Beautiful & Colourful Forest Destination Wedding In Spain

Well I think you’re going to be blown away by WWW readers Katy & Adam’s Spanish destination wedding, I know I certainly was. They tied the knot on 31st May 2019 at Masia la Garriga de Castelladral in Spain, which they booked before visiting as they knew it was “the one”. It certainly was a special place where their colourful, glitter filled and beautiful sunny day full of love, amazing music and incredible food took place.

They planned the whole thing from their home in Dubai and didn’t necessarily find the planning process that straightforward but were ever so pleased with the results on the day, and oh my is it easy to see why. From the bright and colourful decorations to the beautiful outdoor dinner which sounds delicious, it really looks like so much fun.

Katy and Adam chose Dan Hough Photography to capture their day and we’re really very grateful to be sharing his images with you today. Thanks Dan!

The Proposal

Adam is from Australia, Katy is from the UK. We met and live in Dubai.

When Adam’s family invited Katy’s family to spend Christmas 2017 “down under”, Katy’s family couldn’t say yes quick enough and Adam saw this as the perfect opportunity to pop the question. Adam planned the perfect day of wine tasting in the Margaret River region of Perth for both families and picked a winery affectionately known as “chick on a stick” to be the place that he would get down on one knee.

When Adam eventually managed to steal Katy away for some alone time, he took her hand and walked her through the flower garden of the winery. Katy remembers that (apparently coincidentally) Adele’s “Someone like you” started playing over the speakers and Adam turned to Katy and said “there really is no one else quite like you…”

After Adam got down on one knee, and Katy said yes, the two families celebrated by enjoying champagne at sunset on a Western Australian beach.

The Vision

Whilst a wedding is about the happy couple, neither of us are particularly comfortable with loads of attention and so we decided that we wanted the day to be about everyone and we wanted to involve as many people as possible, and do as much of it ourselves as possible.

We knew we wanted to get married in early summertime in Europe and when we came across our wedding venue in Spain online, we knew straight away that it was “the one” and we booked it before we had even been there.

We wanted things to be as far from traditional as possible, lots of colour, an informal ceremony (that included dessert and a shot of limoncello), friends as celebrants, sharing food and loads of it, cocktails, a great band and loads of fun, and of course, lots of dinosaurs.

The Planning Process

Our wedding was 18 months after we got engaged which sounds like a very long time but we came to the conclusion that no matter how hard you try to be organised, there are always some things that just can’t be done until close to the big day.

Wedding planning is HARD! People say “remember to enjoy it” but in all honesty it is quite stressful and whilst there are lots of fun parts along the way you just have to always remember why you are doing it.

We were both very hands on and really wanted to be involved. That is no mean feat when you are planning a destination wedding where English isn’t widely spoken.

We had lots of spreadsheets (which Katy hated) and mood boards/Pinterest pages (which Adam hated), we had about 10 hours sleep in the week before the wedding (gone was the plan of getting a full seven hours the night before the wedding!) and we really relied on our friends and family in the week of the wedding once we were in Barcelona. Every weekend for about two months before the wedding was taken up with “wedmin” but it was all really worth it in the end!

Budget

We were very good with preparing a budget in the beginning but it is very hard to stick to and you can get very carried away. We worked out what was the most important things to us and made these our “big spends”; we then tried to save money on things that weren’t as important to us.

Groomsmen

The groom and his groomsmen wore shirts by TM Lewin, trousers from MJ Bale and their own shoes. They wore braces matching the bridesmaids’ pants from ASOS Men, and individually patterned bow ties from DapperJack.

The Venue

We came across our wedding venue – Masia la Garriga de Castelladral – online. We put a deposit down before we had been to see it as we fell in love with it the moment that we saw it. What made it even more special was the family who own and run the venue. They are the most wonderful people who cannot do enough to help and just made everything run so smoothly. The venue is just over one hour outside of Barcelona, has absolutely stunning views over the Monserrat mountains, is incredibly peaceful and relaxing and has wonderfully organised and kind owners.

We had our ceremony in the gorgeous forest that is part of the venue, two of our closest people were our celebrants and we wrote the ceremony ourselves. After the ceremony we enjoyed a few hours of delicious cocktails (designed especially for the day), ice cold beers in wheelbarrows, Spanish Cava and incredible canapés on a giant grand terrace with a backdrop of the Monserrat mountains, whilst our band got everyone in the mood to dance. After this we moved for an incredible dinner (which was based on a sharing concept of fresh tapas style food) and dancing on the meadow whilst the sun went down over the Monserrat mountains. It was so incredible to be able to eat with 140 of our closest friends and family, outdoors and with such an incredible view for a backdrop.

