Chic Pastel Garden Wedding in Belgium
Just when I thought I'd seen it all, Nadia Meli goes and sends us this be-all and end-all of Belgium wedding. For starters, the blush invitation suite? Divine. The location? Don't even get me started (I could literally go on for days). But greater than all of these fabulous factors combined? The visible love between these two. If that doesn't melt you into a pile of mush, then you've got to see it all in The Vault!
From the Bride... A wedding was something I really wanted since I was a little girl. The thought of my father giving me away to the love of my life, made me emotional every time. I was very surprised though when Jelmer asked me to marry him! For him, standing in the spotlight is one of his biggest fears! But finally on the 23th of June in Cuba, he fell on his knee with shaking hands and pulled up to big question! Will you marry me? Before he even asked this question I started to cry and said “YES YES of course”. My hands started shaking too and I had a gorgeous ring on my finger. The first thing I did was taking a picture with my ring together with the most perfect sunset on the background and text this to one of my dearest friends. “IT FINALLY HAPPENED!“
Jelmer and I, we decided together that we would like to have an outside ceremony. I really wanted a very light and bright venue where we could arrange everything ourselves, so we went on a difficult search. We instantly fell in love with the castle ‘Gestelhof’ in Belgium. This venue is a private property, so very exclusive. We loved the very intimate and calm atmosphere. This castle is build in a circle which creates a very unique setting. Also a lot of old buildings and art pieces there, perfect for taking pictures!
A difficult part, but for me the most exciting part, was about to happen. Contact all the vendors for organising a wedding at this perfect venue.
There was nothing! No lights, no electricity, no kitchen,… for some brides a real horror scene but for me the perfect occasion to create our very one dream day. Every detail would be made and handpicked by me and Jelmer! Our date was set, the 4th of July, the day that my grandparents were married as well.
We decided to have a theme and color palette: a whimsical pastel theme! An elegant but nonchalant wedding. Nobody was surprised with this color pallete! I am always dressed in soft colors and feminine clothing. The dress code was long, pastel romantic dresses for the ladies. For the guys we had a dark suit with a minimum of color accents in mind. Some guests found it difficult. In Belgium it’s not a habit to set up a dress code. But we both wanted an American wedding in Belgium! I spend a whole year planning this wedding. Jelmer supported me in every thing. I made every detail myself. The invitations, handwritten arrows and welcome sign, choosing the vendors, the altar piece and so on. I even bought all my decoration items in other countries.
The week before the wedding we had to arrange a tent last minute! We planned to have the ceremony in open air but the weather was so unique. It would be the hottest day since 1904! The temperature was rising till 39 °C / 102.2 °F. Everyone was getting nervous about his extreme hot weather!
For me, the highlight of our wedding was the moment where my father saw me for the first time. This moment was a very special thing to me.
Our photographer catched this moment perfectly! We started the day with our ceremony and had a traditional cocktail hour after this. For dinner we had an Italian buffet. And we danced till 4 o’ clock! A special thanks to my husband Jelmer, he supported me during this year. He didn’t want to stand in the spotlight but he did this for me! And also a big thanks to my friends and family, they only heard me talking about pastel pastel pastel a whole year long. Thanks to al our vendors for making our day so special!
Jelmer and I, we decided together that we would like to have an outside ceremony. I really wanted a very light and bright venue where we could arrange everything ourselves, so we went on a difficult search. We instantly fell in love with the castle ‘Gestelhof’ in Belgium. This venue is a private property, so very exclusive. We loved the very intimate and calm atmosphere. This castle is build in a circle which creates a very unique setting. Also a lot of old buildings and art pieces there, perfect for taking pictures!
A difficult part, but for me the most exciting part, was about to happen. Contact all the vendors for organising a wedding at this perfect venue.
There was nothing! No lights, no electricity, no kitchen,… for some brides a real horror scene but for me the perfect occasion to create our very one dream day. Every detail would be made and handpicked by me and Jelmer! Our date was set, the 4th of July, the day that my grandparents were married as well.
We decided to have a theme and color palette: a whimsical pastel theme! An elegant but nonchalant wedding. Nobody was surprised with this color pallete! I am always dressed in soft colors and feminine clothing. The dress code was long, pastel romantic dresses for the ladies. For the guys we had a dark suit with a minimum of color accents in mind. Some guests found it difficult. In Belgium it’s not a habit to set up a dress code. But we both wanted an American wedding in Belgium! I spend a whole year planning this wedding. Jelmer supported me in every thing. I made every detail myself. The invitations, handwritten arrows and welcome sign, choosing the vendors, the altar piece and so on. I even bought all my decoration items in other countries.
The week before the wedding we had to arrange a tent last minute! We planned to have the ceremony in open air but the weather was so unique. It would be the hottest day since 1904! The temperature was rising till 39 °C / 102.2 °F. Everyone was getting nervous about his extreme hot weather!
For me, the highlight of our wedding was the moment where my father saw me for the first time. This moment was a very special thing to me.
Our photographer catched this moment perfectly! We started the day with our ceremony and had a traditional cocktail hour after this. For dinner we had an Italian buffet. And we danced till 4 o’ clock! A special thanks to my husband Jelmer, he supported me during this year. He didn’t want to stand in the spotlight but he did this for me! And also a big thanks to my friends and family, they only heard me talking about pastel pastel pastel a whole year long. Thanks to al our vendors for making our day so special!