bride and groom. It was also quite cute to see all of the blondes on the grooms side of the church, and all of the brunettes on the brides side! They also brought their little yorkie terrier, Meeko, over from Finland with them (he travels everywhere they go) and he was a very important part of their wedding celebratons.”

The dress, the shoes, the decor – I can’t believe Tânia and Joonas managed to orchestrate this all the way from Finland. Just wait and see, the results are pretty amazing!

So many beautiful and sweet details at this wedding!

Thank you so much, Kerry from Piteira Photography for sending along these pictures!!

Vendors:

Photographer: Piteira Photography
Hair: Joana Moreira
Makeup: Joana Moreira
Venue: Quinta de Cachoeira
Catering: Quinta de Cachoeira
Cake: Quinta de Cachoeira
Flowers: DIY
Invitations & Stationery: Wise-Up Weddings
Videographers: VIP Weddings

Photographed by Audrey Smit – all pictures to be found in the gallery

I know I have mentioned this a couple of times, but the best thing about this blog is seeing how in some crazy way, this blog has enabled me to reach out to other crazy people like me and make crazy dreams come true.

Or at least, I couldn’t help thinking that my dream was crazy… all I am is an IT-consultant, and this is so far from the wedding industry. Getting to style and participate at photoshoots with those, who I regarded as the most talented people in the wedding industry seemed a little far fetched, but oh well – I could start this blog and see how far I could get, couldn’t I?

And as it turns out, people in the wedding industry aren’t just talented – they are also incredibly nice and full of ideas.

Audrey and I had connected over the blog a year ago or so, and quickly agreed that we needed to make a photoshoot together. And so we met up for brunch a cold day in winter, at my place another cold day, and met up consequently as the days got warmer… brainstormed, followed each other on Pinterest, found tutorials… I changed jobs, Audrey had a baby, we went on holiday… and then… on a rainy day in June, it finally happened on a quaint beach in northern Sealand. We wanted to create something that evoked ‘Danish’ or Scandinavian, but different from the typical. We introduced papercut placecards and invitations (in honour of H.C. Andersens papercuts), a bike as the getaway ride, and kransekage, which is the traditional wedding cake (although rarely seen), white on white and berries for a pop of colour. We had a very, very tight budget: we put together our ideas, used what we had (including Audrey’s amazing table and chairs)… everything was handmade, from the bouquets to the frozen treats, the pink champagne cake, the placecards, the invitation the table runner and the little champagne stirring flags.

This is the result:

Coming up: the lovely dresses. See also many, many more pictures in the gallery

Vendors:

Photography: Audrey Smit
Kransekage: The local Føtex
Flowers: The local Føtex

Photographed by Karin Froom – full gallery here

Oh my, are you in for a treat today, which will surely make you daydream for a moment. Just look:

Gorgeous portraits soaked in brilliant colours, like those that could only belong to a high summer wedding. I think the happiness shines through and through in these pictures – so relaxed, with bare feet, a boat, and the groom carrying his new bride in his arms. The bride’s beautiful words say it all:

“On a wooden pier in a cold lake we said yes. Yes, to a walk together on life’s journey. It was a beautiful day in the middle of August. Nearby, the rain was pouring down, but it never touched us and even the sun gave us a warm greeting. It was one of the best days of our lives! We had planned the day for months, hoped, grown anticipation and a knowledge that unwanted things could happen. But they never showed up. The wedding day exceeded our imagination. Family, friends and people from different times of our lives was there to witness us being united together as One. Now, we have just left the dock for an adventure together as husband and wife. We will carry all the beautiful memories from this day with us. They will remind us of happiness and love and a promise that even if we fail as humans, someone will carry us and make us stronger!”

