2Brides

Diandra and Robin’s wedding was such a lovely occasion. We are beyond thrilled that we had the honour of documenting their wedding, and now share it on our blog. The beautiful purple water-colour invitation suit was designed by the bride herself and set the tone for the whole event. A mix of purple flowers adorned the tables and the tent where they held the dinner after the intimate ceremony in the garden. We have a huge crush on the purple watercolour wedding invitation suit and the bride’s amazing wedding ring, decorated with a big purple stone of course. We are sure this wedding will inspire you, thanks for stopping by! Read more from the bride and groom below.

“It really was one of those things where we just knew from day one, kismet, beshert, whatever you want to call it”

“We knew very early on that we wanted to be together forever so it wasn’t necessarily a matter of if but when. We knew that it wouldn’t be a big thing because we’ve always known we’ve wanted to be together. It really was one of those things where we just knew from day one, kismet, beshert, whatever you want to call it.

The proposal did happen, finally, in December 2014 at Disneyland. (Side note: Yes, we started planning our wedding before we got officially engaged.) Disneyland has always been special to Diandra; she grew up in Southern California and so she’s never really outgrown the park. On the first visit back to the US after Diandra’s move to Sweden, we made a trip into the parks with her family. As we were leaving Disneyland, we spotted Jasmine (Aladdin is our favorite Disney animated film) and Robin insisted on getting a picture with her. As we got up to take a picture, Robin said something to her and to be honest, Diandra doesn’t remember what, but the next thing she knew, he was down on one knee asking to marry him! The whole thing feels like a giant blur, but it was at Disneyland so it was extra special.

Villa Sjötorp in Ljungskile. Their staff were super professional, really friendly, and best of all, easy to work with. For our initial consultation we gave them some vague guidelines (traditional, seasonal Swedish food executed well) and they came up with a menu that was so perfect we didn’t change anything. We cannot recommend them enough if you need catering for any event in the Bohuslän region. They also have a beautiful B&B next to the water in Ljungskile.

Villa Sjötorp did an amazing dessert spread that included mini semlor, lemon merengue pie, chocolate tortes, strawberry mousse and macarons. Blomster Ateljén here in Uddevalla did a beautiful job bringing our vision to life. I gave them pictures for the colors I was looking for, showed them the styles and then they did a wonderful job. Votives were made by my little wedding elves, mostly family & friends; the lanterns were bought in the US at Paper Lantern Store (http://paperlanternstore.com).

All stationery and paper goods (invites, menu cards, etc) were designed by the bride (http://diandrakjellberg.com), but the invites were printed by hand on a letterpress by The Paper Mint Press (http://www.thepapermintpress.com/) in California. Robin has a student that’s a DJ by trade so he set us up so we could play our own music; we curated a playlist that included a lot of our favorites like Jessie Ware, the Flaming Lips, Miguel, Say Lou Lou, etc.

Diandra’s favourite moment of the day; Getting married, obviously, but if I had to pinpoint a moment where it all felt real, it was the first look we did before the ceremony. Seeing Robin in his tux made all of my anxieties about the day melt away. (The weather had me freaking out a bit!)

Robin’s favourite moment of the day : I would have to say it was the first look. Up until that point it all had felt like planning for something that was just miles away but at the moment when I saw her standing there in front of me as I turned around, I knew that it was real and that we were getting married.

We are both giant nerds that play video games so initially we toyed with the idea of having some sort of Star Wars or nerd theme. We also talked about maybe doing an Aladdin theme since it’s our favorite movie and a part of our engagement story, but in the end, we realized we just wanted a special day with our loved ones and an overriding ‘theme’ wasn’t necessarily important. Because Robin’s family is so special to Diandra and they’ve been a big part of building our life together in Sweden, we thought about how we wanted to share in the day with them, rather than focusing on colors or themes. Since it was midsommar, we decided to do a floral & watercolor theme for the décor that represented the surrounding land best.

The biggest challenge planning our wedding was sourcing vendors. The wedding industry in the US and the wedding industry in Sweden are very different, so for Diandra personally as an American who lives in Sweden, there were more challenges. Perhaps for Swedish brides they may not feel the same way, but we had a very specific idea of what we wanted from our vendors in terms of work aesthetic and quality level. Sweden’s wedding industry is in its infancy compared to the behemoth that it is in the United States, but we persisted and found the people we knew would help us make our day special. We are so lucky to have been able to work with Isabelle and Sabina from 2Brides Photography, Patric Wilhelmsson, Blomster Ateljén and Villa Sjötorp. We could not have asked for better vendors. Everyone did an outstanding job and we were able to really enjoy the day with everyone without having to worry about anything going wrong.

Our best tips in planning a wedding? Relax and don’t get caught up in planning drama. It is inevitable that things will go wrong or you will forget about a vendor payment, or something else. Diandra was in the US for the month leading up to the wedding so it made last minute arrangements difficult and it was the source of a lot of stress for both of us. It’s really easy to get caught up in the planning and forget about why you’re doing it. When things are stressful or something isn’t going as planned, it’s important to take a moment to stop, think about what you’re doing, why you’re doing all of this, and focus on the other person you are about to marry.

In retrospect a wedding planner/coordinator would have made the day a lot easier, but I don’t think it would have been possible for us personally. We wouldn’t have known where to find a wedding planner in this part of Sweden, let alone one who could understand what we were looking for. We were fortunate enough to work with vendors whom we not only liked as people, but we also loved their work. Finding those kinds of people can be a task so if you can get someone to do that for you, or at least make the search a little easier, by all means, do it.”

Wedding Date: June 20, 2015 // Venue: Kjellberg family estate outside Uddevalla, Sweden // Cinematography: Patric Wilhelmsson // Wedding Dress: Jacinda (style #4061B) by Watters // Shoes: Sophia in light gold, by Heelow // Jewellery & Accessories: earrings, veil, belt Renee Pawele Bridal  // Groom’s Suit: Cavliere Tony’s Högtidskläder // Bridesmaid Dresses: MoH in Amsale // Bridesmaid Accessories & Jewellery: Lily and Rose // Flower Girls outfit: Estella Sparkle Dress Gold by Monsoon // The groomsmen’s suits: Cavaliere Tony’s Högtidskläder // Catering: Villa Sjötorp // Floral Design: Blomsterateljén

Diandra & Robin‘s wedding film from Patric Wilhelmsson

Thank you to Diandra and Robin with family and friends for letting us be there and witness your union.