Ashley and Ben’s ‘Rustic Lux’ Intimate Wedding in Austria by Wild Connections Photography

Happy Monday everyone and if you are in the UK then happy bank holiday weekend. I hope you are enjoying your bank holiday Monday and that the sun is shinning where you are. I am being rather boring and spending it in the office catching up on some work. Nik is off work today, so able to look after Dexter, so I’m making the most of the quiet and having a good catch up. So on with today’s Austrian wedding and it’s a great example of how intimate weddings really do rock. If you are currently streamlining your guest count due to the world wide pandemic, then do not fear, intimate weddings are a thing of beauty. I only had 35 guests at my wedding and I loved it. Yes it’s lovely to hold a big grand wedding with 100s of guests, however holding an intimate wedding really does make life easier. Less stress, less people to try and talk to, no invitation nightmares and so much cheaper! So if you are currently thinking abut your wedding guest list, coupled with your postponement worries, don’t! cutting your guest list down could be the best thing that ever happened to your wedding and this wedding is proof that it can look absolutely amazing. Big thanks to Wild Connections Photography for the lovely images.

A fairytale. It was everything we’ve ever dreamed of and more

Ashley and Ben were married on 3rd September 2019 at Tirol, Austria at the Maierl Alm. ‘Ben and I always talked about having a small destination wedding in the mountains. Once we were engaged, a trip overseas was fresh on our minds to visit his sister and brother in law who were living in England at the time. We’d never been to Europe and always wanted to visit! After browsing the typical top 50 mountainous destination wedding locations we decided to just go for it and shoot for an adventurous destination wedding abroad! We had exactly 20 in the group including ourselves. It took 14 months to plan, couldn’t have done it without our fabulous wedding planner, Nadia Wood at Amulet Events.’

How they met 
We’d both been looking forward to seeing one of our favorite bands for weeks at Duling Hall in Mississippi. During intermission of the show, I spotted him, the cute guy I’d seen at Cathead Distillery
a few weeks before. In true small town fashion, of course my girlfriend knew Ben’s friend. So, after the Wood Brother’s finale, we “casually” made our way across the venue over to the guys. The group made their introductions, and the rest was history! Fast forward through wedding season in 2016 and the summer that we fell in love and well, here we are, nearly four years later – happily married.

The proposal
After two years and a move to Memphis, Tennessee together, Ben proposed at sunset in the grass on a June summer night after drinks in our new city.

How did you allocate your budget?
We really relied on Nadia for budgeting advice but we’d agreed in advance on a budget that we could afford and not stress too much over.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
We splurged on our guests since they traveled over 5,000 miles to see us tie the knot! We treated them to custom welcome boxes in their hotel rooms complete with local treats, schnapps and personalised luggage tags. We went all out on a family style dinner following our ceremony with a three course farm-totable menu including Tyrolean Wedding soup or crispy pike perch to begin, beef or veal tenderloin paired with an assortment of sides, Kaiserchmarrn with blueberries and ice cream for dessert!

How did you choose your photographer?
Nadia recommended Cat at Wild Connections Photography. Right away she was the most accommodating on wedding venue locations and general advice! I knew that her talents and laid back style would work best for us on our big day.

The dress
Hayley Paige gown – Badgley. Mischka shoes – custom bridal ear rings by Vivian Drew – custom bracelet by Niett Metals gifted by the groom on the day – borrowed hair piece from Anthropologie

The suit and bridesmaids
Custom suit by Rajawongse in Bangkok, Thailand – JJ’s. Bridal online

Theme or colour scheme 
It was a rustic and intimate vision overall with a colour scheme of neutrals and sage green accents

Flowers
I am not too picky on flowers so I let Innenleben Florists coordinate directly with Nadia. They were absolutely beautiful! Mostly greenery with white lisianthus and thistle roses

Decoration
We let nature decorate most of it! We did have an amazing ceremony alter designed by Innenleben Florists and a lush greenery tablescape with gilded accents for our wedding dinner

Food 
The bridesmaids started the day with a brunch assortment of fruit, meat and cheese, breaded pastries and mimosas. Following our ceremony we had delicious flying buffet appetizers served including bruschetta, Tyrolean ham and chive cream, croissants, smoked salmon and horseradish bites with a formal sit down dinner following into the evening.

Wedding cake
Carrot cake with cream cheese icing by Café Lorenzoni with an assortment of snickerdoodle and strawberry cupcakes

Entertainment
The amazing Matias & Beatrix

Who supplied the stationery?
Jenna Claire Wedding Stationary – highly recommend! My favorite was the personalized wedding map that she did for us

Where did you go on your honeymoon?
We spent two more days at the Maierl then made our way to our honeymoon location in Naxos, Greece for five days.

Personal touches
I have a BA in Interior Design so I was heavily involved with many personal touches such as custom
stationary and the welcome boxes. Those were really fun to coordinate with Nadia’s assistance of course. I did design the luggage tag logo myself through an Etsy supplier in California. Loved those! I had a great time picking out special day of gifts for all and those primarily came from Made By Mary online.

Special moments 
Gosh, if we had to pick one special moment we always talk about the incredibly intimate dinner following our ceremony with family and friends. The heartfelt speeches, music and candlelight was just
a dream and everything we ever wanted for our big day!

Advice for other couples 
Do not let anyone sabotage your wedding day. Period.

Biggest surprise
The personal touches that I left up to Nadia. I wasn’t exactly sure what my flowers or tablescape would look like and it all couldn’t have been more perfect

Supplier Shout Outs

Event Planner: Amulet Events
Photography: Wild Connections Photography
Videography: Stanton Giles
Travel accommodation: Mark Bratt Travel
Hair & Make up: Lisa Pendl
Flowers: Innenleben Florists
Stationary: Jenna Claire
Jewelry:  www.viviandrew.com /  www.niettmetals.com
Entertainment: Mabea Music 

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON WILD CONNECTIONS PHOTOGRAPHY GO TO

 www.wildconnectionsphotography.com / www.wildconnectionsphotography.com/blog /  [email protected] / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / PINTEREST 

Cat is British adventure wedding & elopement photographer living in the heart of the Austrian Alps. She loves accompanying adventure loving couples in beautiful and wild locations across Europe, capturing their story in an honest and authentic way.