Thank you so much for sharing your story and day with us, Knut and Johanna! Your wedding day was inspirational, and hit the core of what a wedding should be about. And thanks to Karin for sending these pictures my way! :)

Vendors

Photographer: Karin Froom
Wedding dress: Party Line (bought at Rafaela Mode)
Groom’s attire: Turo Tailor
Hair: Marin Saume, Frisörsalongen Folk, Örebro
Makeup: Sandra Ragèn, Frisörsalongen Folk, Örebro
Venue: Västerängs Lägergård
Flowers: Interflora Gullvivan, Örebro

I’ve written about my feelings towards Trash The Dress sessions before, but once in a while I am completely overthrown and need to revise my opinion – I can’t help but smile and feel the excitement that the couples experience in the pictures when some of the sessions come my way. When they’re romantic and the fun is so genuine, and especially when the groom gets to enjoy it too, I absolutely understand why some couples like Mette and Jimmy decide to have them done. Not to mention the opportunity of getting to wear THE dress once more – in this case, a beauty by Maggie Sottero, accessorised with a Jannie Baltzer headpiece and jewelry by Dyrberg Kern. A couple of words from beautiful Mette right after these absolutely stunning pictures:

Love this series of the couple splashing each other with water :)

“The pictures were taken on a fantastic day in the beginning of September. It was 24 degrees, completely still and the sky was almost cloudless – I hadn’t dare hope for such weather after a summer like this!

I had thought a long time about having these pictures taken after the wedding was over – both because it was a great chance to wear the dress again without caring about it getting dirty, but also so that we could have a fantastic day together with Tina Liv.

We all agreed from the beginning that the dress wasn’t to be ruined, as it really wasn’t our style! It was okay to get it wet and dirty, and whatever else it took to get the pictures we wanted – but we didn’t want to ruin it. Today it’s been cleaned and hangs in the closet as if it were completely new!

We wanted the pictures to be romantic and fun and look like us! Our personalities really shine through in the pictures, and they are exactly like we dreamt. We had a really fantastic day, not like a wedding day of course, but it is a little exciting to stand there in our wedding clothes again… and the feeling of drenching each other with water is also just fantastic – it was a great experience, which extended our wedding day and all the emotions.”

Vendors:

Photographer: Tina Liv
Wedding dress: Maggie Sottero – model Anniston
Headpiece: Jannie Baltzer – model Agnes
Jewelry: Dyrberg Kern

Photographed by Lumens Bröllopsfotografi See many, many more images

in the gallery

I’m a sucker for everything good, ol’fashioned romantic with a modern twist. The colour palette of sweet pink and warm grey… a streamlined venue as the backdrop for a beautiful ceremony, and a gown from one of the most romantic dress designers I know, Maggie Sottero… And then, when you have it all captured in clear, modern style images by talented photographers as Lumens Bröllopsfotografi, then it really doesn’t get much better. I tried my best to limit the number of pictures for this post, but Lumens Bröllopsfotografi have done such a great job, and I really think you should indulge yourself with the very many pictures over in the complete gallery.

A pretty, pretty bouquet in white and pink, with roses, lilies and lily-of-the-valley…

Gorgeously caught sunrays…

Love the combination of white and pink, and grey for the bridesmaids…

A couple of bridal portraits:

I love seeing the groom, waiting for the bride to come down the stairs, and the fantastic, green view behind the altar…

Off to the getaway car! How cool is it? Emerald green and with colourful seats:

A romantic boat trip, just the couple…

And now, off to dinner with the guests in the beautifully decorated venue. The decoration details will be coming up in the next post, but here, some atmospheric images from the evening. The wedding couple danced the bridal waltz to San Fransisco Symphony Orchestra and Metallica – Nothing Else Matters:

Thank you for sharing your beautiful day with us, Jessica and Martin! And to the photographers, thank you so much for sending these pictures my way.

There are even more pictures coming up, but if you can’t wait, check out the whole gallery right here

Vendors:

Photography: Lumens Bröllopsfotografi, from Göteborg
Wedding dress: Maggie Sottero, model Madison Marie
Bridal Shoes: Don Donna
Necklace: Ole Lynggaard
Hair and makeup: Harmoniq
Venue: Hotell Mälaren
Cake: Brynolf Bagare
Flowers: Blomgaraget
Invitations & Stationery: Couple’s own design
Entertainment: DJ Gruppen – Mathias Ivarsson

Photographed by Lönnbacka Photographers – see the full set of pictures here

This is such a sweet and simple wedding. A little modern, a little fairytale, altogether simple, classic and timeless. The couple had their portraits done at the botanical gardens in Uppsala, a gorgeous, earthy backdrop, and I love that the little botanical signs have been incorporated into the pictures. A couple of words from the bride:

“Our wedding plans steadily started to grow already days after our engagement. We worked on it for almost a year and had the possibility to really create something we both wanted and could identify with. Also we wanted to make sure everything was smooth and easy for all our guests, in order for them to really be able to enjoy themselves. Our focus was simple classic, without any fuss.

