Stine and Truls

A trip to Tuscany for a wedding sounds incredibly beautiful and today Stine and Truls took two Australian vendors with them to celebrate their union. From the deep red grapes hanging against the walls, to the amazing views over the Italian landscape, it’s a wedding filled with history and beautiful moments.

The couple met on a night out. “We met in the summer 2006, Stine and some friends including Stig (Truls’ younger brother) were out for dinner. Truls was invited to join the party and it was a long and happy night.”

Sara Levi, a Rome based wedding planner organised the day, coordinating Australian vendors Katja Anton of AKA Weddings and Wildbunch Weddings to photograph and film the wedding day – capturing the magic of Tuscany.

The bride chose a beautiful place to get ready for her wedding day. She recalls “I got ready at Vignamaggio a historical villa where Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa’ was born and was also the location for the famous movie “Much ado About Nothing”. Set above the Vineyards of Chianti there is no shortage of breathtaking scenery and we were thankfully exposed to the light Summer breezes… August can get a little toasty otherwise!” She wore the Eddy K. “La belle mariée talia” gown and changed into a shorter gown for the reception.

The bride’s good friend Jannicke Bakken styled the hair and makeup.

The bridesmaids wore their own gowns.

Stine and Truls were married in the courtyard of La Canonica’ a 11^th century monastery in Tuscany, Italy 40mins from Florence. Bachini & Bellini, Florence created beautiful floral arrangements including heart shaped floral wreaths, the bride’s bouquet and the table arrangements.

The groom wore a suit from House Of Singles.

The music was carefully considered. “As the bride approached the altar: Canon in D major by Johann Pachelbel; after signing the book, “Oh my beloved father” by Puccini, and “Purpose” by Rikard Nordraak at the end (Nordraak also wrote the music for the Norwegian national anthem). “We also rang the church bells. The music was played by a local Florentine classical string quartet with a soprano singer.”

Stine & Truls’ 3 year old son, Sigur, was the ring bearer and carried the rings down the aisle on a chain round his neck.

The couple were married by Pastore Antonio Adamo and the ceremony was interpreted by Translator Camilla Egge Moeller) who translated all of the ceremony all in Norwegian. Camilla also arranged the minister, all the legal paperwork and set up meetings with local authorities to sign the legal papers.

The location made the wedding incredibly special for Stine and Truls. Stine says “Having the wedding in a different country and culture, Italy and Tuscany was the perfect spot. All guests travelled there only for the wedding and this makes a wonderful atmosphere for all. Perfect weather, quite cool in a very unusually hot season. Ceremony outside the old monastery church was like getting married in a museum. The venue was perfect as we could arrange everything there and there was no travelling or waiting for the guests.”

Of their photographer, Stine says “Professional and non invasive throughout the day. We had a good dialog prior to the wedding where we could have our own ideas and wishes. She mixed our wishes with her own ideas and we were very happy how the pictures and videos turned out. We can absolutely recommend Katja Anton to others.“

Following the ceremony and photographs, guests enjoyed peach Bellinis and Italian antipasti in the courtyard.

Guests adjourned to a sit down meal in marquee, Truls says “The food was a mouth-watering Italian feast starting with canapés (truffle salami and prosciutto…and typical Tuscan finger foods followed by sit down dinner (with dishes like homemade ravioli with aubergine and a mushroom and herb sauce, roasted meats) followed by a large desert table.” The meal was catered by Bachini & Bellini, Florence and www.Food Fairies.

In lieu of wedding cake, guests enjoyed scrumptious tiramisu  from Bachini & Bellini, Florence The first dance was memorable, Stine says “We danced to Dean Martin, ‘That’s Amore’. The dance was well rehearsed and we had two dance lessons prior to the wedding. The stone paved floor of the monastery atrium was far from even and the dance was far from perfect, but probably fun to watch !”

To top off today’s beautiful weddings, Wildbunch Weddings shot this film of the day!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Congratulations Stine and Truls! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us! Thank you also to Katja Anton of AKA Weddings and Wildbunch Weddings for sharing today’s captures!

