Yvette och Fredrik sa ja till varandra en augustidag 2019 och bjöd in sina familjer och vänner från både Sverige och Australien. Yvette är från Australien där hon och Fredrik först träffades för flera år sedan. De bestämde sig för att anordna ett bröllop på Fredriks släktgård med utsikt över Mälaren. Det blev ett elegant bröllop med bohemiska detaljer, svenska mattraditioner och magnifika blomsterdekorationer i en idyllisk miljö. Den Stockholmsbaserade bröllopsfotografen Birgit Walsh fanns på plats för att föreviga dagen och nu ska vi få njuta av hennes bilder tillsammans med Yvettes bröllopsberättelse.

Så träffades brudparet

Yvette: I met Fredrik in Perth, Australia eight years ago, when he was studying there. I have lived in Perth my whole life and had just recently returned from Europe. One of my school friends set us up on a blind date at a bar she was working at and gave us lots of free drinks to ensure the conversation ran smoothly. We have been together ever since, even thought Fredrik moved back to Sweden for four years. We had a long distance relationship in that time and ensured we visited each other frequently. Fredrik moved back to Perth in 2017 and one year later we got engaged.
We live near the beach in Perth and one Monday after work Fredrik asked me to go for a walk on the dog beach which is something we often do in the summer. When we were walking he stopped to tell me he loved me and to look at the sunset over the ocean. Then he got down on one knee and proposed to me. I was so happy and excited. We had dinner at our favorite local Italian restaurant with a lot of champagne, wine and food. It was a perfect evening. Fredrik wanted to incorporate something from Sweden and so he bought my engagement ring from an antique store in Stockholm near where he grew up and brought over to Australia to propose.

Om platsen för bröllopet

Yvette: The location of the wedding is Fredriks family's farm. His parents live on the property and he spent a lot of time there when he was growing up and on his summer holidays as he lived in Stockholm. The farm is run by Fredrik's cousins who live in the large white house adjacent to the lawn we were married on. The property was bought by Fredriks grandfather in 1945 and it has been in the family ever since. It has a beautiful view over lake Mälaren and there are a lot of woods around the property which are used for hunting deer and ducks. We tried to incorporate as much of the natural landscape in our wedding ceremony and venue.

Temat för bröllopet

Yvette: I never purposely pursued a wedding theme, but wanted to incorporate as much of the nature and items from the surroundings of the property. A lot our Australian friends were visiting Sweden for the first time and so it was important to highlight the beautiful Swedish countryside and traditions. The chef created traditional Swedish canapes such as gubbröra and skagen. The main meals focused on local ingredients such as venison from the farm and fish from the lakes. I wanted to share with my Australian friends the fun of a Swedish crayfish party so there was crayfish and snaps for starters including snaps songs to liven up the dinner.
The wedding was the first time many of our Australian friends had met Fredrik’s Swedish friends so we focused a lot on bringing people together and highlighting Swedish traditions, food and the nature. As Fredrik had a family connection to the property he wanted to show his Australian friends where he is from.

Om blommorna

Yvette: As it was a summer wedding, I wanted to have colorful flowers yet still keep it elegant and classy. I provided some photos inspiration including photos of the bridesmaids dresses to the florist and she did the rest and found the most beautiful flowers and colors to complement my wedding dress and the bridesmaids dresses. I really wanted to have some Australian wild flowers in my bouquet, however being in Sweden this was not possible, but the florist managed to source some beautiful pink proteas which are one of my favorite flowers and similar to Australian wildflower.
The wedding arch we were married under in the ceremony was so stunning, it provided a beautiful focal point with lake Mälaren in the background. The florist played a huge part of our wedding decorations as we wanted to focus on the flowers, the florist visited the property many times before the wedding to see what she could incorporate from the surrounding forests and items available at the farm such as vases and ceiling decorations. She did an amazing job and her flower arrangements were more than i had ever dreamed of.

Val av klädsel till bröllopet

Yvette: I had two wedding dressed from a boutique in Perth. I fell in love with both of them for different reasons. The wedding dress i wore for the ceremony was beautiful and detailed with a long train, however I wanted to be able to tear up the dance floor after the dinner. So I changed into a more simple dancing dress which enabled me to move around easier. Fredrik wanted the wedding to be smoking theme (black tie) as it is not too formal but still elegant. I gave the bridesmaids a color pallet and let them chose their own dresses. One of my bridesmaids found the dress she wanted to wear online and the other bridesmaids loved it so much they all ended up wearing the same dress!

om fotografen Birgit walsh:

I knew the choice of photographer would be one of the most important decisions we made. Fredrik and I did an extensive amount of research before selecting a photographer.
We narrowed it down to couple of photographers which we liked the style of. Talking to them over Skype Birgit stood out instantly for us. She was so energetic, friendly and so professional which really make us feel comfortable. Fredrik and I wanted colorful photos which highlighted our guests and us interacting. We did not want overly posed and stiff photos, more natural and candid photos and this was inline with Birgits style of photography.
Birgit did an amazing job on the day, running around everywhere taking so many photos of me and Fredrik getting ready, the surrounding areas, details of the farm and everything else. She took fantastic photos of the guests arriving and the ceremony. We had our portraits done before our ceremony so we could maximize the amount of time we spent with the guests.
I couldn't be happier with the choice of the photographer, the quality of the photos. It was great to have Birgit around with us on the day, she was always professional and whole experience has been nothing but exceptional.