The dress along with the flowers and hair was carefully chosen to be personal as well as classic and they matched perfectly together with the shoes and accessories. The dress was handmade after a dress Grace Kelly wore in one of her last movies, not originally a wedding dress.
The groom wore a classic tuxedo.

Everything was captured by Lönnbackafotograferna, before the ceremony, in the beautiful botanical gardens of Uppsala. And the results of that will be a precious memory for us for the rest of our lives.”

Thank you so much, Anna and Magnus for sharing a little about your wedding day, and thank you to Lönnbacka Fotograferna for sending along these beautiful pictures!

See the full set of pictures here

here

Clear colours of the sea and sky, almost cool, ice cream pastels in the intense summer light and soft, soft sand beneath my toes… where did the summer go?

Jessica Lund sent over this collection of photos from a delicious midsummer wedding in Fårö, Sweden. It reminds me of how photographs have this power to remind us and look back, almost feel the moments at which the shutter went. This wedding had the heart and nature as its theme – heart shaped bouquet and ring, and simple decor to highlight the natural surroundings. Mikaela and Erik chose pink and soft green as their colours, and the whole wedding radiates freshness, summer, the high sun… Yummy.

Vendors:

Photographer: Jessica Lund
Wedding Dress: Enzoani
Venue: Fårö Kursgård
Hair: Marie Sandeståhl at Kicks
Make up: Friend Elisabet Kernell

click here to see the gallery

As a little girl, I would ask my mum to plant purple roses in the garden, and my mum reserved a corner, right by the gate, where I could see my single purple rose right next to the bolder reds and pinks, every morning on my way to school when summer finally sprung.

That was the first thing I fell for in this wedding – I understand the fascination of the soft purple roses. The delicate and untraditional colour, yet insanely romantic, rustic and modern at the same time. And as we see here, purple roses are fantastic paired with a simple, Maggie Sottero dress and a grey suit.

And then of course, if there is anything about this wedding which I consider romantic Scandinavian, it must be a boat ride out into the grand Norwegian nature. I love the groom taking his bride out on an intimate trip on a rowing boat, just the two of them after the beautiful and simple ceremony on a little, white bridge.

There’s no doubt that this couple knows what romance and love is about. Thank you, Christin Eide for sharing this lovely little wedding with us!

Vendors:

Photographer: Fotograf Christin Eide
Wedding dress: Maggie Sottero
Groom’sattire: J.Lindeberg
Groom’s shirt and cufflinks: Eton
Bowtie: A.Christensen
Shoes: Magnanni
Venue, catering and cake: Ullensvanghotel, Hardanger
Flowers: Ane Mone Blomster
Invitations & Stationery: Ørjan Eliassen

Click here to see the gallery

gallery of gorgeousness here

Stop right there! What a dapper young lad, don’t you think? A pretty good start to a wedding, and a wedding feature if I may say so myself. And lush peonies lining the aisle, in bouquets, in decorations – they are always a classic and a winner in my book.

And then, the beautiful bride. And the dashing groom. And all the details, which the bride DIYed… just you wait and see! However, first and foremost, I think we should let the love begin, with peaks of the sweetest ceremony, the beautiful portraits and the reception which oozes love and a good time. Ah, weddings. I’m a little biased, but I love them. Aaaand my friends – there’s so much more to come! The details are coming up in the next post, and if you’re curious and just can’t wait to get a peak of the amazing dessert table which I’m raving about – go check out today’s gallery!

Vendors:
Photographers: Think Photography
Venue: Golf i Lundens Selskabslokaler at Charlottenlund Travebane
Wedding Dress: Pronovias - model Dakota
Veil: Ebay, Deity Doll
Makeup: Line Ahnstrøm
Bracelet: Oasis
Bride’s shoes: Benjamin Adams from Elegant Steps
Groom’s attire: Tiger of Sweden
Wedding rings: Custom made by Goldsmith Maria Prokesh
Ring bearer’s shirt: Ralph Lauren
Ring bearer’s jacket: H&M
Ring bearer’s bow tie: Etsy, Divine Domestication
Ring bearer’s shoes: Converse All Stars
Ring bearer’s suspenders: Rockefella
Flowers: Drivhuset in Gentofte
Fans: eBay
Thank you garland: Made from Ruffled Blog’s Alphabet bunting DIY

Full gallery of gorgeousness here

You will fall head over heals over this wedding… and I’m sure you will wish you could have been there too. This Swedish wedding is fresh and thoroughly magical, modern and elegant, held by the water in Stockholm at Alviks Strand.