We knew that we wanted an outdoor wedding, surrounded by nature and with gorgeous views. We got all of that and WAY more with our venue. Masia la Garriga de Castelladral prides itself on being kind to the planet and sustainable which is just one of the many things that we fell in love with about the venue.

Your Outfits & Accessories

Katy’s dress is “Kamelia” by Mila Nova (with a few alterations by a wonderful seamstress based in the UK). This was the first dress that she tried and once her mum and one of her bridesmaids had seen her in it, she knew from their reaction that it was the dress for her! Katy also wore the “Bluebell block heel” by Emmy London on her feet.

Katy’s twin sister made her a sequin adorned captain’s hat for later on in the evening and Katy made herself a multicoloured pastel pom pom jacket for when things got a little nippy during speeches.

Katy’s family bought her a “no man is an island” bracelet by @bybiehl, which she has not taken off since. Katy’s earrings were from a small shop in Seville, Spain called “Acus”.

Beauty

The wonderfully talented Nikoleta and Martina from @Nikoletamakeup and @hairoverheel did the bridal hair and makeup, plus the makeup and hair for the mother of the bride and mother of the groom.

It can be a real minefield deciding who to go with for bridal hair and makeup, particularly for a destination wedding. Katy’s fears went completely out of the window the moment that she met Nikoleta and saw the results of her amazing talent. Martina made personalised hair extensions for Katy which she wore on the day with a handmade leaf pin, again made in Dubai.

Katy decided to keep the makeup look soft and quite natural, so went for a turquoise nail colour which matched her earrings to give a pop of colour.

The Readings & Music

Katy walked down the aisle to “Follow the Sun” a beautiful song by Xavier Rudd. Katy and Adam came across this song on a Spotify playlist and after listening to the words, knew that it was what they wanted to start the wedding ceremony off. The guests walked back down the aisle to “You make my dreams”, by Hall and Oats.

We had three readings in the ceremony – “I like you”, by Sandol Stoddard, “Falling in love is like owning a dog”, by Taylor Mills, and a slightly amended version of an excerpt from “All I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten”, by Robert Fulgham. This last reading was extra touching as it was read by two of Katy and Adam’s friends who are in their eighties and who had flown all the way from Florida to be at the wedding!

The incredible wedding band was called NOMAD, and we found them through the website Fix the Music. They are a roaming party band who certainly know how to bring the party by not only playing incredible music but interacting with the guests as they did it. They played two sets, one during the canapés and cocktails and one during the late night dancing. What made NOMAD even more incredible was that the airline that they flew with from the UK to Barcelona lost all of their instruments and equipment and they didn’t tell us anything until after the wedding day, and they still managed to turn up and play an incredible performance whilst we were none the wiser!

The Flowers

We chose not to really have many flowers as the wedding venue itself was so gorgeous and full of nature. Our original vision was to have lots and lots of pink pampas grass but it turns out that you can’t always recreate what you see on Pinterest and pink pampas grass is very hard to come by in May in Spain!

We came across Xavi from Muguet Florista online and he made the most beautiful bouquets for the bride and bridesmaids, buttonholes for the groom and his groomsmen and an amazing flower crown for one of our celebrants. We put the bouquets in vases later on in the night and the florist made a few small arrangements for decorations. It was pretty remarkable that we got such beautiful flowers as the whole thing was arranged via emails and by sending Pinterest images, Xavi was a master at recreating what we described.

The Cake

We didn’t have one (see above re lack of formalities!) but we did have loads of yummy desserts baked by a local baker and our brilliant caterers.

We do want to give a special mention to our INCREDIBLE catering team here though. Katy is vegan and Adam is vegetarian so we wanted food that would be able to cater to us, without compromising on taste or the wow factor that we were looking for. We came across a brilliant catering company called “Say Cheese” which is run by an incredible couple who are just two of the most brilliant people you could ever meet. The same couple also run another non vegan business called “Little Green Trailer”. We approached these companies as we loved their ethics and personality, and they have the most wonderful staff.

