A Romantic Rembo Styling Dress for a Multicultural Destination Wedding in Spain

I’m full of admiration for today’s brilliant couple, and the way they approached their stylish destination wedding in Spain.

The couple wished to keep everything non-traditional and enjoy a relaxed, fun day in a very special setting; a beautiful historic house with stunning gardens. Lisa, an editor, and Phillip, an advertising strategist, were married on the 21 May 2018 at Casa Santonja, Beniarbeig, Spain; a small village located on the east coast, between Valencia and Alicante. As well as being a spectacular setting, the area held special significance for Lisa and Phillip, too.

Images by Graciela Vilagudin Photography

“We wanted our day to be about our guests as much as it was about ourselves. We wanted our guests to enjoy the day, and not feel like they were there as our audience or entourage. That’s why we decided not to have a wedding party.”

Lisa chose a dress just perfect for a warm spring day in Spain; an ethereal lace and chiffon design, with a lovely cutaway, keyhole back, by Rembo Styling, which she discovered at the Bridal Rogue Gallery in London.

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“I found it quite hard to find dresses that didn’t swamp my 5’4” frame. I wanted something light and understated, and not stereotypically bridal. When I came across Rembo Styling, it was perfect – lots of feminine silhouettes in chiffon and lace. I chose the ‘First’ dress, which has beautiful details without being fussy, and best of all, was comfortable enough to eat and dance a lot!”

“The main thing that guided our wedding style was our aversion to tradition. We didn’t want it to feel themed or ‘matchy matchy’. We wanted to keep things simple and modern, and to let the venue speak for itself. When we started planning, our ideas for the day centred around two things we love: Spain in spring, and long, lazy candle-lit dinners outdoors.”

On hand to support Lisa and Phillip in the planning of their celebration, and vital on-the-day coordination was Marcella Doran from Your Dream Wedding in Spain.

“It was invaluable having someone on the ground in Spain to manage suppliers and coordinate everything on the day.”

Lisa wore her hair loose, and beautifully styled and curled by Jo Black, adding a lovely hair vine of wired ivory beads and crystals from Twigs and Honey. Gloriously radiant make-up came courtesy of Maria Fegan of Revive Beauty.

“I used several recommendations from the lovely Love My Dress Facebook group, such as for confetti and jewellery. My earrings were by Victoria Fergusson via Liberty in Love, bracelet by Swarovski, also a gift from the groom, and a brass ring that was my grandmother’s.”

On her feet, Lisa wore ivory block heels by the brilliant Charlotte Mills, and to finish everything off, her wedding day perfume was Jo Malone’s English Pear and Freesia, which Phillip says reminds him of a spring garden.

Phillip wore a fantastic outfit (perfect for warmer Spanish days) pieced together from a variety of great places; a blue linen jacket from Hardy Amies, with alterations by Image Tailors in Finsbury Park (Sadly, since Lisa and Phillip were married, Hardy Amies are no longer in business). He also wore chinos from River Island, and a Marks & Spencer shirt.

Footwear came courtesy of Office, with a burgundy tie and pocket square from Moss Bros. Phillip also added accessories with extra special meaning.

“Phillip wore his grandfather’s vintage gold Omega watch and tie clip, and Yorkshire flag cufflinks – a small tribute to his Yorkshire roots, from the Cufflink Store.“

Lisa’s dad was sadly ill and unable to travel for the wedding, so Lisa was accompanied down the aisle by her mum to Danielle Andrade’s version of La Vie En Rose.

“We met at a house party in Haringey, London, in August 2011 – our eyes met over a game of beer pong! We dated, travelled, moved in together, adopted a cat, and after five and a half years, Phill proposed on the windy top deck of a ferry between Helsinki and Tallinn. It was a complete surprise but very us – the obscure location, the fact that it was just the two of us, and even the three gin cocktails we’d just had at the bar.”

Here, we hand over to Phillip for all the details on exactly how (and why) he proposed to Lisa at that moment!

“I proposed then because travel is so important to us, and I liked the symbolism of Lisa leaving Helsinki as my girlfriend and arriving in Tallinn as my fiancée (assuming she said yes!). We were engaged for just over a year, which was ideal – wedding planning was fun, but we were definitely ready for it to end!”

Lisa and Phillip booked celebrant Lee Davis through Marcella, their planner (Lee doesn’t have a website), and chose to write their own vows to one another.

“We wanted them to be meaningful but realistic – we couldn’t promise rosy perfection, but we promised to always try our best. We couldn’t say that we’ll never change, but that we’ll change together, and we promised to be each other’s friend and family unconditionally. It was the only time I’ve ever heard a round of applause after wedding vows!”

During their vows, the couple also chose to give one another rings. Lisa chose a ring from designer Hannah Bedford, which she found at Gill Wing Jewellery.

