An elegant and rustic wedding day in paradise | Spanish Bridal Story

An elegant and rustic wedding day in paradise. Holly & Matthew’s Love Story Part II…

Last week we were introduced to Holly & Matt, the star protagonists of this three-part entertaining bridal story, told through the eyes of the bride.

In part I, we found out about Holly and Matt’s whirlwind romance, the fun of venue hunting in the magical island of Mallorca and how everything was falling perfectly into place, all set for the most amazing day of Holly and Matt’s lives.

The excitement was building, the invitations had been printed and were at the ready… but then… covid travel restrictions struck again!!

What now! I thought in a panic, the venue had been booked. And nobody, NOBODY! Not even Matt or I would make it to our wedding day!

We were originally supposed to have our wedding on the 25th June 2021, we had told all our guests that date, with the invitations ready to go out and it seemed that it would be feasible, especially at the start of the pandemic when travel didn’t seem to be affected so much.

But as the months progressed, the travel industry took a massive hit and it was awful. I knew several other brides who had to push their date back two, three even four times! I’ve even got friends who have had to unfortunately cancel completely or ended up doing the 30 wedding guests permitted in the UK but didn’t have the wedding of their dreams, even if they did have a lovely time.

I had the invitations ready to send out, but had to keep waiting to see what the latest travel restrictions were. The rules were constantly changing and obviously a lot of our guests were also, understandably, quite scared to travel.

Sadly, a week after the printed invitations had arrived, we decided to postpone.

I couldn’t bear the thought of pushing back the wedding by a whole year. Matthew and I were very conscious we didn’t want to get married in 2022, being engaged since January 2020 meant we had already had quite a long engagement.

Thankfully Scott, as if performing some sort of magic trick, managed to secure the 11th September quite quickly. The news came as such a massive relief and great weight off our minds and permitted Matt and I to relax a bit knowing that the wait was only a question of months not a whole year.

Apart from securing a second date for us, Scott was just fantastic all-round. We did voice memos with him a lot and he was always ready to jump on the phone when needed. He was realistic and provided constant updates with the covid rules going on in Spain, which, Matt and I, being in the UK we weren’t aware of. And it was just nice to have that positive voice on the other side of the line reassuring us throughout the whole wedding planning journey.

It was just brilliant to have Scott on our team, we also dealt with Justine who was fabulous at coordinating supplies and having everyone booked, paid for, and making sure that they turned up on the day.

In fact, the whole Sunshine wedding team was really helpful and it really felt like a family unit.

So we finally had the location, the venue, the perfect wedding planner and the date.

And the big day was rapidly approaching…

All our wedding guests came from various different places from the UK. Lots from London, some friends from Hastings, a lot from Yorkshire, which is where we live. Most came for a few days, arriving on the Friday night and had to fly back on the Sunday, ready for school on the Monday. But it was really lovely that so many friends were able to make it, even if it was just for the weekend.

We had some friends, however, who really made the most of the trip and extended their stay, staying on the island even longer than Matt and I were out there!

The day before the wedding we had some pre-drinks, canapes and cocktails at the Brismar hotel in Andratx, which is near our holiday home in Camp de Mar. It really meant a lot to me to do something in Andratx, the Brismar hotel, with its amazing terrace overlooking the sea, has the best location in Andratx, in terms of scenery.

It was a two-hour afternoon cocktail party, which we ended up extending into the early evening, as nobody wanted to leave when it was time to go. Everyone was having such a great time catching up with people they hadn’t seen in ages. In fact, we hadn’t seen some of our guests in over a year because of covid and some of Matt’s friends and my friends hadn’t met before, so it was just nice for everyone to put a face to a name.

With the stunning sea views, blue skies and cooling breeze, it was the perfect location for a pre-wedding party and set the tone for the rest of the weekend.

Afterwards, I went out for dinner with my three bridesmaids, my mum and my aunt. My bridesmaids had all flown in from different places in the UK and all on different flights, so that was really our only opportunity to get together and get excited about the following day.