Want More? Check Out These Posts:

1. Ginny and Jack’s Nautical Inspired Wedding
2. Marcela and Filipe’s Bold Chile Wedding
3. Nuria and Anthony’s Spanish Castle Wedding

Ali and Lee

Sometimes, love is just the tip of the iceberg for a completely awesome wedding and by that I mean, not only are Ali and Lee madly in love with a beautiful story to tell, but they had their wedding reception in a teepee. Yes, a teepee and for that reason alone, they themselves are awesome – wouldn’t you agree? Today’s wedding took palce in England, but as with all Australians who end up in England, we shall call Lee and claim him as our own! Hence the beauty of this English/Australian celebration!

Ali explains how she and Lee met. “We met in a bar in London on the night of the football world cup final. My best friend had come in to see me at work earlier that day and said that she had seen a glint in my eye so she knew something was going to happen! Must say I didn’t think that the something was going to be that I would meet my future husband!! Lee had just arrived from Australia to start his stint in the UK after doing a bit of traveling around Europe and was looking for fun. I was going through a difficult time and wanted some distraction so we met each others needs perfectly! I eventually followed him out to Australia (although I always said that I was just going to say hi but he says he knew I would stay). He proposed 3 years after that in the airport car park at 4.30 am on Christmas day.”

Photographs today are by Richard Ford. I love Richard’s fun and vibrant captures from today’s wedding- it’s an adventure to capture a teepee wedding and I think Richard showcased the atmosphere perfectly with his photos.

Ali wore a knee length gown from Thurley with beautifully coloured shoes from Ted Baker. Jennifer Lucy Makeup styled all of the hair and makeup.

Ali and Lee married at Ali’s parents’ home in England. Ali remarks “I had always wanted to get married at home (wherever home was, we had moved quite a bit) in my parents’ garden. They had just bought a new house in Rogate, UK with big plans to renovate inside, redo the roof and redesign the garden when Lee popped the question. I thought that we would have to rethink the venue as it was going to be a massive job and we weren’t in the country to help but they wouldn’t hear of it. They were amazing and after a massive 9 months of very hard work and dust, they managed to pull it off completely and the finished result was beautiful. We actually only saw the house and garden for the first time a week before the big day and it was even better than expected.”

Ali explains the mood for the day “The theme for the day was colour. Everything was based around pink, orange, red and yellow. The groom wore an orange tie and the grooms men had hot pink ties which matched the dresses of the bridesmaids. My Dad wore an awesome yellow bow tie. Even the groom’s Dad wore a pink tie. It was fab, everyone made such an effort”. Ali gave her bridesmaids handmade coloured earrings from Linkeldesigns.

Ali was walked down the aisle by her father and the ceremony was performed by “An awesome man called Jim Trimmer which we found off a Humanist website. We picked him as he seemed good fun (we weren’t wrong) and had nicknamed himself the flying humanist while family and friends played the tunes and pitched in.

Ali explains “My Aunt and Uncle are professional musicians and  they played three jazz pieces throughout the ceremony. One of which was composed especially for us by my uncle which was based on a relationship – the happy times, the difficult times and the make up times. Hannah, a lovely friend who I used to work with in London did my beautiful bouquet and the flowers for my bridesmaids.”

Ali remarks “We actually had two parts to  the wedding as we had to do the legal bit in Australia before we left. The first part was done as quietly and as basic as possible at a registry office in Perth, WA. We only had 2 witnesses and it happened very quickly, followed by cocktails, champagne and pizza to celebrate!

The second part was in West Sussex, UK at my parents house which was organised over many, many Skype sessions! We wanted the day to have a real party atmosphere and for everyone to have a good time. It was at the end of summer and as the ceremony was held in the garden the weather had to be good. Luckily my Dad’s tradition of burying a silver spoon in the garden to ward of bad weather worked. (It poured the next day!)”

Of their photographer Richard, Ali says “He was awesome. He was recommended to us by a photographer that a friend had used for their wedding. We wanted to have a relaxed feel and for the pictures to be a story of the day/ party and definitely not just about us.

