Fall and let yourselves be caught
Karin’s and Steven’s romantic garden wedding in the south of France
“Looking back, we are so happy we had such a personal wedding. Not so formal. So many of our friends helped with things like playing the guitar and singing at the ceremony, hosting the ceremony, making cakes, handing out lavender confetti… That made everything feel so warm and simple and familiar. Just the way we wanted it. If I could do it all over, I wouldn't want to change one thing. Unbelievable huh?!”
“We got married in my parents' lovely garden in the South of France. It is absolutely beautiful there, and we feel so at home after many summers in the sun loungers by the pool, so it felt like the perfect place. We also thought it perfect that everyone would get to travel, both Steven's family and friends from England and everyone from Sweden.
We knew it would probably be sunny - and a just lovely experience for everyone! Both personal, practical - and so memorable; just what we wanted.”
“It felt like we planned for ages. It was rather stressful at times. So much to think about and so much to do.
We invited as many as we could seat at the round tables on the patio. We were... maybe 60 people?! The food came from a local caterer we knew, it was all very French!
My brother's girlfriend made the gorgeous wedding cakes. She is incredible. Chocolate cake with raspberry filling and white chocolate glaze. Gluten free as I am gluten intolerant. Nomnom.
In the end everything turned out even better than we could have dreamed of! Actually, the only thing that went just a tiny bit wrong was that the caterer brought their own really kitschy French wedding cake. Apparently we had not managed to communicate that in French that my brother's girlfriend was making the cakes. When they came rolling with their cake everyone just screamed STOP! and I think someone just knocked it into a van in the parking lot in the end. Too bad because it was probably very good too!”
“There was no "traditional" proposal. We had been to my brother's house and cuddled with his son, who was just a tiny little baby at the time, and he fell asleep in my arms for the first time. When we got home that evening we were both completely overwhelmed by how cozy it seemed with a little baby. We talked and decided we wanted to get married and try to have kids.”
“Before the wedding I had envisioned myself peaking out of an upstairs window and seeing all our family and friends gathering and mingling in the garden before the wedding started. I got a picture of that exact moment, and that is one of my favourite moments - and pictures - from the day! I can still feel the anticipation, excitement and love... “
“Oh... the best part of the day... That must the live band and the wild and happy dance floor!
I'll never forget the moment when our first dance - a rather weird Bowie song - turned into Pharell Williams' Happy! It was the first song of the evening by live band, and everyone went bananas on the dance floor straight away. And then we continued dancing the night away!”
“Another incredible moment was the sing-along to Hey Jude as the last song of the evening. Everyone we love, Englishmen, Swedes, of all ages, singing along with our arms around each other in a big circle. Under the full moon, in my favourite place on earth, with only the crickets to accompany us.”
“Fall and let yourselves be caught" someone told us before the wedding. And we truly did.
I'm so happy we let ourselves be swept away by the moment, filled with pure joy and surrounded by all our loved ones. We were completely present, and managed to drop all thoughts about the planning or how we looked, if we were drenched in sweat on the dance floor or if there was enough bubbly left. Being there and then was the most important thing all day! We just let go of everything and enjoyed ourselves!”