Nina & Maarten

Wanderlust Wedding, wedding planners in the South of France certainly know how to arrange a chic do. Taking Nina & Maarten's brief of a wedding amongst nature to the max and styling the most beautiful outdoor ceremony in a forest. The tree altar draped in fabric and florals literally has to be my favourite thing. So easy to do, but so effective. Actually my favourite thing is bride Nina and her stunning Alexander McQueen gown. Not to mention her shoes, and braid, and her gorgeous peaches and cream flower crown and bouquet. She looks absolutely breathtaking arriving for her first look with Maarten. With all the love and happiness of the tender moment captured beautifully by Reego Photographie.

Nina the Bride: 4 years into our relationship, I decided to go on a big personal adventure and travel around the world for 12 months, alone for the most part. After few months on my own, Maarten came to meet me in Australia in Darwin, Northern Territory.  Few days later as we are experiencing the Australian wilderness with our 4x4, Maarten proposed at night, beneath a beautiful starry sky, just the two of us in the wild overlooking the Victoria River. Very romantic! A year and a half later, we had the wedding of our dreams at home.

The Dress

I didn’t have a precise idea of what dress I wanted, so I took a few days in Paris with my mum to visit some wedding stylists.  I have been told a lot: when you see it you’ll know when you’ve found the one. It wasn’t the case for me. Nevertheless the first one I tried on, and again and again, ended up being the one: an Alexander McQueen long white dress. The soft silk was so beautiful! I I’ve never dreamt of the big white princess dress so this one was just perfect. Simple, effortless style and feminine without being girly or over-designed.That dress had the wow factor all in simplicity, and fit in perfectly with the decor of an outdoor wedding in a vineyard.

The Beauty

It was very important to me to feel comfortable with the person who would be in charge of my preparation. I was so lucky to have my hair and makeup done by Esther, from Belle comme un Camion. It felt like having one of my friends helping me getting ready. It was lovely for my bridesmaids as well to have their hair and make-up done in Esther’s lovely beauty truck.

Grooms Atire

Marteen the Groom: For my suit, I wanted something contemporary, fitted, and light-colored to fit the outdoor summer setting for our wedding in southern France. After a lot of shopping around, I felt I knew exactly what I wanted but wasn't quite able to find a match with any of the off-the-rack offerings, so I decided to go for a bespoke suit. I settled on Faubourg Saint Sulpice in Paris, and designed the suit with tailor Naomi in one Saturday afternoon session. We ended up going with a light grey wool fabric with just a hint of blue coming through, combined with an off-white shirt. For a bit of a twist, I coupled that with a wooden bow tie from Oncle Pape and light suede brogue hybrids. My groomsmen and the master of ceremony - our good friend Johan - also wore wooden bow ties to have a common theme without becoming too matchy, which worked out very nicely.

The Flowers & Decoration

Nina the Bride: D’amour et de Déco understood us in few words. They created the atmosphere we dreamed of. Everything was inspired by the natural decor and Vanessa just made it even more wonderful: from the wood-and-wax flowers allée to the fabric falling down our natural tree arch under which we got married.  My bouquets and the ones of my two bridesmaids were made with Peonies in pastel colors. Our tables were decorated with lots of little flower pots here and there, somme filled with flowers. 

The Ceremony

We wanted the day to reflect us. Our ceremony was very emotional and made even more special because we were lucky enough to be married by our best friend Johan. He had never done it before but was very honored to take on the challenge and he surpassed anything we could have imagined. We also had beautiful speeches from Maarten’s mom and our 4 witnesses. 

Photography

Neither of us is very comfortable being photographed, but we immediately trust Greg Reego Photography, which made us feel relaxed. We loved his work and were really happy to have him on our big day.  He was with us all day and captured the atmosphere of the day perfectly, from morning till the dance floor was packed.  He particularly amazed us when, he captured the beauty of the landscape and the special light there was on that day. We are absolutely pleased with his work and so are our guests.

Entertainment

We wanted our wedding to be a fun party. Our choice of entertainment was quickly done: Thomas The Woodbox, set up a photo booth for us. This photo box differs from others as it is entirely made of recycled materials. it is not only tons of fun but it also looks beautiful. With a wide selection of accessories, our guests ended up dressed in silly hats and props. We took the pictures home with us and it gave us great fun seeing it all afterwards. 

Wedding Planner

Marteen the Groom: I initially was skeptical of the need to have a wedding planner, because after all planning a wedding is just like planning a party right? Turns out there's a bit more involved in planning a wedding than finding a location, getting catering, a dJ, and a healthy amount of booze... All I can say is Franck and Lisa from Wanderlust Weddings were awesome!  In our initial conversations, they quickly understood the type and style of wedding we were aiming for (sometimes more so than we did ourselves), came with great suggestions, options and ideas, and once we were clear on what we wanted we didn't have to worry about it; it just happened. On the wedding day itself, we faced the unlikely prospect of a rainy day in the south of France in June, which is not ideal when the ceremony is supposed to take place outside, but Franck and Lisa quickly came up with a game plan to move things around, and pulled it off without a hitch! The day wouldn't have been the same without them!