Neither of us wanted to be having to wait for ages for all the family shots to be taken as we wanted to spend more time with our guests and he understood that. They were done in record time. He was very professional but had a quirky sense about him that made it all really good fun. The pictures are even better than we thought, I love looking at them and seeing bits that we missed and remembering the day through them. He captured the day, the people and the colours perfectly.”

Ali describes the day as “It was the brightest, happiest day filled with the best people, lots of dancing, laughter and colour.  Massive cliche but it really was a truly wonderful day.”

The second theme may have won my heart a little! Ali says “Shoes also became a theme of the day… I had wanted to have coloured shoes and found pink shoes with red bows which I loved but the real shoes of the day were those of my older sister. They were from a different world with wings and feathers! Amazing!

We had teepee tents in the garden for the reception and they had such a magical feel to them. It was a bit different to the usual white marquee. I think what made them so special was that they had to be erected around a tree which my sisters nicknamed the tree of love!” The couple hire the teepee tents from Beautiful World Tents.

The flowers were beautifully coloured. Ali explains “As I am a florist the flowers were quite important. We had domes of dahlias, one colour per vase that formed a line down the centre of the tables arranged by a local florist called The Blacksmith’s Daughter. The napkins and water glasses were coloured as well.

For their registry, Ali and Lee did something personal, Ali says”We decided to set up a charity page so that our guests could donate to the MS Society both in the UK and Australia. It was a token for my Mum who had suffered from the disease.”

The couple had their wedding catered by Jacaranda Catering. Ali says “It was delicious.  Cheesecake was a must!”

Ali remembers her favourite part of the wedding day as, “Having all of our families together. One sister lives in New Zealand, my brother lives in New York and my other sister lives in the UK so it was so fantastic being together again after 2 years. There was such a party atmosphere in the week leading up to the wedding as gradually more and more of the Aussies arrived.

We had 20 people from the Australian side  make it over and that was amazing. It is such a distance and for there to be so many that made the effort to come was really special. It was a perfect way to catch up with friends and family.”

Their first danced was a classic, but humorous affair, Ali says “My Dad nicknamed it the clutch and shuffle as we were both pretty nervous about it. We danced to  ‘Let’s stay together’ by Al Green which felt very romantic. In the end it went really well and we were able to do something that resembled dancing. Thankfully, everyone joined us on the floor just before we reached the edge where we would have had to have maneuvered a turn, little bit daunting with everyone watching!”

The music kept guests on the dance floor all night light, Ali recalls “Lee loves music and I love dancing so we wanted to make sure we found the perfect band. It was a really difficult decision as it could make or break the evening!  Finally we decided on a band called “SuperNova” who had played at my sister’s wedding a few years ago. They had played at a number of my sister’s friends weddings too and had rave reviews so we booked them. They were fantastic and did not disappoint.

Their breaks were filled by my brother in law who was nicknamed DJ Supreme and kept everyone on the dance floor. It was so much fun and the floor was packed throughout the evening!”
Congratulations on this new stage in your lives Ali & Lee! Thank you for sharing your story with us! Thank you also to Richard Ford for sharing today’s images!

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Sara and Rueben

A hop, skip and jump across the pond today to London for s beautiful English wedding! Our couple today, Sara and Rueben incorporate their own flair into their day- including Sara’s Buddhist wedding traditions

Sara explains how she met Rueben. “I am a Practice Nurse and Rueben was a one off patient at the surgery. He asked me out on a date 3 months later and we went to Brighton. He had 2 glasses in his bag and a bottle of Verve.”

The gorgeous, quirky photographs today are by Solas Photographers who have captured the true essence of Sara and Rueben! Kalifilm Productions were also there on the day to shoot the film of Sara and Rueben’s wedding.

Rueben’s attire was from TopMan with his bow tie and top hat from ebay.

Sara started the day with friendship, she remarks “I had my close friends over on the morning of our wedding for champagne and strawberries. Hair and make up was also carried out by friends so this felt fun and quite relaxing.” Sara wore a gown from Phase 8 with shoes from Marta Jonsson.

Sara walked down the aisle Clare David (clarewalldavid@yahoo.com ) playing the grand piano.

