Find out the Meaning Behind Cherry Blossoms at Their Wedding – Warning: Major Happy Tears Ahead!

Lauren Megerdichian
December 2, 2019
Categories: Real Weddings, Romantic, The Blog

Not only is this wedding one of the most beautiful we’ve ever seen – from the venue to the fleurs – but it’s also sprinkled with sentimental design elements that all have a beautiful story behind the them. Wep in Provence took inspiration from the bride’s childhood memories to create a truly personalized and special day from start to finish. The couple’s adorable 7 month old son completely stole the show, the amount of “awww’s” that happened while going through Oliver Fly Photography’s stunning images were too frequent to count. Oh, and did we mention BIG DAY’s INSANE floral arrangements? I mean…. that arbor.is.everything. Keep on scrolling to see all this French fairytale has to offer.

What did you envision your wedding being prior to planning? What was your color palette and your style vision?

From the Bride… When we first started to plan the wedding, I envisioned an intimate and romantic setting. We wanted to celebrate our special day with our closest family and friends. Therefore, choosing La Bastide de Gordes worked perfectly with the vision of the wedding. Then, came the wonderful wedding planner who introduced us to Morgane of Big Day Flowers. The initial starting point was the floral arch. I wanted to create an ethereal, romantic, yet natural setting. I had taken a picture of a natural arch in one of my daily walks at Regent’s Park, London (I lived there for 10 years, before moving to Paris and meeting the love of my life in Paris). I showed the picture of the arch to Morgane, and then I told her the story of how I made a wish under a cherry blossom tree on Hyde Park, where I spoke to my late grandmother and asked to unite my life with my soulmate: someone who gets me, who is there for, someone I dance and laugh with together. 7 months after making this wish under the cherry blossom tree, I met my husband in Paris, where I had just moved. I asked Morgane if we could somehow incorporate the cherry blossoms into the floral arrangements, and she did so. It was a spring, a new beginning, love and romance featured in the wedding. The other detail was white butterflies. When I was a little girl, growing up in Bulgaria, my grandfather will take me to our villa in the summer, and on the way there, he will point out white butterflies that we will see flying above the grass and say to me ,”If you see a white butterfly, it means your whole summer will be beautiful!”

This is why, I found paper white butterflies, and had the lovely calligrapher Jessica Shady, write the names of our guests on them. The wedding style was very intimate, authentic, and romantic. It felt like a fairytale, and a dream come true.

Why did you choose this wedding venue?

We chose the wedding venue, because we had taken a weekend trip there two years prior to getting married. It was still the beginning of our relationship, and it is a special place for us. The venue is intimate, and incredibly romantic. We also thought the staff showed incredible hospitality towards us, and we thought it will be a great place to get married. I am Turkish-Bulgarian, and my husband is American. Many of our guests travelled from far away, and we wanted to give them an experience where they will truly enjoy themselves and have a lovely time. What uniquement elements or DIY details did you include ? The butterflies, the arch (the write up above explains it), but another detail is also the cake. It was litchee vanilla, and Made in Cake recreated the cake I used to have in London with my maid of honour, Anabela, during our coffee dates. Another unique detail was having my friend Tania (Grier) do my makeup. She was there during cocktail, wedding, and brunch, never leaving my side for a minute. I met her in London more than 10 years ago, and we immediately became friends. Whenever she would do my makeup for events I was invited to, we would jokingly say that she will one day do my wedding makeup. It was wonderful to have her there. She was also the one to put my veil on before I walked down the aisle – a very special moment for me.

What was your favorite moment? Your favorite detail?

All of it, but here are some of our most special moments:

– Our son :

This was the most wonderful and blessed moment of our wedding: to have our son be present and celebrate with us. He was there with me when getting ready, and he was the one to bring the rings down the aisle. The day after we had the ceremony, he turned 7 months exactly, and we had a ‘birthday party’ for him during brunch with his own cake and balloons that spelled his name. He was the highlight of everything.

– The ceremony led by my father in law :

It was very personal to have my husband’s father lead the ceremony. He did a beautiful job. It was personal, warm and lovely. In addition to that, we had three people that are very special to us (my husband’s two sisters, and my cousin) read three special poems to us. It was a very intimate and personal ceremony.

– Having Anabela as my maid of honor :

Anabela, my maid of honor, was absolutely wonderful. She has a very special place in my heart, and she has been such an inspiration, a friend. When my husband decided to propose to me, he had contacted her (she is a jewellery designer) and asked her to create the engagement ring. There is a pink heart inside the ring, to symbolize ‘the eternal romantic’ that I am. I wore her earrings during the ceremony, cocktail party the night before, and even during brunch. She was next to me along the way in this journey, and not only during the wedding. When I look back, it feels like she has been there in the most crucial moments of my life. An incredible friend, and it was such an honour and a blessing to have her there at every step of the way.

– The vows :

We decided to write our vows, and it was incredibly beautiful and touching. When my husband started to speak, I could not hold back my tears. It was the most romantic and wonderful thing anyone has ever done for me, and I will remember this very moment for the rest of my life. He wrote them that morning, and he kept showing me funny vows on Youtube couple of days before. He is also not someone to be very vocal about his emotions (instead he shows it with his actions), and I did not expect the vows to be so heartfelt, so beautiful and touching.

– Walking down the aisle, entering the aisle and seeing it all for the very first time :

We had spent a long time with Morgane planning the arch, the floral details, and the aisle decorations. However, I did not see any of it and how it all came together until I walked out into the gardens. It’s already a very emotional moment, but the second I walked out, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of it all. It is an indescribable emotion, and it is absolutely thrilling, and beautiful. Overall our wedding made me feel that my whole life came together, from my childhood in Bulgaria, life spent between London, Istanbul, Paris and US, and the end was a fairytale like ending. I said in my vows that many years ago I had rewritten my life story as a fairytale, where everything that has happened good or bad, makes sense in the end, because it all leads me to my one true love. Our wedding day was truly the representation of that. In the end, it was only and ever love.

Tell us about your flowers, your gown, your favors for your guests, your cake… we want all the deets!

I have a leather goods label, and we decided to create custom business card holders for all the guests. We had our names and a logo that was created for us, by our talented graphic designer friend (Blackballoon Agency) printed on them. It was a personal touch to the wedding, and something the guests could take with themselves and use every day.

What is one piece of advice that you could give brides-to-be ?

Simply relax and know that this is a day to celebrate your love. I did not stress over any details, including my dress. In fact, I chose it in few hours. It was the second store I went, and the second dress I tried on. I could have spent months trying to find another dress, but I focused on what matters: celebrating love, and that wedding celebration is only one day of your life. We also invited only closest family and friends, which made the wedding even more special and everyone commented on the positive and happy vibe. It was a wonderful wedding, because of the people we got to share it with. They were the ones who made it beautiful. This also reminds me of another important factor: choosing the wedding planner and all the other vendors. Once again, I chose everyone very quickly and looked not only at their portfolio, but their positivity as people. I spoke to my wedding planner over the phone (I live in Paris, and she is based in Provence). She was the second person I had spoken to, and I knew right away, she was the right one. I didn’t need to call anyone else on the list. I believe choosing the right people around you is important, because they can be there to support you and remember to have trust. This is very important.