Wednesday 30 April 2014

A Swedish Boat Club Wedding with a Simple White Theme - The Reception

This simply stunning wedding goes to show that you don't need tonnes of wedding details for the perfect wedding, just lots of love, good cheer, and fantastic friends, Johan and Maria celebrated their big day by the water, in a boat club decorated by their family and friends. I love the elegance of the single green-white carnations, white candles and pastel green table stationery. The views of the water are just spectacular, and it goes to show that you don't need tonnes of decoration if your venue stands out. Lucky Maria went to school with wedding photographer Annevi Petersson, who shot these beautiful wedding pictures. Don't you wish your going away transport was a boat!


We celebrated our wedding on 24 August 2013, in Åhus in Sweden. We got engaged in 2002, but it took another ten years, and two beautiful children later and a lot of encouragement from the bride until Johan proposed a second time!


He chose the very same spot that we got engaged 10 years earlier, in a park by the water. He went down on his knee and popped the question and I cried, because I'd almost given up on my dream wedding. But in fact, Johan had planned for the proposal over the last year.



I went to school with photographer, Annevi Petersson. Being an old friend, it was natural to ask her to be our wedding photographer. It was relaxing for us to have a photographer that we knew so well.


I really wanted to arrive at my wedding venue by boat, so we looked at venues by the water, and the boat club was the best option for us. It's beautifully situated in the harbour with great views of the water. It was also very central, and the guests had the option to simply walk from the church ceremony church to the reception venue. 


The boat trip worked out very well for us. It was wonderful to have a short break and some alone time with just the two of us. It was a very special moment for us to talk about the day so far, but also speculate on all the speeches and games to come. And little did we know of all the wonderful surprises that followed that evening! 



We served welcome drinks on the large jetty, which was lovely on the hot summer day. 


The rustic boat club was a little bit on the dark side so the Johan brought lots of extra lighting that he used to decorate both the interior and exterior of the venue. It gave a soft mood lighting. The whole family helped with the decorations on the wedding day.


My father owned a large flower shop as I grew up, so I knew from the start that I wanted carnations. The final result was a combination of carnations and roses in different shades of white and pale green. I worked with a local florist, Dennis Flowers, who created my bouquet.


Wedding favours are not common in Sweden, so we didn't have any.


We didn't have a wedding colour theme as such, but it was very important to us that everything was kept simple, and that all our loved ones could be part of our day. We wanted to celebrate the day with warmth and happiness, so we sent out our save the date cards well in advance.


As a DIY project, I designed all our wedding stationery and our wedding rings.



A special thanks to our caterers - Spice Åhus. They did a great job. We are so grateful that our guests contributed so much with songs, speeches and even games. They were a large part in making our wedding day to the happy day that it was.





We ordered our wedding cakes from a local bakery, Nya Conditoriet Åhus. It tasted wonderful. We chose raspberry and white chocolate mousse on a chocolate base.


I absolutely loved planning my wedding day! I got a lot of support and help from my family and sisters. I really wanted the guests to feel included so I set up a section on my blog dedicated to the wedding. The guests {and readers} could follow the process, and updates on the wedding, and make wish lists for music, etc. 


My advice for other brides is to do exactly what you want to do! Follow your dreams and don't compromise. Don't invite guests because you feel you should, instead invite the people that are truly dear to you and you wish to be there. Keep your expectations realistic so you don't get disappointed on the day. It will all work out in the end.


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