It’s here! I’m over the moon to start sharing mine and Oli’s wedding day with you! Our wedding in Menorca, on September 14th 2019, was the best thing we’ve ever done! It was a day absolutely bursting with love, and one that we look back on with such full hearts.
Today’s blog post marks the start of my wedding content here.
I couldn’t be happier to not only share our wedding day itself, but all that I’ve learnt about organising a wedding, with you.
Over the next few weeks and months you can expect a close look at the day Oli and I exchanged vows in Menorca.
As well as tips on deciding on your venue, getting married abroad, choosing your wedding dress, selecting your stationery . . . and lots lots more!
~ THE dress! My beautiful custom Sassi Holford wedding gown
In a way I’m starting from the end with you – our wedding day!
It feels fitting to share the culmination of all of our months of organising with you first.
I’ll work backwards to share how we got there over the course of my wedding-related blog posts.
When I started writing about our wedding day, the blog post ended up being looooooooong! And so I’ve split it up between today’s post, and the next one coming up!
It feels fitting to be sharing our Menorca wedding day with you in Valentine’s week too ❤️!
I hope you’ll love perusing all of our photos, and learning about how we came to create the wedding we’d always dreamt of, in beautiful, tranquil, Menorca.
A September Wedding in Menorca ~ Our Wedding Day!
Part 1
The Night Before Our Wedding
The evening before our wedding, Oli and I had some last-minute things to go over at our venue. We had a rehearsal with our vicar (Reverand Paul Strudwick, who we love!) and wedding party, and decided spur-of-the-moment to have dinner at our venue with a few close friends.
It was very laid-back. Afterwards Oli and I said “goodnight”, knowing that the next time we’d see each other would be at the alter!
Such a crazy feeling!
I stayed at our venue by myself that evening, and it was just the slice of ‘me time’ I needed before everything unfolded the next day.
~ Our beautfiul wedding venue Alcaufar Vell, pre-wedding-setup
Recharging before the wedding
I knew early on that I wanted to have a suuuuper relaxed evening the night before the wedding, and for me (being the introvert that I am – ha!), a night alone was perfect.
My incredible makeup artist/BFF Charlotte Wood had impressed upon me how important an extensive skincare routine was ahead of the wedding day, and so I really took my time doing a multi-masking routine, finishing up with a sheet mask from Patchology (my favourite!).
I didn’t rush anything, since I wanted to really luxuriate in the pamper. Our venue Alcaufar Vell was THE most relaxing place to stay the night before our wedding, and I’m so glad I booked it out for the wedding eve.
Plus! It meant that I already had the room when it came to getting ready on the morning of the wedding. A good tip to know if you plan on getting ready at your venue: book the night before.
Even though I was pretty relaxed, I definitely had butterflies the night before our wedding. It’s kinda a big day!
So, to help me to relax, I watched a few episodes of the US Office. It totally did the trick! Ha! Thanks Dwight et al!
Sleeping Before Your Wedding Day
In terms of sleeping, I slept lightly, although still had a good few hours. A combination of excitement, and the fact that there was a raging storm going on outside(!), meant that I was tossing and turning.
Funnily enough, I wasn’t worried about the storm at all in terms of the wedding itself (I figured that we were getting married the next day, no matter what ????????♀️), but I later found out that Oli was obsessively checking the weather.
That and the fact that he was having a TOTALLY different evening to me, hanging out with our friends at their villa and playing ‘pool ball’ into the early hours of the morning!
Oli needn’t have worried about the weather since (spoiler) we had absolutely beautiful weather by the time our celebrations came on.
PHEW!
That just about wraps up the night before our wedding!
A relaxed dinner with friends, sleeping separately, a thorough skincare routine, the US Office and a light (but good) night’s sleep!
On to the morning of the wedding DAY!
The Morning of Our Wedding Day
I woke up on the morning of our wedding SO excited!
It was the most surreal feeling.
My bedroom at Alcaufar Vell was so serene, and beautiful. The bedsheets were a crisp white and I felt giddy waking up in this room of total calm, amidst one of the biggest days of mine and Oli’s life together!
I did a little shimmy under my bedsheets, and I’m sure that if someone had seen me they would have said that I had the biggest ear-to-ear grin on my face.
It really hit me: ‘this is IT’!
My Calming Wedding-Morning Routine
The storm the evening before had cleared the air, and though it was still threatening to rain and storm some more (which it later did, that morning!), it was so nice to start the day looking out of my bedroom window at (temporary) blues skies.
I enjoyed a cup of tea, and quietly observed the landscape around the hotel.
After my tea I meditated, which was a really important step in the day for me. I knew that everything was going to go at 100mph once people started to arrive, and so taking the time to breathe and be present really set me up for the day. A 10 minute meditation from the Rituals app was perfect – my go-to meditation tool.
I then did a light yoga routine, following a video by Yoga with Adrienne, and a quick workout. Prior to the wedding Oli and I had both been working out a lot and taking care of our wellbeing, so on the morning of the wedding I just wanted to move my body a bit and tone.
And then, things sped up!
Once my morning ‘me time’ was completed, things seemed to speed up!
I hopped in the shower and washed my hair. If there’s one mistake I made it’s that I totally forgot to pack my own shampoo and conditioner, so my advice is to double check you have these with you wherever you’re staying the night before your wedding. It’s such a minor thing, but still worth knowing, ha!
Again I took care of my skin and applied the body cream I’d got especially for the wedding day. Speaking of which . . .