Mariah and Stefan really knew how to get the best things in life. The bride exudes classical elegance, with her modern ballroom gown from Blue by Enzoani (however, altered just for her) and pretty, simple white roses in her hair. With Stefan working in the event industry, this meant access to a most fantastic crew of Swedish vendors – Jessica Wahlgren from Mikas, who applied the impeccable bridal makeup and Björn Axen to style Mariah’s hair..

The view during the ceremony was exquisite, and the getaway ride was a helicopter! The wedding cake was made up of pretty cupcakes and lilac and purple details were sprinkled throughout the decor – lilac roses in arches and purple ribbons to tie in. And just to make the evening extra magical – entertainment for the evening was delivered by none other than the magician Julien Dauphin.

See many more pictures over at the gallery, but the gorgeousness doesn’t stop there – tomorrow we will be featuring the couple’s romantic Trash The Dress session, which I really can’t wait to show you! In the meantime, I would love to hear your thoughts on Trash the Dress sessions – would you do one, and if so, how far would you go? The poll is right here on Facebook.

Vendors:

Photographer: Jessica Lund / Just Love Weddings
Wedding gown: Blue by Enzoani (altered)
Make-up: Mikas
Hair: Björn Axen
Magician: Julien Dauphin

Photographed by Alicia Swedenborg – see the whole, and very extensive picture gallery right here

I can’t be prouder of any other post than this one. Not only because the results you are about to see here were also featured on the Wedding Chicks, but also because, well, the team just did a fabulous job. Jannie, Alicia, Maria from Vintage Bride and I joined forces at Odd Fellow Palace in Copenhagen a beautiful sunny day in the beginning of June. We had talked about doing a photoshoot together over coffee one day, leading to us spamming each other with images which inspired us, discussing colour schemes and concepts. We wanted to create something exclusive and different, with nods to Denmark and Scandinavia. Now, I knew that this was going to be awesome (glamorous headpieces by Jannie Baltzer? Jenny Packham and Yolan Cris gowns from Vintage Bride? Gorgeous photography by Alicia Swedenborg, easily one of Sweden’s most talented photographers? And, I kid you not: these are the sweetest and most passionate ladies you will ever meet. How could this, in any way, go wrong?)

We were so lucky to have talented Maria Gonzales join us too, who did the beautiful styling and make-up on the already stunning models Sandra Vester and Ditte Birkjær Kruse. Oh, and of course no wedding (real or fake) is complete without sweet indulgence in desserts and gorgeous shoes: Rasoulinia was so kind to lend us a couple of pairs and of course, we had to create a luscious dessert table made with sinful Summerbird chocolates, almonds, kransekage and flødeboller…

I promise you – there is so much eyecandy in this photoshoot that I had a very, very hard time selecting just a few for this post… Luckily, the complete set of images are right here in the gallery for us all to indulge in…

Thank you, lovely ladies, for giving me the opportunity to work with such talents in the wedding and fashion industry. It was an amazingly fun and learning experience, and I can’t wait to do it again!

Photographer: Alicia Swedenborg
Accessories: Jannie Baltzer
Dresses: Vintage Bride
Make up & hair: Maria Gonzalez
Shoes: www.Rasoulinia.com
Models: Sandra Vester & Ditte Birkjær Kruse
Location: Odd Fellow Palæ
Desserts: Summerbird

Elizabeth had collected 30 chandeliers, old and new, over a long period of time and repaired each one of them to ensure that they would lightup on her wedding day. The chandeliers were given away to the closest friends and family – a beautiful token from  a beautiful day. I am mesmerised by them right now – I can only imagine the magical atmosphere they created after sunset…

Runners were sewn from blue velvet, even the chair cushions were sewn for this purpose. The very personal bread was flewn in from a French bakery. I love the idea of guests breaking bread among themselves. The wine labels are made with Elizabeth’s own photographs.

All pictures taken by Thayer Allyson Gowdi and found on Style Me Pretty.

