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29
May
2015
I can’t believe it’s Friday already, I just love weeks where we have a bank holiday, that extra day at the weekend makes so much difference. Shame that we will have to wait until August for the next one. How are you all? I am very well, I am just about to set off on the long journey from Yorkshire to St.Albans for a wedding we have there tomorrow. I can’t revel much about the wedding just yet but I can tell you it is certainly going to be a LOT of fun! We have no plans for Sunday so I am hoping for a lazy family day. Whatever plans you have this weekend Kelly and I hope you have a great time.
As it’s Friday it’s time for another edition of Diary of a Boho Bride and I am pleased to introduce you to Whitney and Tom‘s first entry. I am so jealous of their plans. It’s going to be a fantastic wedding day! A Destination wedding in Ibiza, just like our very own Kelly H!
In my last entry I explained that the first big decision we made was about the venue. When we began talking about what we both envisaged for our w-day, I was super excited that my dream of having a wedding on the White Isle really floated Tom’s wedding boat too.
With Ibiza proving to be a really popular wedding destination we decided to book our venue without seeing it (eek!). With the help of our wedding planner Lisa from Isla and Smith, we shortlisted 5 venues and then after much deliberation, we booked the one which we felt ticked all of our boxes. For us, this was a completely private location, stunning scenery, guest accommodation, the fact we could take over the venue for 3 days (who wouldn’t want to their wedding to be a 3 day event!) and lastly the raving reviews, in particular about the venue owners. Too many times we had met with greedy, inflexible wedding venue owners so we were very much looking forward to meeting with Santi and his wife, Anna, at Can Gall when we visited in April.
Just in case you are interested the other venues on the shortlist were Hacienda Na Xamena, Experimental Beach Club, Can Talais and a private villa.
The excitement and anxiety levels leading up to our trip was in equal proportion. What if the venue wasn’t what we had thought? What if we had made the biggest error of not seeing the venue before we booked it? What if everything else we’ve planned doesn’t work?
With both sets of parents in tow we visited Ibiza for a long weekend, we hired a car and spent most of the weekend exploring the island (which I would highly recommend doing) with one full day spent at the venue. It was also Tom’s birthday so we visited the famous Bambuddah Grove to celebrate.
We nearly missed the turning for the venue as the sign for it was on a busy main road, we headed off the main road and up a very dusty and bumpy dirt track. We were all looking at each other thinking surely this couldn’t be right?! But after a mile or so the track opened up to what I can only describe as a beautiful oasis! It suddenly dawned on us that we were actually going to get married here: it was traditionally Spanish (a big tick), completely private (double tick) and beyond stunning (big big tick!)
And things just got better from there on. We walked past the reception in to the spacious grounds of the agroturismo, down to the garden where dinner would be served and to the amazing pool area where cocktails and canapés take place. We quickly went into wedding decor mode and thought about how we would want to add our personal touches but in all honesty it’s so beautiful that I think we are very lucky in that we could get away with not doing anything to it (although this will not stop me from getting carried away!)
The owner Santi was exactly how the reviews described him; welcoming, friendly, knowledgeable and such a sweetie. Santi took us on a tour and told us lots about the history of the venue as well as giving us some of his top tips when it comes to liaising with suppliers on the island. It was also really interesting hearing him talk about what other couples had done with the venue which gave us even more to think about.
We spent the rest of the day at the venue sampling amazing food from The Chef (www.thechefibiza.com) whilst drinking prosecco and talking all things floral with Floral Dreams (http://floraldreamsibiza.com) – it was such a fab day and we didn’t want to leave!
I’ll be able to fill you in on lots more of the detail such as the food, the flowers, wedding dress shopping, the bridesmaid dresses, entertainment, celebrants etc in a couple of posts time but for now I wanted to share a few top tips with those that are planning a destination wedding. Many of these tips are things that we wished we’d known beforehand, not that this would’ve changed any of our decisions but it’s good to be prepared.
So this has been quite a long first entry but I feel like so much has happened and it is just the beginning. As I mentioned previously, in my posts to come I will be able to fill you in on much more of the detail but do let me know if there is anything in particular that you’d be interested in hearing about.
Also, I would love to hear from all you destination brides about how you are finding planning a wedding abroad. What have you found particularly tricky to arrange? Let me know if you have any tips for me!
Hi Whitney,
I was an Ibiza Bride too congratulations! I used Kellie at Stylist Hair Ibiza and Hannah at Eyebiza Makeup they were amazing! I’m a makeup artist too so I’m so fussy you can see you some pics on my Facebook page. If you email me [email protected] I’ll send you the link.
xx
Thanks Annmarie. I’ve emailed you, look forward to seeing your photos which I’m sure are going to be stunning! xxx
Hi Whitney of you pop Ibiza into the search bar at the top right fo teh blog you will get lost fo Ibiza wedidngs come up for inspiration and suppliers xx
Hi Whitney, really keen to hear how the wedding went? We are considering using Can Gall and Chef Ibiza and keen to learn of your experiences?
Hi Deborah
Apologies I’ve only just seen this, I cannot recommend can gall and the chef enough!!! Please email on [email protected] so we can talk details!
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