The ceremony was the best part of the day for Sara with many memories, she shares “Having my dad walk me down the aisle was very special and also the actual ceremony itself, particularly as my 2 friends took part in the Ceremony of Cups.”

Sara and Rueben married at Taplow Court. “Taplow Court was chosen because I am Buddhist and the grounds surrounding the Manor House are wonderful.”

Sara’s bridesmaids wore “Verity” gowns from Phase 8 and flowers were styled by Beccy (beccy@mostwantedglobal.com).

Of their photographers, Sara says “We were lucky to have a husband and wife team who were fun and great to work with. On a few occasions we didn’t know what to do and without asking they directed us to where/what we should be doing, without fuss…fantastic!”

Sara offers this advice to fellow couples “Everyone says the day goes so quick and it does, this is not a bad thing, embrace it! HOWEVER make sure you don’t go cheap on the photographer because the next day and in the years to come this will be your only reference. I can’t put into words how lucky we were with Solas…We were showered with kind words on facebook for weeks afterwards-a truly happy ending and this is down to talent they gave us.”

Sara describes the day as “A heartfelt celebration of our union shared with close friends and family.”

Sara and Rueben held their reception at The Brentham Club and included many personal touches. “Rueben made our fantastic vintage photo booth which came with props. My friend Rebecca who is a florist also supplied the linen for the tables and chairs. We supplied the lanterns and umbrellas suspended from the ceiling. We also supplied a vintage screen with potted palm plants and an old vintage chest displaying the seating arrangements. Rueben’s mother made confetti from rose petals and hydrangeas and we also made the receptacles from old paper that had rose petals pressed in.” Rueben even creates photo booths for other London couples! (contact him here)

The three tier cake, decorated with pink roses was created by Maisie Fantaisie .

Wedding favours in the form of different flavoured jams and peppered jelly were made by friend Colvin (which you can buy here). Rueben made the labels along with the rest of the wedding stationery (including invitations and thank you cards).

Sara says “We wanted to avoid the first dance and due to an overrun on dinner we escaped that ritual Later, after a few drinks we had a boogie without all the eyes on us!”

Congratulations Sara and Rueben! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us! Thank you also to Solas Photographers for sharing today’s photographs!

Want More? Check Out These Posts:

1. Sara and Jordan
2. Sara and Nima’s Simple Melbourne Wedding
3. Sara and David’s Winter Winery Wedding

Amanda and Corey

I could smell the sunshine when this beautiful yellow wedding landed in my inbox – yellow is such an amazing colour and the joyfulness is infectious throughout Amanda and Corey’s Austin wedding day.

High school sweethearts, Amanda and Corey have been together for many years, Amanda explains “We met in high school – he used to pretend to forget his glasses in another class so he could sit in the front of the room, next to me. We started dating about a year later, and we’ve been inseparable ever since! He’s an absolutely amazing husband, and I can’t imagine my life without him!”

Photos are by She N He Photography – I love, love, love the sense of fun and frivolity the She N He team put into the weddings they capture.

Corey wore yellow Converse sneakers for the day while Amanda wore yellow J.Crew heels (which she swapped for matching yellow converse sneakers on the dance floor). Amanda wore a gown from David’s Bridal and her bridesmaids wore yellow gowns by Dessy.

The floral arrangements on the day were styled by The Glass Fountain. Amanda handmade the paper flowers which hung from the ceremony chairs.

The couple married at Vintage Villas in Austin, Texas. Amanda walked down the aisle to Vitamin String Quartet’s cover of Dashboard Confessional’s “Hands Down.”

Amanda’s brother in law officiated the ceremony. Amanda remarks “My husband and I worked with my brother in law to write our ceremony ourselves, and my brother in law was the one to officiate our wedding. It was incredibly special to have someone so close to us be the one to marry us, and we’re so glad that we took the time to hand craft our ceremony so that it was personal, unique, and completely tailored to us!”

Amanda says of her wedding day to Corey, “Our wedding was bright, fun, and whimsical, and one of the most amazing days of my life so far.”

Amanda’s handmade details were complimented by stationery created by She N He. Christina Alfonso of Me So Hungry coordinated the wedding on the day.