After dinner, one of my bridesmaids, Lucy, stayed the night with me at my parents house. Matt and I decided to do the traditional thing and not sleep together that evening, so it was nice to have a friendly face there in the house with me when I went to bed and when I woke up. Mind you, I was so excited I didn’t sleep a wink that night!

Finally, the big day had arrived!

My make-up artist Ala did the most amazing job. She was super friendly and did wonders at keeping me calm and making me look fabulous. She also did my mum’s, aunt’s and bridesmaids’ makeup too and they all looked so beautiful. It was a real treat for everyone and I felt like an absolute princess, which was lovely and just how you want to feel on your special day.

So with my dream dress on (details to come) and lovely hair by Izabela, Ala’s friend, it was time…

On the arm of my father, and to the sound of ‘Higher love’, I walked up the aisle which had been set up on the lower lawn of the estate.

Seeing Matt there waiting for me was such an incredible feeling, a truly special moment. Finally our dream day had arrived and I just knew that it was going to be the most amazing day ever.

We said our vows led by the amazing celebrant Toni Pons who performed a light-hearted yet meaningful wedding ceremony for us—with the perfect mix of humour and romance—and to the beat of ‘A Good night’ by John legend we exited the ceremony, now as husband and wife.

Following on from that, a Spanish guitarist softly strummed flamenco-style music creating a relaxed but refined wedding reception ambience which was held on the Las Palmeras Terrace of the rural estate before we moved to the upper lawn for dinner.

The food was absolutely exquisite. After a diverse array of canapes, we had a Summer salad, with beefsteak tomatoes, feta cheese and watermelon as a starter and the main course, aged beef filet with millefeuille of potatoes and bacon, all served by the amazing Michelin star, Fosh.

We had originally planned for 150 wedding guests, however, with one thing or another, not everyone could make it, and in the end we only had 66 guests at the wedding. I originally thought that with just over 60 guests, the wedding was going to feel really small, and I was going to get upset that I wasn’t going to have this big wedding. But in fact, the number was perfect as Matt and I managed to get around all the tables and speak to everyone, more than once, throughout the evening, which I think made it even more special. We really had great conversations with everyone, and after over 20 months of covid, this intimate setting made for a truly magical night.

Then it was time to hit the dance floor.

We had a fantastic band, Groove Avenue, with lead singer Charly Hamblyn, well known on the island as being a fantastic singer. Without a doubt, they were the highlight of the night!

Our first dance was Higher love. Matt and I fell in love with this song when we fell in love together. We had spent many a time dancing in our kitchen to the song, with too many glasses of wine, and it was the song we wanted. A song sung by Whitney Houston, and we were aware that there aren’t many people who can sing Whitney Houston, but Charly totally pulled it off.

In fact, she was so amazing that it was almost impossible to dance as we were just hypnotised by her and the band. It was so unique. Then, after the first dance, everyone else joined in and we all danced non-stop all night.

I had such a warm feeling the whole night, and I kept thinking “how special is this, after the year we have had. All our best friends together, having such a great time!”

Everyone at the BBQ the following day said how amazing Charly and the band were. Not just the singing, but making the guests feel special as well by playing some amazing tracks and getting everyone involved.

At the end of the night Matt picked me up and whisked me away which was really lovely. I didn’t want the night to end and I knew that if I had stayed and said goodbye to everyone I would probably have lulled into a bit of a down moment because it was all over, so I think Matt recognised that and just picked me up and was like, “right it’s time to go”. It was the perfect ending to the most perfect day.

I’m obviously biased, but it really was the best day ever!!

Join us next week with the final instalment of this bridal diary, where we learn all the details of Holly’s stunning wedding dress and why sometimes a bride’s dream dress can even come as a surprise to the very bride…

Thanks to lumierephotographic.com for the use of the incredible imagery.