Lizzie and Sam’s Blue and White Finca Wedding in Mallorca by McGivern Photography

Today we are heading off to the very sunny and warm Mallorca for the wedding of Lizzie and Sam. With all this terrible weather we are having in the UK it is a refreshing change to see so much beautiful sunshine. Lizzie and Sam chose Mallorca as they have had many a family holiday there, so it holds lots of amazing memories for them. Now it holds many more as their wedding is absolutely perfect. They themselves live in the Middle East, so this was a destination wedding for them and all of their guests. Set against the walls of a beautiful Spanish Finca, they brought in accents of white and blue to enhance the location. I just love the outdoor reception, you can’t beat a bit of al fresco dinning, the festoon lighting, the gorgeous details, all perfect. Big thanks to McGivern photography for the lovely images.

A day full of so much love, laughter, music and dancing in a beautiful rustic Spanish finca

Lizzie and Sam were married on 13^th July 2019 at Santa Cristo Church in S’Arraco followed by a reception at Finca Biniorella, Camp de Mar, Mallorca. ‘We have a family holiday apartment in Port d’Andratx so have enjoyed many holidays here together and both have such happy memories. We wanted to celebrate in a relaxed setting in the sun, with all the people we love the most. We had 120 guests and it took 12 months to plan.’

How they met
We met on Tinder (!), 4 years ago.

The proposal
We were trekking in the Annapurna region of Nepal, and after a couple of ‘near attempts’ where Sam bottled it, he finally found the perfect place…the two of us alone at sunrise in a village called Tadapani, with the sacred Machapuchare mountain in the background.

How did you allocate your budget?
We worked out which aspects were most important to us first. I think the thing to remember is you will invariably have to compromise so list out all the major expenses, work out what is a priority and go from there. For us… we knew music, food and ambience were a priority. It’s difficult to budget until you start speaking to suppliers – style and location of wedding have a big impact on relative costs, for example, for a finca wedding whilst the venue hire can be low, furniture, lighting and decoration can all add up.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
We definitely splurged on music, at every given point we wanted some sort of live musician! But saved in other areas such as the wedding car and having our wedding outfits made out where we live in the Middle East.

How did you choose your photographer?
McGivern photography had been referred to us by several friends, we had seen lots of their previous weddings and knew that they captured each couple perfectly as well as making them at ease on the big day. We loved the style and how much effort was put in to getting to know what we wanted from the day.

The dress
Middle Eastern designer ‘Suzanna Bridal’

The suit and bridesmaids
Santoba Tailors, with ushers wearing Pachacuti hats! Bridesmaids from Ghost

Theme or colour scheme?
Lemons, greenery and rustic features wherever we could. Blue and ivory was the general colour scheme to align with the blue shutters at the Finca, which we tried to bring out in our invitations.

Flowers
We got our flowers from an amazing local florist in Andratx – Mes Q Flors. Decorating the banquet tables we had olive in the centre and a few stems of lisianthus and lemons in the middle around a centre piece candle, with lavender place settings. We also had lots of mini roses, lilies and greenery throughout the venue.

Decoration
We had various furniture and decoration supplied by Something Borrowed and Ars Festum including a rustic barrel bar decorated with flowers, lemons and wicker baskets surrounding it, a decorated well with candles and greenery, Chinese lanterns, festoon lighting and lots of candles in different area’s.

Food
Garmendia Catering (Olga and Julio Vélez) were absolutely amazing, with the food tasting a definite highlight of the whole process. After canapes ranged from Majorcan specialities, to sushi, ceviche and prawn tempura, we had umami rolls of tuna and mango, followed by venison and finally chocolate fondant for dessert.

Entertainment
Lots of music as well as a fully stock cocktail bar! We had a modern guitarist and singer performing Eva Cassidy type songs, followed by a Spanish guitarist in the town square and playing during aperitifs. Later we had a saxophonist who played solo songs and then with our DJ after dinner, who also had projections of old school music videos on the courtyard wall during the party. For the kids we had plenty of games, a polaroid camera based treasure hunt and a snug with tents to crash in when it all became too much!

Who supplied the stationery?
We used a Dubai based artist (Inky Pigeon) to design the invitations and order of service, whilst a family friend who is a very talented artist (christianwulff-art.com) hand painted individual menus.

Personal touches?
It was important to us to make everything as personal as possible from designing invitations, getting friends involved in the ceremony through to decorating the venue from scratch.

Special moments
It’s difficult to pick out one highlight as the whole day was so special; taking some time out together during the day really helps to take in everything that is going on and savour the special moments without it going by in a flash!

Advice for other couples
Enjoy the process… we tried not to let ‘wedmin’ become too intense, it should always be fun and exciting! Yes, you may have different opinions on some things, but I guess it’s all good preparation for a life of compromise.

Biggest surprise
Seeing our nieces and nephews from both sides of the family reading a poem that they had written together and practised over Facetime (from the UK to Hong Kong!)…and then outlasting many of the adults on the dance floor!