Vigseln

Yvette: We were so fortunate the weather was perfect for the day, although we did have back up plans. The ceremony was on a large lawn in front of the house over looking lake Mälaren. The guests sat on large rustic wooden benches and there were rose petals lining the aisle. The wedding arch at the end of the aisle was spectacular. Fredrik and groomsmen were standing in the front when all bridesmaids and myself with my father walked down the aisle. I really wanted to have live music for the ceremony and we organized to have a live singer and keyboardist play songs during the procession, ceremony and recession.
Fredrik and I took some time to select the song we wanted to be played. The song we had as I walked down the aisle was Elvis Presley's 'Can't Help Falling in Love'. During the ceremony we had a Swedish song 'Gabrielas Song' and the recession was 'La Vie en Rose'.
We had Fredrik’s cousin as our celebrant and we did not want a religious ceremony. The celebrant started the ceremony with a short overview of our relationship and the location we were getting married. it was very nice to have a celebrant who is part of the family.
Fredrik and I wrote our own vows and there were not many dry eyes in the ceremony as we were saying them. We had two of our close friends read poems which we had selected for them. One was highlighting how we were destined to be together and the other was about Marriage advice from 1878.

bohemiskt elegant bröllop sisters in law

Bästa minnena från dagen

Yvette: I do not like to be the center of attention and I was very worried I would get nervous, have stage fright or fall over on my dress as I walked down the aisle. However I was so moved to be standing in the ceremony in front of all our family and friends with Fredrik, this was my favorite time of the wedding.
Fredrik’s favorite time of the wedding was standing in front of everyone in the ceremony holding hands and looking at each other whilst the singer sang Gabriellas song.
After the ceremony Fredrik and I went into the house just us two and had a glass of champagne each. This was a nice 5 minutes alone to be together, breathe and take everything in. We have kept the cork from this first bottle of champagne we opened as a married couple.
We wanted to entertain our guests after the ceremony and so Fredrik’s mum organized for her friend who owns an Alpaca farm, to bring two alpacas dressed as bride and groom to the drinks. This was a good way to lighten up the drink time and all the guests could interact and pat the alpacas.
A highlight of the dinner for me was the Swedish tradition of being kissed by all the male guests when Fredrik went to the toilet. It was so fun to have all the guests lined up to kiss me as they played fun dance music.
One of Fredriks friends was our toastmaster and he did an amazing job to entertain everyone the entire night. He took everyones breath away when he sang Elton Johns 'Can you feel the love tonight.' All the guests were standing up, swaying and singing along.

bröllop detaljer trätavla bordsplacering

Dukningen

Yvette: The table settings were quite simple with white linens and central row of brown hessian with flowers and greenery. When the guests entered the tent for the dinner, the crayfish was already on the table and this provided a good pop of color to the table settings.
We have been to many weddings before and liked the look and feel of the long tables so that is what we had for the dinner. We did the styling and set up ourselves and we had a lot of fun re-purposing an old wooden door into our table seating plan. Fredrik is good at graphic design so he designed the menus and incorporated an image of a Swedish Asp leaf.

Råd till andra som planerar bröllop

Focus on the things which are important for you and the rest will fall into place. The important things for us to get right included the location, date, flowers, photographer, food, drinks and music. Don't go into minor details too early as lot of things will change along the way.

Make sure to have an extremely detailed run-sheet which you could split into sections of the day eg. getting ready, guest arrive, ceremony, drink, reception, dance floor. Ensure you overestimate times on the run sheet to account for any delays. We did not have a coordinator on the day and although most things went smoothly it would have helped to have someone overseeing everything for us.

Fotograf: Birgit Walsh Photography
Brudklänning: Pallas Couture
Brudtärneklänningar: Galvan, London.
Frack: Zegna
Skjorta: Eton
Fluga: Brioni
Plats: Äleby Gård, Stallarholmen Sweden
Florist: Din Blomsterflicka, Floristmästare Anna-Karin Wilmi E
Trycksaker: Starfish Lane
Catering: Äleby Gård, kock Patrik Arneke