The Spanish Wedding Venue: The Bridal Diaries…

The second entry in The Bridal Diaries will be covering Tamara and Craig’s mission to find the perfect location for their wedding day. Plus, Tamara will also be sharing why she feels it is so important to have a good connection with your wedding photographer.

A Spanish finca wedding venue in Marbella.

Location, location

Photography, food, and entertainment are all very important to Craig and me, but booking the perfect venue was always our priority. We had previously spoken about getting married in Spain rather than the UK as we didn’t want our venue to feel too ‘weddingy’. I really didn’t want to have that typical London hotel wedding and I couldn’t imagine us declaring our love for each in other in a stuffy private function room. I’ve always dreamed of having my ceremony outside and Spain, with its guaranteed good weather, would give us many more options.

Outdoor wedding venue in Spain.

Having said that, getting married on a beach isn’t really my scene either. I felt it would be too casual for us. Ruling out a beach wedding narrowed things dramatically and had my poor, soon to be brother-in-law, Scott binning his venue list and having to start all over again. Sorry Scott, you know I love you and it’s not like you don’t have a busy wedding planning empire to run!

With a new list of alternative spaces in hand we went to visit various venues, one of them being Finca Marbella. Honestly, without wanting to sound cheesy I fell in love with it at first sight. Craig let out an audible gasp when he walked up the steps, so I knew we both felt the same.

Stunning night view of a Spanish wedding venue.

Set in the mountains just outside Marbella, with divine views across the surrounding countryside and steeped in history, it was the perfect place to celebrate our wedding in the sunshine. The spectacular centenary palm trees, an avocado plantation, exotic fruit and citrus plants surrounded the property and we agreed that it was a beautifully blank canvas, giving us a space that would allow us to play around with it and be creative. We have truly found the perfect spot, that’s so ‘us’ – and really we couldn’t ask for more than that.

Making a splash

Considering all the people who would be travelling over for our wedding it was only fair that we should entertain our guests for a few days. Well, that’s our excuse anyway. We have decided to throw a pre-wedding beach party two days before the wedding at one of the Coast’s most beautiful beach clubs, which boasts uninterrupted views overlooking the Mediterranean.

Chilling at a beach in Spain pre-wedding celebration.

At first I wasn’t too sure about this idea, partying so close to the wedding didn’t sound ideal but Craig was so enthusiastic about it (sometimes I think he is looking forward it more than our actual wedding) and it wasn’t long before I got caught up in the excitement. It would give all our guests a chance to meet each other beforehand, meaning they would be much more relaxed on the big day. Plus, I had Sunday to recover from what I am sure will be a monumental hangover. I have also booked in for a pick-me-up beauty treatment on the Sunday to make my skin really glow (which I will tell you all about in the next post) and remove any signs of the excess drinking which is guaranteed to have happened.

Picture this

After securing the venue, next on the list was the photographer and, boy, have we bagged a good one!

Jeremy Standley is an award winning wedding photojournalist who captures the emotions of your special day through the tiniest moments which make it unique. I think I was sold when I read the following on his website: “Some people have jobs, others have hobbies, but I knew I had found my calling in life the day I realized the only thing I truly cared about was capturing the most beautiful, unique images possible.” That is the kind of person I wanted to be a part of our wedding day.

Stunning photo taken by an award winning wedding photojournalist.

As you spend more time with your photographer than anyone else at your wedding, it is essential to find someone you have good chemistry with, can be honest with and that you can trust to do a great job. We clicked with Jeremy straight away and, as we got further into our conversation, he kept mentioning things that Craig and I had previously discussed, such as the fact we weren’t fans of posed photos and preferred candid informal images. I want to remember what my day felt like, rather than what it looked like, so I want photographs that would capture the mood of the day over the tiny details and I knew Jeremy would do this for us. Jeremy is a creative professional and I trust his abilities 100 per cent. I know I can just leave him to do what he does best and we will end up with a collection of beautiful, emotional images which have captured the lasting memories of our big day.

Beautiful, emotional images which have captured lasting wedding day memories.

In the next post I will be sharing about my hair and make-up plans, and MAYBE my wedding dress, so please join me again as I share all my wedding planning highs and lows with you all.