We explained our vision for sharing concept, based on tapas, but with a modern twist and with vegan and vegetarian at the heart of a lot of the dishes. To say the teams delivered is an understatement. It was so refreshing to be able to work with the team to personalise our own menu for food and drink, instead of what we had come across with many other caterers, which was picking from set menu packages with limited scope for personalisation. The food was so delicious and kept everyone full all night long. If you want amazing, personalised food and drinks options, served by the most lovely positive people you will ever meet, and the chance to do something a little differently, we couldn’t recommend our caterers enough! They are truly something special.

Bridesmaids

The bridesmaids’ outfits were all hand made by a tailor in Dubai, Katy found a pattern that she liked and took it to the tailor who was able to bring her vision to life. The reason for this was that Katy couldn’t find a single bridesmaid dress that she liked and which fit the theme of the wedding – relaxed and summer vibes. Katy loved the idea of having the bridesmaids in wide legged pants but there is a real lack of any good options in the market, so Katy took things into her own hands and had them made! The bridesmaids wore earrings by an incredible small company called @hello_stud, and their own shoes.

The bridesmaids wore pyjamas from an Australian company called Piyama.

Your Photographer

What can we say… Dan came highly recommended to us from a friend whose wedding he had photographed a few years ago. Dan is the most amazing photographer/wedding dress assistant/table plan helper/mover of heavy things/all round amazing human being. From the moment we met Dan he put us totally at ease, despite us being based in a different country he made time to Skype us and discuss our vision for the day and what we were wanting all whilst giving us small tips based on his experience. Dan is the ultimate professional, yet you wouldn’t be able to pick him out from the guests on the day, he mingles and makes everyone feel totally at ease, he is warm and friendly and an absolute pleasure to have around.

Dan got our photos back to us so quickly, not only as brilliant quality photos which really captured the day, but also as a slideshow that shows all of the best photos set to music, and not just any music – the most beautiful songs which fit perfectly with the wedding. Dan takes photos that are not like other wedding photographers, he has a real eye for capturing a moment. Dan is just simply incredible.

Your Filmmaker

We really struggled to find a videographer as it seemed to us that Spanish videographers have a specific style which is quite “cinematic”. We came across Ferran from Padilla & Rigau online and after one Skype session we felt like he really understood what we were looking for. On the wedding day Ferran was brilliant, effortlessly moving around the guests and capturing the whole day. For anyone debating whether to get a videographer, we can say that we really did umm and ah about it and wonder whether it would be worth the extra expense, but if it is an expense that you can afford then we can tell you that if you find the right videographer, you won’t regret it!

The Details & Décor

We did all of the decorations ourselves. We spray painted dinosaurs for the name places, we made personalised top trumps cards for the table plan, we designed a sangria bar, a biodegradable glitter bar, and made our own archway for the ceremony. We made all of our own menus and stationery using the awesome website Canva, which we displayed on little brightly coloured deckchairs which we bought from Tiga. We printed all of the photos we displayed at the wedding using la la lab.

We worked closely with our caterers to personalise the drinks and food that were served and along with the material that we rented, a big part of the decoration was in the food and drink and how it was presented.

The Honeymoon

A week in Croatia after the wedding, sunshine and sleep was very much needed! We are planning a bigger trip next year to South America to celebrate our anniversary, who says you can’t have two honeymoons?!

Memorable Moments

We wrote the entire ceremony ourselves, and had two of our favourite people in the world as our celebrants. Having them tell our story made the ceremony so special, and really helped start our wedding day full of love.

Two special friends of Katy’s (and now Adam’s) flew from Florida to be at the wedding, impressive in itself, but even more so that both of them are over 80 years old and have actually only met Katy twice before! When they gave a reading together about all the things that you need to know are things that you learnt at kindergarten, all the while holding hands throughout, there was not a dry eye in the house!

Our photographer grabbed us for a quick photo at sunset and took us off for ten minutes by ourselves by a swimming pool. The resulting photos were absolutely amazing and it gave us chance to spend a lovely few minutes away from it all.

Advice For Other Couples

Remember what is important to you about the day and what you are trying to achieve. The most important thing to us was the people who made so much effort to be there, so we wanted them to have good food, good drink, good music and a bloody good time! In years to come people won’t remember the flowers or the cake (or the lack thereof in our case), but they will remember how they felt on the day. That was our end goal.