Have you been melting from the heat and humidity these past couple of days too? I know that I have, and so it’s such a delight to dream away into a New Year’s Eve winter wedding in Finland with an adorable couple and a palette of snow white and autumn bronze . This wedding is so personal and rustic elegant in its simplicity- Anna from Derek and Anna was so kind to send along a few words about Maria and Jouni’s  beautiful day:

The bride’s wedding dress as well as the groom’s suit were custom designed (by the couple themselves!) and made by Kirsi Aho. The two of them, who really love nature, decided to get married while hiking up north in Lapland last fall and their wedding was quickly planned for the following New Year’s Eve. During the week of the engagement they also collected all their decorations (leaves etc) from the same park (Arboretum) where we photographed their wedding portaits in -10C :)

And now, onto the many, beautiful pictures:

Once in a while, I receive a submission from a reader which I can’t resist – like this one. Lene wanted to create some save-the-dates and invitations in the rustic, raw and slightly romantic style for their barn-inspired garden wedding this summer. So naturally, these beauties were created out of recycled and organic materials. The paper is made of recycled paper, and the envelopes are lined with some pretty floral wallpaper which was left over from another DIY project (lining the insides of a cabinet – cool idea, eh?). I also love the black envelopes stitched with white thread, which gives the suite a very chic edge.

The organic look with the sweet lovebirds will be infused throughout the wedding, both as decor on the tables and the cake tops. The colours from the pretty wallpaper will also be used throughout the wedding to give a rustic garden look with dashes of fresh colours.

I think we are looking forward to seeing more from this wedding, don’t we?

Have a lovely day :)

Thank you Lene for sending these along!!

The shoe shot! We’re off to a great start, don’t you think?

This classically beautiful bride had a romantic garden wedding in the north of Sealand, Denmark in her parents-in-law’s backyard. Christine loves the vintage style and DIY, and she was so kind to tell us about the planning process and details… So let’s leave the word to the bride, the lovely Christine, shall we?

I’ll start off by telling that Christian and I have now known each other for 9 years, where we met in high school. After high school we became a couple, and had been for 7 years on the day that Christian proposed. At that moment, I entered a small, pink bubble where there was basically only space for one thing: planning our upcoming wedding.

I was really excited about hunting for the dress. I had driven by House of Brides many times, so it was natural that this would be the first place for me to start searching for dresses. I have read many different reviews about House of Brides, but I would say that all of my experiences in there were positive. I described what I was looking for to the girl who was tending the salon. She quickly found 3 dresses, one of which was The One, and gave me that famous feeling that I had heard about while standing in front of the mirror. The dress is Blue by Enzoani, the Brazil model from the 2009 collection. So the dress was actually found at first try, which I absolutely hadn’t expected.

It was quite a bit harder to find the right shoes. I had searched on the web a lot and was actually sure that i would end up with a pair of Christian Louboutins which I had fallen in love with on the web. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find them here in Denmark, and wasn’t prepared to buy them on the web. Again, it was by chance that I found The Shoes, on a trip to Magasin. They were right in front of me, on a pedistal, with high heals, a slight plateau in the front and an amazing jewel at the front. At first I thought they were too flashy, which was actually the reason why I reached for them. But as I stood there with them in my hand, I started fallin in love with them, the shoes went on, and I was sold. The shoes are from the English brand Dune. They make a couple of bridal collections, all of which are quite flashy, so they’re not for the mimimalistic kind. But I think that this was the reason why I ended up choosing these shoes, as I don’t like to wear too much jewelry and so I felt it was right to have a bit of extra ‘bling’ on the shoes.

We had always known that we wanted to get married at Hørsholm Church. Most of those who get married will say that their church is the most beautiful one, and I believe that Hørsholm Church is among the most beautiful ones in Denmark, which is surrounded by lakes and woods. So the church was the first part step which was in place, and decided on a date where we would know for sure that everyone we knew would be back from their summer holidays – the 28th of August.

Photography during the ceremony in the church wasn’t allowed – I do think that this shot above, taken through the keyhole turned out rather well, don’t you?

The next step was finding the venue for our wedding reception. I personally feel that the best weddings that we had been to as guests, were the intimate ones, and where the venues reflected this intimacy. This, combined with my love for the Shabby Chic style, a bit of lounge inspiration and my DIY gene, meant that a garden wedding was the natural choice.

