Kimberly och Eric gifte sig den 31 maj 2015 i Simrishamn. De valde att ha ett intimt och personligt bröllop med bara de närmaste närvarande. Bröllopsfotografen Mickael Tannus var med under dagen och har skildrat bröllopet på ett konstnärligt och uttrycksfullt sätt. Brudparets berättelse är på engelska denna gång och den bjuder på mycket inspiration, framför allt för den som planerar ett mindre bröllop.

About the choice of venue for the wedding

“The wedding took place on the 31st of May 2015 in the charming seaside town of Simrishamn in Skåne. We decided to have the ceremony outside by the sea, chosen by my husband. We looked far and wide throughout the beautiful landscapes of Österlen looking for the very location that called to our hearts.”

Planning the wedding

“Originally, Eric and I wanted to elope, because we thought sometimes people can forget that a wedding isn’t just about the party and whom your inviting, it’s about an intimate, raw and loving commitment between two souls and we wanted to focus on that rather than organizing a big wedding. We had felt strong about this, but after some thought one April day, we decided to have a very small intimate wedding instead. Surrounded by just immediate family and that’s it.

This new decision came because we wanted to include Eric’s beloved Mormor (who was 92 years at the time) because we knew that she was getting frail and it would mean the world to her to see her only grandson get married. She expressed this wish to us subtly in conversations we would have with her, so we decided we would hold a sweet small ceremony close to her cottage in Simrishamn. My mom was already planning to come to Sweden during the month of May, so we decided to surprise her and just get married when she came here so she could attend. Thus, the planning began in great haste and we planned this little seaside-garden wedding in a little over a months time.

The planning was a bit of a rush, but not very stressful as it was a small wedding and super simple. The nature we surrounded ourselves in was all the beauty decor we needed. It was just those little particulars like food, flowers and cake that we had to worry about. The rest of the stuff we borrowed from Eric’s Mormor (which was easy since it was at her house).”

Getting ready

“It was a pretty heavily cloudy day to begin with, with the sun only poking it’s face out here and there throughout the morning hours. While I was getting ready, I kept looking outside the window worried our beautiful day would be destroyed by the impending rain. They say it’s good luck when it rains on your wedding day, but not for my hair and make-up at least...

The girls finished getting ready at the cottage while the boys got ready at another location and then we all headed out towards the sea.”

The weather on the big day

“It was extremely windy (as you can see in the photos) but as if mother nature took pity on us herself, the clouds parted and the sun shined down on us during most of the ceremony, there was a little rain for a few minutes (there’s that luck!). ”

An intimate ceremony

“Like I said, it was a super small wedding with only Eric’s close family, family friend and my mom. There were only nine people attending in total including the pastor leading the ceremony. Eric and I wrote letters to each other and I read my favorite E.E. Cummings poem to him. My favorite part of the ceremony was the “Ring Warming Ceremony” A ring warming ceremony is when everyone stands in a circle, and passes around the wedding rings, saying a quick blessing or well wishes over the set of rings before we place them on our fingers. So beautiful, touching and intimate!”

Finding the right dress

“I ordered my dress from Etsy, the dress was made at a shop run by two talented Russian women. Their shop on Etsy is called: Milamirabridal. I wanted that modest-classic-bohemian look, so my dress and make-up were subtle. I wanted a dress that had a classic look that never goes out of style. I wanted to be able to look back at my wedding pictures and not be horrified by my outdated dress, haha. The look I was going for made dress shopping around here in Stockholm a little difficult, the dresses were usually mega fancy. I went to some shops and asked some girlfriends but nobody seemed to know where to find the type of dresses I was looking for, that’s when I decided to search my favorite go-to-site Etsy. The vendors selling there really have a lot of what you could need for a sweet-homemade-looking wedding. I know, I know, buying a dress online is a scary, scary thing but I did a lot of research of the shop first and asked for non-professional pictures of the dress before the purchase. Milamirabridal was happy to fulfill my requests and promptly answered all of my questions. I did my hair and make-up on my own. I did a make-up tutorial at MAC before I left and tried to copy the same look on the big day.”

About the wedding photographer

“We chose our photographer Mickael Tannus, because we really liked his style. I like to do photography as well, so I knew exactly the type of photographer I was looking for. Mickael lets you know what type of photographer he is right from the start, he doesn’t do what some might call “traditional photos” where you pose and look directly at the camera, but rather the more natural artsy type. He likes to photograph the moments exactly as they happen, he likes the authenticity of a moment captured. I think capturing moments as they were naturally is so beautiful. He also seems to really appreciate and incorporate nature into his photographs which I really liked as well. I love how he captured one photo in particular of Eric and I holding hands, he photographed just our hands and arms during the ceremony and you could literally see the goosebumps I had on my arms from being present in the moment, he captured that! He really seems to pay attention to the details and special moments big or small between people. ”

Tips for other couples planning their wedding

“My tip to other couples is to just to try your best to relax when planning for the big day. I love the feel of small weddings, but if you are planning a big one, don’t forget what the day is about, you and your beloved. Just the two of you, nothing or no one matters in those precious hours of that day. Try to really relax and take it in, the day goes by so quickly and you don’t want to regret not focusing on what the day is really about, which is the vows and promises that you make to your significant other for a lifetime.”

The dinner party

“After the ceremony, we had a little garden party in the back of Mormor’s cottage. We listened to Frank Sinatra, ate, had some lovely speeches, drank champagne and enjoyed this precious memory with our close family. It was so nice to have the party at a home belonging to my husband’s family, it was so special and made me feel closer to Eric’s family by bringing back the joy from the day into home. Not to mention the candlelit dancing we did in the living room to classical music while his family set around in the living room watching.”

The theme for the wedding decorations

“My thoughts about decor were, a very natural organic, bohemian, nature spring time feel. Eric’s family friend named Jesper did all of our flowers. I wanted the freshly picked wild flower look for my hand bouquet, headpiece and wanted the same feel for the flowers on the tables in the garden. We actually tried to keep it pretty and simple. We used Eric’s Mormor Eivors porcelain dishes for the table settings. We also used mismatched flower vases we collected from her home. The settings actually came together quite naturally and beautifully. Our gorgeous and yummy cake was also homemade by our friend the talented Jesper (he loves doing these sort of party things). I guess we were kind of going for that DIY look and feel.”