Inspiration

I'm obsessed with gorgeous homes on archipelagos after watching this programme on the BBC. Seriously, can you think of anything more romantic or beautiful than living somewhere you have to access by ice-blue water?! And imagine how snuggly and secluded it must be in the Winter time! Anyway, the reason I'm waffling about waterside venues is that Sandra and Immi held their wedding at Sandra's parents gorgeous archipelago home. I think speedboat must be one of the most impressive bridal party entrances I've ever seen! Gorgeous fine art images come from Cecelina Photography, whose style reflects the light and airy vibe of this wedding to perfection.

The Proposal

Sandra The Bride: Immi went down on one knee during what I thought was a casual pre dinner walk on the London Southbank in April 2015. The sun was still high enough to give the beautiful ring just the perfect sparkle and I didn’t hear a word of what Immi was saying as the only thought going through my head was ‘is this really happening – are we getting married???’ Once we had established that it was really happening, we started thinking about the when and where...Sweden would be the logical place for our wedding as the majority of our families live there and it is the country where we both grew up.

The Venue

We quickly ruled out a winter wedding so that left us with the question this summer or next? Immi is the organised ‘plan-ahead’ person in our relationship so he thought summer 2016 could be a good option. For me however last minute panic is my #1 inspiration anyway so I didn’t mind bringing it forward to 2015. Besides, I’ve never been good at waiting for something that I wanted. We settled for a date late August and ‘project wedding’ was kicked off. With only a few months to go we soon realised that the Stockholm wedding venues where we could see ourselves getting married were fully booked. Another option was to check with my parents if we could have the wedding in their garden on a small island in the Stockholm archipelago. I asked this question one week after my dad had retired and he was probably thinking about all other plans he had that he now needed to put on hold and instead get the garden ready for a wedding, but he at least managed to appear very excited about the idea. Venue – tick, then it was time to get to grips with everything else, tent, food, flowers, transportation, accommodation, decorations etc and not to forget DRESS!

The Dress

Most wedding dress shop attendants were rolling their eyes as I came to look for a dress in May for a wedding in August (for me that was plenty of time!). Thankfully a little shop close to Baker street had what I wanted and they were able to get it ready in time. The months before the wedding just flew by and I spent day and night on Etsy, Pinterest and Amazon.com to source and get inspiration for decorations, bridesmaids dresses, flower arrangements and everything else. I also browsed all long term weather prognosis sites there are just to realise that they showed different weather for August every time I logged in.

The Details

Meanwhile Immi spent a few days in Stockholm to help with the garden preparations and things actually started to come together. Having spent months thinking about how the guests would perceive all details I was completely unprepared for how the day would be for us. As my bridesmaids and I were approaching the island I was overwhelmed with what I saw, our friends and family lined up in their best clothes in the sunshine (!) Adding the people truly elevated the design of the area where we were about to say yes to a lifelong commitment of love and friendship. The memory of the actual ceremony is almost as blurry as the memory of Immi when he was on one knee but judging by the pictures it was the most amazing thing. 6 months later I think I speak for both of us when I say that married life is like life before marriage but actually a little bit better.

The Photography

Cecelina the Photographer: I met Sandra for the first time in a small, noisy cafe in London - a city where we both had spent a significant part of our lives, away from our families in Sweden. I was struck by her warm and excited nature and knew that I would go to lengths to be part of her and Immi's wedding day. At their engagements session on the South Bank in London, where Immi once proposed, I got to know their story and we bonded over the things we miss about Stockholm and the things we can't see us live without in London. Having guests from far and wide, a boat ride through the archipelago was a beautiful way to introduce Stockholm. The wedding guests met up on the pier in the sunny capital and eventually landed on the island where Sandra's parents have their home. A large garden party was prepared after the sunlit ceremony, where Sandra and her bridesmaids arrived by boat to the jetty. It was a pleasure and a privilege to be part of such a beautiful day and I am so happy to continue my friendship with these gorgeous two, in the two cities we share and love.
Fern Godfrey

Written by Fern Godfrey

Bride: Bridal Rogue Gallery | Bridesmaids: House Of Fraser | Flower Girls: Monsoon | Shoes: Michael Kors | Groom: TM Lewin | Florist: Gullvivan Stockholm | Catering: Nacka Catering

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