Abi & Rob

I can't even begin to imagine how serene and lovely it must have been for this gorgeous couple to marry on the beach in Koh Samui, Thailand. Especially as it holds so many sentimental memories of their time dating. The aisle and altar leading to the beach ceremony is utterly gorgeous. Draped in crisp white fabric, white orchid garlands and a dream catcher. With many more gorgeous details and decor cropping up around the Faraway Wedding Villa adding personal touches. Now lets talk about Abi's Grace Loves Lace Sally gown. What a stunner she and the gown are. I love the off the shoulder detail, it must have been so easy to wear in the tropical sun. Her boho bridal look was finished off beautifully with a vine headdress and the prettiest barefoot sandals. Claudia Rose Carter has captured all the loveliness, as well as my favourite image of groom Rob kissing Bride Abi on the shoulder during the speeches at the outdoor wedding breakfast. I may have actually cried when I saw that pic it was SO adorable.

The Wedding

Abi the Bride: We chose to get married in Thailand as Rob spent a year teaching there and we both fell in love with the country. We couldn’t think of a more special place to get married. We did a lot of research into destination weddings and finally came across Faraway Weddings. We went to the Wedding show at earls court, London where we met Richard at Faraway Weddings. We knew straight away this was the perfect venue for us. When we finally saw the villa in Koh Samui we were blown away at how stunning and idyllic it was.

The Brides Fashion

When we first got engaged so many dresses which all were beautiful but nothing felt like me. I found Grace Loves Lace online and fell in love with their dresses! I decided to take a risk and order my dress online. The day it arrived was a mixture of excitement and nerves that it may not fit but I couldn’t believe how perfectly it fit and how beautiful the dress was on. I chose the Sally dress as it is perfectly unique, lightweight and floaty which was perfect for a beach destination wedding and although it was simple and bohemian it still felt like a wedding dress which was important to me. I danced the night away in it! Being a barefoot bride made the job of styling my wedding dress much easier! I found some pretty barefoot sandals from Forever Soles that were perfect and had just the right amount of sparkle. I knew I wanted a headpiece and after lots of searching I found LottieDaDesigns on Etsy, which had the most beautiful headpieces. I chose a pearl and crystal headpiece that I felt complimented the dress perfectly. I also some simple moonstone earrings and a bangle from Wanderlust & Co.

The Grooms Attire

Rob chose a white shirt by Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger braces, chinos from Abercrombie and Fitch and flip-flops. Knowing how humid Thailand is he knew he had to choose something that he would feel comfortable in. Robs best man and my brother both also wore white shirts and chinos.

Colour Scheme/Decor

We kept our colour scheme neutral, white flowers, lots of greenery and neutral accessories with touches of gold here and there. We found some amazing wood feather name places that were engraved with each guests name on Etsy. All of the guests loved them and kept them as a keepsake. We knew that by having a venue as breathtaking as a beach in Thailand that we wouldn’t need lots of decorations, just a few things to personalise the venue. Everything we chose was easy to pack and didn’t take up too much space in our luggage. I had lots of photos printed as polaroids which were scattered around on the on palms trees behind the fairy lights and we also had a photo garland which added a personal touch. I found a brilliant idea online for an alternative guestbook that was perfect for a destination wedding. We brought vintage postcards from the Thai market, self addressed them and asked each guest to write us a message and post them home to us from Thailand. When we got home from our honeymoon we had postcards arriving each day with wonderful messages from our guests, it really was a lovely idea!

Flowers

We chose to have Thai flowers throughout the venue. The whole villa was decorated with white roses, white lotus, white orchids, and green mums. The beautiful white bamboo canopy was decorated beautifully and we chose to have some hanging white orchid garlands behind us along with our white dream catcher that we found in the Bophut market in Koh Samui. The Faraway Weddings florists were amazing. Our photographer captured some beautiful photos of them putting all the flowers together in the morning of the wedding. I chose a simple bouquet of white roses and lotus and I purchased a bouquet charm, which was a photo of my mum and dad on their wedding day.

Ceremony

I have always dreamt of having a beach wedding but the venue and the ceremony exceeded my expectations and was absolutely breathtaking. My dad passed away when I was a baby so I asked my brother if he could walk me down the aisle. This was a very special moment for both of us that I will cherish always. My friend Terrie did a reading for us, which was a quote by Bob Marley called “He’s not perfect”. We didn’t want anything too soppy or cringe worthy and this reading was romantic but real. The whole ceremony was just perfect and Faraway Weddings really did create our dream wedding.

Entertainment

We kept it simple and created our own playlists for the wedding which took forever but was definitely worth it as it made it much more personal. We chose to have fire dancers as entertainment in the evening after dinner and they were absolutely amazing. Our guests loved it!

Food

Faraway Weddings organized all of the food at the wedding. We had a three course Thai feast, which was incredible, followed by banana pancakes for dessert. Guests were given cocktails in coconuts; we had Mr and Mrs cocktails in pineapples. We had a chocolate naked cake, which was decorated with flowers and a cake topper that we brought from Etsy.

Photographer

Our photographer was Claudia Rose Carter. Not only is she an amazingly talented photographer but also she’s an absolute sweetheart. She went above and beyond to make us happy and managed to capture our day perfectly.

Videographer

Faraway Weddings arranged for Wedding Film Asia to film our day. They were so friendly and professional and we were amazed by our video. We are so pleased we chose to have a videographer. The day goes so quickly and to watch it all back is so wonderful.

Advice

Take a deep breath, relax and enjoy every moment of your wedding day. Don’t let the little things worry you. I spent so much time before the wedding stressing that things wouldn’t be right; it’s easier said than done but try not to! Everything works out, and anything little that does go wrong isn’t the end of the world as the most important thing is marrying the love of your life and sharing moments with the people you love.