Christian’s parents have a summer house in Hornbæk where we have spent many hours together, so this was a place which was already connected with many lovely memories. The garden has a huge grass lawn, surrounded by an ocean of rhododendrons – in short, these surroundings were exactly right for our dream wedding, and the perfect place to have our reception.

And then there was, of course, our photographer. After having looked through so many American blogs, I had set my mind on having a photographer for the whole day, so that I could remember the details later on, but also so that I could show them to Christian afterwards. Carsten Thamdrup was recommended by a colleague of mine. We started by inviting Carsten to our home. Carsten felt that it was important to meet each other face to face, so that we could get to know each other and we would feel relaxed on the day of our wedding. Carsten showed us a number of his own pictures he had taken from weddings and I shared some inspiration pictures I had found on the web to describe the style that I wanted. After looking at the pictures, we had our next meeting. Carsten suggested meeting up 1 month before at the same place that we wanted to have our portraits taken and at the same time of the day as the wedding. This was a great experience, as on this ‘test day’ we had plenty of time to try out the location. We had lots of ideas for the images, and on this day we found out what worked and what didn’t, where the lighting was best because of the shadows (which is why we met up at the same time of the day as the wedding day). Besides this, it was great to to have some pictures taken on this day, as we had the opportunity to get used to being photographed (we are both quite camera shy). So on our wedding day, we were able to completely relax in front of the camera and this resulted in some genuine smiles.

Choosing Carsten was definitely one of our best decisions, so don’t miss out on him if you are looking for a photographer!

If you’re in doubt as to whether you should invest in a photographer, then I would recommend that you reconsider some of the other things, for example the transport to and from church, as the day passes by so fast that you won’t have the time to take in all the details. I was so happy when looking through our wedding pictures afterwards, seeing all these little details which I hadn’t noticed on the day: the expressions on our guests’ faces before the arrival of the bride, the flower decorations inside the church (I only had eyes for one thing when I stepped into the church! :) ) and so many more things. And it’s hard not to smile when you look through the pictures a hundredth time, almost a year after the wedding.

And now, for the details, photographed by Jesper Dam Jensen:

Once our colour scheme was chosen: peach, purple and black – it was time to start shopping in the garden centers, where my mother in law found the most beautiful roses in different peach shades, which were planted all over the garden and in big planting pots on the terrace. Inspired by the many blogs which I was reading up until my wedding, we set up games in the garden; petanque, croquet and a huge mikado. We created a little ‘lounge area’ with low benches and cushions, and small café tables and chairs on the terrace.

Over the summer, I visited many flea markets, where I collected many candle sticks and small vases in mercury glass. They were placed in little arrangements on all café and lounge tables with candles and mixed, loose flowers in tall and short, wide and thin vases – all flowers of course with colours in our wedding palette. I had also found som beautiful old books in pretty peach and coral with gold leaf print, which we had placed on the tables as decorations, as well as picture frames with beautiful images.

I had also visited our local recycling depot quite a number of times, and was excited to see how many people throw away their lanterns. So over the summer I had collected 50 to 60 lanterns which were placed along the edge of the whole garden in little groups, to create beautiful ocean of light in the evening. All of this gave us the romantic, vintage look which I was going for. It was great to see all the bits and pieces that I had collected for months, all come together as one. It’s quite special to have a little story connected to every single vase and glass which had been selected for the wedding.

The tents had been decorated with Martha Stewart’s pompoms. The were attached to long strings so that they hung from the center and out to the sides of the tent in pretty peach and purple colours. Parallel to these we hung fairy lights – not too many, as we wanted to be sure that there would be an intimate and toned down lighting in the evening. I had painted a big, pretty old picture frame peach and used this for the table plan which hung at the entrance.

We wanted to start by sitting traditionally with our parents and closest family, but it was also important to us to be able to enoy our day with our friends. So between first and second course, and then the second course and dessert, there was a short shift (which went surprisingly well and which I would suggest others try if you want to party together with friends). The older generation only moved once, while the younger guests moved twice, and this worked great for both us and the guests.

Inside the tents there were big, round tables with place for 10 people, each decorated with a big lantern in the middle, which were used as table numbers, surrounded by a couple of small and medium sized vases and small candle and tealight holders.

