Lynsie & Ben

We've gone from delicate, pastel hued inspiration of yesterday afternoons feature, to rich, sumptuous jewel tones of this beautifully planned & styled wedding by wedding directory member, Rachel Rose Weddings. (Nobody can say we don't like variety) and what a gorgeous Spanish destination wedding it is. Taking place at Rachel's newest wedding venue Cortijo Rosa Blanca in the heart of the Andalucian countryside, Southern Spain, and all looking absolutely delicious decked out in vibrant florals and vintage decor. Anna Gazda Photography has done an amazing job of capturing all the emotion, fashion, florals and details, so get those pinning fingers ready as you're going to want to recreate it all!

Dress

Lynsie the Bride: I knew I wanted a bohemian style dress, floaty and backless, but I had slightly lost my way until I visited the Catherine Deane London boutique. I was like a little girl stepping into a sweet shop, every dress hanging there was stunning! On my second visit a new gown had just arrived and as soon as I saw it I knew it was the one. It was completely different to what I had envisioned I would wear. It had a lot more detail then I thought I would want but its opalescent diamantes would shimmer blue in the Spanish sun and along with the detailed pearls on the bodice and spaghetti straps and the floaty silk tulle skirt it was so romantic and unique, it was just perfect.

The Venue & Planning

We had fallen in love with Spain after many family holidays there and also knew a destination wedding would be a huge hit with our family and friends. When we first visited Cortijo Rosa Blanca it was still very much a building site, but we had seen Rachel’s other venues and completely believed in her vision. It exceeded our expectations. The Cortijo was the most incredible place to spend a week with our family and on the day Rachel and her team created the most beautiful wedding venue in amongst the white walled courtyards, olive trees, and stunning gardens. Cortijo Rosa Blanca will always hold a very special place in our hearts. By choosing Rachel Rose Weddings we knew we would get the wedding of our dreams in Spain, from our very first emails through to the day itself their wedding package options and advice were spot on.

The Décor and Styling

We wanted an authentic feel to the wedding and was therefore greatly influenced by the deep pinks of the bougainvillea and purples and greens of the lavender and olive trees already at the venue. We decided to create a rustic theme accompanied with lots of jewel toned blooms, golds and luscious navy blue velvets. I had decided to paint my own wedding invitations with water coloured olive branches and with the help of a family friend we had the invites designed. I attached a stem of lavender and a small pheasant feather with twine to the invites and so on the day had pheasant feathers in my bouquet and one in Bens buttonhole. Being a huge Liverpool football fan, Ben asked if our table names could be the names of players past and present. They looked great written beautifully on blackboard styled name cards and gave Ben his little, but valued input into the décor! Our wedding favours were white plantable paper hearts, embedded with wild flower seeds. They looked so pretty tied to the napkins with the guest name cards and would also be a reminder of the stunning flowers of the venue.

Bridesmaids

I wanted the bridesmaids to feel comfortable and wear dresses that would suit their personal styles, I also wanted them to have dresses that they could wear again. So we opted for a mix of high street dresses that blended together through a combination of bold laces, blush pinks and high low hem lines. The two flower girls had flower crowns which were a last minute addition but were one of my favourite elements of the whole wedding. They all looked so beautiful.

Ceremony

Our ceremony had everything, family, friends, laughter and a little more tears then we expected! Our incredible celebrant Natasha really encouraged us to create a ceremony personal to us. Having our two little boys at our wedding was so special and we wanted our ceremony to be about our family. We included a reading of one of their favourite bedtime stories ‘I Love You Little Monster’ by Giles Andreae, read by my brother and also along with his godmother, our six year old son read the lyrics to one of our favourite songs ‘All I Want Is You’ (Barry Louis Polisar)! We wrote our own vows and with Natasha’s amazing advice felt confident to include a few laughs along with our promises, including lyrics from my favourite TV show ‘Home & Away’! We had the incredible Rivermen playing acoustic guitar and singing and this was all set in the breathtaking meadow at Rosa Blanca, we couldn’t have asked for more, it was just perfect.

Special Moments

As a surprise, one of our bridesmaids had created a video message from guests that couldn’t make it. As she works in television this progressed to include messages from famous faces and concluded with messages from some Liverpool football players which made Bens night. It was hilarious and had everyone in floods of laughter and is still talked about today.