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Katie and Dom’s Spanish Wedding Part One

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Spanish Wedding Part One: A Fairy-Tale Begins…

We are beyond excited to share the first installment of Katie and Dom’s wedding story today. This wonderful couple based in Sydney, Australia traveled all the way to southern Spain to get married, and we feel very privileged to have played a small part in their Big Day.

Why did you decide to get married in Spain? Do you have a special connection to the country?

Spain has always been a very special holiday destination for Dom and I. Dom grew up in England and spent many summer holidays driving around Spain with his family. One of my good friend’s family has an apartment in Malaga, and so I have spent many long weekends there when we were living in England. Another large factor was price. Weddings tend to be overpriced in Australia and usually have to finish by 10-11p.m.
The venue in Spain we chose was very reasonably priced and we were able to stay there for the entire weekend. There was no time that everyone had to leave the wedding by, so we were able to party until the early hours of the morning. The following day all of our friends and family were able to come back for a recovery BBQ. I have heard that at weddings, because there are so many guests, the bride and groom never truly feel as though they have spoken to everyone, but this was not a problem for us at all. Those we didn’t get a chance to speak to on the day we spoke to at the BBQ.

The bride and groom are showered with confetti by their family and friends - photo by @simon_gorges
The bride and groom are showered with confetti by their family and friends – photo by @simon_gorges

Did you visit the wedding venue prior to booking it?

Yes we flew over from Australia with a big list of wedding venues and the Hacienda was the first one we went to. It was a very easy decision as the villa is stunning and accommodates around 20 people, which meant that our immediate family and some of our close friends were able to stay there.

What kind of logistical ‘challenges’ did you encounter as you organised your wedding, and how did Scott and the team help you to overcome those?

The most obvious challenge would be the geographical distance. For this reason it would have been impossible to pull off such an incredible day without a wedding planner. The Sunshine team were wonderful from start to finish. We emailed all the planners recommended to us by the venue coordinator, and Scott was the first to reply, suggesting a Skype call to meet. Dom and I Skyped Scott the following evening and decided he was the best choice. I think the best thing about the Sunshine team is that they have a group who work in the office available, what felt like 24/7, to respond to emails. They have a team who take couples to venues and food tastings and then they have two people there on the day. On our wedding day we had Scott and Sharon to ensure the day was pulled off without a hitch. Another obvious challenge would have been language, as neither Dom nor I speak Spanish. The Sunshine team, speak both fluent Spanish and English, so it made everything so straight forward.

The stunning gardens and pool at the Hacienda - photo by @simon_gorges
The stunning gardens and pool at the Hacienda – photo by @simon_gorges

It’s fantastic that your Sydney based photographer, Simon Gorges also flew over to Spain for the occasion. We loved his stunning photography from the day. How much input did you have in the pictures?

It was incredible having Simon there to shoot our wedding. As Dom has filmed and photographed many weddings himself, it was always going to be a challenge to find someone who met his expectations but Simon went beyond this. We met Simon for a pre-wedding interview a few months before to discuss the main things that were important to us on the day in regards to photographs.
One thing that was a huge priority to us was to not be away from the wedding for too long following the ceremony to take pictures. We also said we wanted very candid shots. Simon came to the venue the day before to assess the lighting, find the perfect locations on site to shoot and to assess the best light for taking our photos.
On the day Simon respected our wishes completely. He knew, due to his assessment the day before, that the best light was at a particular time and we spent what felt like no time at all, all together following the dinner taking photos with our bridal party – and then just of Dom and I. Our guests barely noticed we were gone and we had so much fun during our photo shoot. Simon made every single person in our bridal party feel so comfortable and his little tricks to make everyone laugh authentically paid off for some truly stunning photos. We could not be happier with our incredible wedding photos which bring so much joy every time we look at them.

The bride being lifted by her bridesmaids! - photo by @simon_gorges
The bride being lifted by her bridesmaids! – photo by @simon_gorges

Part two continues next week…