I’ll do a separate blog post all about choosing my wedding day scent (I had such a great experience!), but ultimately I chose a layered duo of Jo Malone’s Grapefruit Body Crème, and Jo Malone’s Dark Amber and Ginger Lily Cologne.
Now every time I wear either of them, or both together, I’m taken straight back to our wedding day. SO lovely!
The bridal party arrive!
At around 9-ish my Mama and bridesmaids started to arrive. Just in time for a big brunch altogether at the hotel.
I’d booked a table for my Mama, bridesmaids and friends Charlotte and Jade, who were doing my makeup and hair, respectively. It was SO lovely to have a big brekkie together, enjoying some relaxed time before the preparations really got going.
At this moment the weather was still so/so, as the storm had started up again. My bridesmaids kept telling me that planes were flying past (since we were near-ish the airport) and that their engines were really loud, ha! They were trying to shield me from the full-on island storm that was actually going on.
Luckily I had a quick chat with the venue to discuss the weather, and to double check that everything was good to go ahead as we had planned, since nearly every element of the wedding was due to be outside.
Noemi, the amazing events manager from Alcaufar Vell, assured me that they were confident that the weather would clear up and that we could have everything outside as we had planned.
My thinking was: “If Noemi is relaxed, I’m relaxed!”. And so, I stayed relaxed.
Getting Ready
~ Having my makeup done by my amazing friend Charlotte Wood
~ My sweet bridesmaid Stephy and I nattering away
~ Hair tweaks with my ridiculously talented friend Jade Hepenstal
~ Thank you gifts!
~ My Mama and BFF Kit – love this photo SO much!
~ My dream wedding flowers created by Cati of Es Bonsais, Menorca
~ Beautiful bridesmaid Georgie
After brunch, I headed up to my room with my Mama, bridesmaids, Charlotte and Jade.
The next few hours were spent getting ready, music on loud, and everyone enjoying some fizz and nattering. It was SO much fun! Like getting ready for a night out. But at 9am. And with fancier dresses ????!
My Mum was an absolute dream on the morning of our wedding, and took the responsibility of steaming everyone’s bridesmaid dresses, my dress and veil, and Charlotte and Jade’s outfits too. Thanks again Mama! You’re the best!
Side note: my Mum used the Philips Steam & Go handheld steamer which, as you know, is one of my favourite things EVER! It totally did the job and it was perfect for delicate fabrics, including my wedding dress.
If you’re a bride-to-be yourself, I can’t recommend getting this steamer enough! The best £65 you’ll spend!
Whilst I was having my makeup done, Charlotte Bryer-Ash, my photographer (two amazing Charlottes in one room!), started taking some pics, and our videography team were filming too.
LOTS of time to get ready!
Both Charlotte and Jade had impressed how important looooooots of time to get ready would be. And I’m so glad they did!
I started to properly get ready at 11am, to be in my dress by 1ish. Our guests started to arrive at 2pm, with the ceremony at 3pm.
This worked out great, since we weren’t rushing at all. Both Charlotte and Jade had plenty of time to work their magic!
It was so nice too to be able to enjoy a few bottles of fizz altogether, and relax. It was such a special few hours ❤️
~ Mama ready to go!
The bridesmaids wore their adorable PJs, that they’d originally bought for the hen do, for getting ready. And I wore the PJs they’d bought me for my hen too!
Towards the end I changed into a beautiful lace dressing grown from Figleaves for a few photos, and the final touches to my hair and makeup.
OUR EXACT GETTING-READY OUTFITS
~ Lucky lucky me! With my wonderful bridesmaids Kit, Stephy, my sister Marietta, and Georgie
Getting Dressed
~ Putting on my ‘something old and something blue’ – a vintage bracelet my parents gave me when I was in my teens
~ My earrings were a great find from Sassi Holford
~ my PERFECT wedding shoes from Dune London
My Mama and bridesmaids helped me into my dress around 1ish. We had some time for photos, and a reveal with my Dad, who was waiting downstairs.
At this point I didn’t know if I’d totally lose it when I saw my Dad – talk about a ‘moment’!
But as you’ll see I just ended up grinning like mad! I felt so happy and proud.
~ Mama and Papsy
~ My Mum & Dad with my sister Marietta and bridesmaid Stephy
~ A precious moment with my Dad and sister
Our guests started to arrive at 2pm, with a cocktail reception outside.
I could hear voices, but didn’t want to get too close to the windows. Just in case Oli caught a glimpse of me!
Instead I spent time chatting to my parents and bridesmaids, and having some photos taken. Again this was such a lovely moment of calm, before the day started to truly get going!
Eeeep, it was almost time to head downstairs . . . !
~ Ready to head downstairs in my beautiful Sassi Holford ‘Emma’ dress ~
Stay tuned for Part 2 of our Wedding in Menorca, coming up next!
Love, Monica x
Wedding Details
Venue: Alcaufar Vell, Menorca
Photographer: Charlotte Bryer-Ash
Flowers: Es Bonsais, Menorca
Wedding Dress: Sassi Holford (Full blog post coming!)
Bridal Shoes: Dune London ~ gifted (Again, full post coming!)
Bridal Earrings: Sassi Holford
Bridal Bracelet: Vintage
Hair: Jade Hepenstal
Makeup: Charlotte Wood
Bridesmaid Dresses: ReWritten ‘Mykonos’ Dress in Marine (Seperate blog post coming! I love them so much!)
Bridesmaid Earrings: Claire Hill
Personalised Bridesmaid Bracelets: Monica Vinader ~ gifted
Bridal Perfume: Jo Malone ~ gifted
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