“She’d designed my engagement ring, a beautifully unique design with a green sapphire and diamonds in white gold, and made my wedding ring to fit. Phillip’s ring was a white gold brushed finish ring from Orla James, which has an excellent try-before-you-buy service, and engraved his ring with the dates of the day we met and our wedding day.”

“We weren’t going to have any readings, but I came across a poem by James Kavanaugh, called Love Is Not To Possess, which I loved, so our celebrant read it at the beginning of the ceremony. It captures exactly what we want from our marriage.”

 

Heidi also created elegant floral garlands, weaving their way down the centre of tables set for dinner, together with posies in vases, shaded by a wonderful pergola in the gardens, where sweet-smelling jasmine bloomed.

“Heidi supplied hanging candles and glass baubles, a sign, frame and easel for the dining area, which we used to surround the seating plan with Polaroids, and we had festoon lighting and a lot of candles around the garden and crypt (where the dancefloor was!).”

As favours, Lisa and Phillip sourced bud vases from Confetti, in which they placed olive sprigs from a tree Lisa’s parents planted 15 years ago, sparklers, and a Polaroid photo.

“We wanted to show our history with each guest, so there were a lot of embarrassing childhood photos and selfies from nights out! We also handed out Spanish fans before the ceremony, to help keep cool.”

Lisa carried a lovely, multi-textured hand-tied bouquet of blooms by Heidi Francis Flowers, filled with gypsophila, waxflowers, astilbe, Veronica and chamomile daisies, as well as fragrant lavender, olive sprigs and cheerful yellow craspedia.

“It was important to us that our flowers were local. We wanted them to reflect the region, and to be a little wild and informal. It was a vague brief, but Heidi fulfilled it even better than I’d envisaged.”

“Our guestbook was made up of mini suitcases from Sass & Belle, and vintage postcards from places we’ve travelled to together.”

Everyone sat down for that long, lazy, candlelit dinner Lisa and Phillip wished for, on a springtime Spanish evening, with delicious food by El Poblet Eventos.

“They were exceptional, from the imaginative canapés right through to a show-stopping dessert. Our guests still mention the quality of the meal, and the fact that they couldn’t finish a glass of wine before it was refilled by attentive staff.”

“Sitting at dinner, looking around and giving ourselves a moment to take it all in was our favourite part of the day – the hilarious and heartfelt speeches, the beautiful setting, happy guests and fantastic food and wine. We just looked at each other thinking, ‘We did this.’ It made all the pre-wedding worries worthwhile, and confirmed we were right to stick to our guns when some of our choices were questioned along the way.”

Lisa and Phillip are self-confessed non-dancers, and so found the prospect of choosing a first dance song something of a dilemma!

“None of our favourite songs are especially sentimental, and we didn’t want anything cliché. We finally settled on As We Ran by the National Parks, which was the perfect balance of sweet and quirky.”

DJ Darrell worked with Lisa and Phillip to put together a party-worthy playlist – an eclectic mix of indie, Motown, pop and good old Eurovision, ending with house music.

“Neither of us likes wedding cake, so we opted for a savoury table instead, which Heidi supplied – a huge selection of Spanish cheeses, meats and breads. We worried it would be too much after a five-course dinner, but guests were wrapping up sandwiches for the bus at the end of the night!”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“We didn’t really start out with a budget. We started by thinking what kind of wedding we wanted, and then figured out how to do it as cheaply as possible! We prioritised what mattered most to us (location, food, open bar, photographer), and scrapped what didn’t (cake, cars). We found that you can get more for your money in Spain – we probably would have spent the same if we’d had the wedding in London, but it would have been much, much more low-key.”

“Be present. It’s easy to get swept up in the happy blur of the day, but don’t forget to notice the details, taste all the food and cocktails, light a sparkler, hug your new spouse, listen to the music and talk to the people you love.”

“Make a weekend of it if you can. One of the best things about being in Spain was having more time with our guests. We organised drinks and a barbecue in the days before the wedding, so we could catch up properly with everyone. It also meant we could spend more time together on the day, with less pressure to socialise (don’t lose each other in the crowd!).”

“Throughout the planning process, be kind to each other – and to yourself. Don’t feel you have to recreate Pinterest (unless you love DIY for its own sake! It’s not for everyone), or take it to heart when something isn’t perfect. Trust that your day will be incredible no matter what.”

“Finally: stand up straight, hold your bouquet low, and smile a lot!”

Thank you so much Lisa and Phillip! Lisa, how I wish I had followed your advice about holding my own wedding bouquet low, oh dear! This has been such an enchanting wedding to share, I do hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have. Many thanks to Graciela Vilagudin for these beautiful images, too.

If you’ve been inspired by Lisa’s dreamy Rembo Styling dress, do take a look at more of their lovely designs on our pages here, and for more weddings in Spain, head here.

With love,

Laura