One of Amanda’s favourite moments was her husband’s words. “I loved having my husband pull me aside and tell me how proud he was of all the work I put into planning the day and creating all of the decorations was one of the best moments of the night. I poured my heart into planning and crafting our wedding day, and it was amazing to have him recognize that.” Amanda handmade cloth napkins for every guest to use during dinner.

The cupcake tower was created by Be My Cupcake.

For their first dance, Amanda says “We danced to “The Way I Am” by Ingrid Michaelson. We had originally planned on coming up with a fancy, choreographed dance to wow our guests, but in the end we just held each other and swayed back and forth – and it was absolutely perfect!”

The photo booth was a hit, Amanda remarks “Our photo booth ended up being much more important and special to me than I had anticipated it would – it was so much fun to pull some of our guests aside to take photos with them, and looking back on all of the photos we have of our family and friends enjoying themselves in it makes me smile every time!”

Congratulations Amanda and Corey! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us on Polka Dot Bride! Thank you also to She N He Photography for sharing today’s photographs!

Photos by She N He Photography

Want More? Check Out These Posts:

1. Amanda and Andy’s Romantic Elegance Wedding
2. Amanda and Kallon’s Art Gallery Wedding
3. Amanda and Brett’s Dreamy Hamilton island Wedding

Nuria and Anthony

Marrying in a Spanish castle sounds like something out of a romantic fairytale – so when this little gem of a wedding popped into my inbox I couldn’t resist sharing it with you. A melting pot of American and Spanish cultures and traditions, today is the wedding of Nuria and Anthony.

We have all our stories from Anthony today who tells the story of how he met Nuria. “We met in college. My wife was my Spanish Language lab T.A. and I was the lucky student, who made a good impression on my T.A.”

Photographs today are by Elaine Palladino Photography who has captured such warmth and joy in today’s celebration,. From the Spanish traditions to the Spanish countryside! Such beautiful memories. Raul Pastor wedding videos created a video of the day.

Anthony’s suit was by Carlo Pignatelli.

Nuria wore a beautiful strapless gown by Manuel Mota for Pronovias. The flowers were by Pilar Fernández, “A local woman who puts the flowers together in her house!”

Nuria wore coloured shoes from Kate Spade.

Nuria and Anthony were married in a stunning concathedral. “The wedding was in Cáceres, Spain in the historic part of town in a Concathedral called Santa Maria. The concathedral was where my wife received her first communion and is an absolutely beautiful building. It was built in the 16^th century and is one of the most famous buildings of the city.”

Anthony says “Our wedding was a beautiful day where two families from two different world joined together to celebrate the new life of two amazing people, mixing food, culture, history, smiles and above all love.”

Anthony had plenty of memories from the day, one of which was his wife’s choice of footwear. He recalls “I have 1,000,000 + stories that will be with us forever. But my favorite moment of the day was watching my beautiful wife and her purple shoes make everyone smile all day long and at the end of the day I had to carry her to bed because she gave it her absolute all, and couldn’t do any more.”

Anthony remembers “After the ceremony we walked around the old historic part of the city where my wife is from.”

Guests donned their best attire. Anthony remarks “The ladies wore the most beautiful head pieces I have ever seen.”

Guests gathered for cocktails under the olive and orange trees.

The wedding celebration took place in a beautiful medieval castle called El Castillo de las Arguijuelas. Anthony recalls “The castle is called Castillo de las Arguijuelas de Arriba and we had an outdoor cocktail hour under the shade of olive and grape trees in the courtyard and dinner and dance was in the castle premises.”

The groom’s sister Jennifer created the stationery.

The couple danced to a classic favourite. Anthony tells “Better Together by Jack Johnson, one of my wife and my favorite songs. Life is never the same when we are apart and always better when we are together.”

Congratulations Nuria anad Anthony! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us today on Polka Dot Bride! Thank you also to Elaine Palladino Photography for sharing today’s photographs!

Photos by Elaine Palladino Photography

Want More? Check Out These Posts:

1. Sofia and Ander’s Swedish Winter Wedding
2. Melissa and Anthony
3. Melissa and Anthony- The Celebration