The placecards were butterflies, inspired by Timeless Paper – Christian has always been interested in butterflies and orchids, so it was quite natural to include this element. We built a bar which was tended by one of my friends. We had of course made a personal drinks menu, which was made in the same style as the table overview, but with a black frame and coral background with the personal drinks names. Next to the bar I had placed an old suitcase which I had – of course – painted peach. Inside were 30 black throws, which the guests could use to keep warm throughout the evening if it would turn cold.

It was absolutely the right choice to have the wedding somewhere which we all knew very well, this meant that we could completely relax on the day of the wedding – if anything should go wrong, well, we were home and would quickly be able to fix whatever it was that needed fixing.

It is so great whenever we go back up there, to have this big experience as a memory attached to the summer house. The guests already knew the place and were quickly captivated by the atmosphere there, so it was relaxed and cosy from the first moment that they arrived. This exact atmosphere was one of the most important things for our wedding – that it was intimate and cosy and that everyone had a good time – but of course also all of the little details, which made this into the most fantastic wedding we could dream of.

Thank you so much Christine, for your account from your wedding day – thank you to Carsten Thamdrup and Jesper Dam Jensen for sharing your beautiful photographs!

Vendors:

Photographer: Carsten Thamdrup (portraits, church) and Jesper Dam Jensen (details and decorations)
Wedding dress: Blue by Enzoani from House of Brides, model Brazil from the 2009 collection
Cupcakes: Illum’s Bakery
Catering: Restaurant Oliva
Shoes: Dune
Earrings: Arena
Rings: Guldsmed Lank
Hair and makeup: Sam Shimoun

The colours in this wedding make me so happy and they make my heart sing. This little chapel, with the blue door and window frames has such a small-town grandness to it, as if it were located in the woods in a fairy tale. In fact, Joanna and John were married in Djursholm, a suburb to Stockholm in June 2009 – and the very talented Peter Tarpgaard was there to document it.

My Saturday was spent with lunch at D’Angleterre with three lovely ladies, and then buying a bunch of pink peonies on my way home, to prepare for the cold and grey weather which approached us Sunday. I have hinted a couple of times on this blog at exciting plans which are still to come into fruition, but with planning and postponing, things are finally getting closer to materialising. I really can’t wait to share these plans with you – but I’m telling you, it’s what I’ve been dreaming about since I started working on this blog. Unfortunately, you are going to have to wait a little bit longer before I can tell you more… but it will be good, I promise!

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In the meantime, why don’t we droooooool over this wedding, beautifully photographed by Anna Roström of Small Pig Art? Set at the luxurious, contemporary Nobis Hotel in Stockholm, it’s the perfect backdrop for a modern, glamorous wedding. With a fabulous location (including a fabulous, winding staircase, you’ll see!), a stunning, golden, pleated gown, and of course a dashing groom on the bride’s arm, this wedding has everything it needs.

So simple in its colour scheme of white, gold and neutrals. A lovely shawl to keep the bride warm and a simple flower in her hair. I can’t think of anything that I would add to this wedding. It’s just so lovely as it is without any need for extra details.

What a wonderfully caught image… the perspective, the lady walking by… but especially the happy faces of the people observing from the window…

Isn’t this a fabulously tender picture? Taken by Anna Roström from Small Pig Art (isn’t that a great name?). And just wait till you see the wedding, in colour and details on Monday. It’s impeccable, simple, Scandinavian glamour.

While we start our weekend, speaking of tender pictures, last night I stumbled upon the most amazing wedding photography website ever: Moment Junkie. It’s such a refreshing weblog, focusing on the emotions that are captured by some really fantastic photographers. You really must go take a look – the pictures tell some great stories. Like this one of a guy working the dancefloor with his boogie. Or this one, which so perfectly captures a bride’s emotion. And this one with a random grandma painting on the dance floor, which makes me laugh whenever I read the story that goes with it. This one with two very cute kids and a whistle is just adorable.

What Moment Junkie shows us is that, with all the stress and fret with finding the right dress and decorations, styling and making everything look exactly right for your wedding, then in the long run then those things matter less and less: What you will treasure when you look back, are those many timeless emotions that you experienced throughout the thousands of seconds of emotion and joy that made up your wedding day.

Hope you have a great weekend, looking forward to Monday!