
On a very bright and sunny October morning, we set off to drive to Seville excited at the prospect of the inspirational shoot we were to create on that day.
I had been planning this shoot in my mind for some time and loved the fact that we would be able to show the beauty of bringing together two of the most colourful, traditional and romantic cultures. Showing that true love really has no boundaries and that in today’s crazy world couples come together happily from different walks of life and marry sharing both family traditions and cultures, in the story we were about to tell we brought together Spain and India.
Seville is such a historic city filled with elegant buildings, none more so than the Hotel Alfonso XIII so this was our first choice for the shoot. Having held one of our last season’s weddings here we were happy when the general manager said we could come back again for the shoot and gave us the run of the hotel so we could make use of all of the exquisite spaces to take photographs and film.
I had been wanting to work alongside Sam and Helen Bloomfield from Bloomfield photography for some time and was delighted when at a recent meeting we agreed that as we couldn’t do any of our real weddings this year we should put together a dream team for the shoot. Jeremy Standley is a firm favourite and is a genius not only with his video camera but his still photography is also out of this world so I knew we had something very special in the making.
It didn’t take long to know who we wanted to make up the dream team and once hair and makeup were in place with Mar Martinez and Alex Harrocks, we arranged to meet with Virginia of Virginia Florista in Marbella, we have worked together many times and so they were a natural choice for the image I had in my head, Jessica and I were over the moon when they said yes and that they were happy to travel with us to Seville.
After an extensive search, we found the perfect models to fit our fairytale story, a Spanish groom from Seville with an exotic Indian bride.
On arriving at the hotel preparations started at once with our makeup artist Mar Martinez and hairdresser Alex Harrocks getting to work creating the perfect look for the first set. This was to be the Indian wedding and as we walked from the Alfonso XIII towards Casa Guardiola to get some images of the stunning building we turned more than a few heads as the couple made such a striking pair.
Inside Casa Guardiola our incredible photography team, Sam and Helen Bloomfield from Bloomfield photography and the super talented videographer Jeremy Standley captured exactly what was in mind and the shoot began on a real high that continued right through until the last shots which were taken at sunset.
During the lead-up and planning, Jessica and I thought about the look we wanted, I had brought back several Indian outfits from my trip last year to India and so we were all set for the Indian wedding, the groom’s coat perfectly matched his bright blue/green eyes and complemented the brides bejewelled lenga breaking from the traditional red, which many young brides are now doing.
We spoke to many dress designers for the evening gown that would be used for the reception set and found the perfect haute couture designer and dress in Susana Hidalgo. As we were showing what would be a two-event wedding the couple needed two changes. For the groom, we found the perfect movie star Tux in a dark blue on loan from Lebrel Malaga and again we had the most stunning pair.
The floral decorations brought the whole set to life! Virginia really outdid herself and set the bar very high, the colours brought joy to us all and although delicate they were vivid in every respect, set on a table of gold with flowers in every shade of pink and lilac the whole thing was a work of art finished off with individual cakes prepared for us by Omaya from Cake Couture Marbella and the place settings and menus in the most delicate calligraphy send by special delivery from London after being hand-drawn for us by Calligraphy Payal.
The mandap filled with strings of flowers perfectly complementing the bridal garlands set against the Seville skyline shouted tradition, passion and love.
We set the scene for the reception dinner and the champagne cork was popped, after this, the creative team went walkabout with the models wanting to capture the sunset in Plaza de España whilst the rest of us starting on packing down the set, everyone was tired yet exhilarated from a day very well spent doing what we all love and showing the world what is so possible for a wedding whether an intimate gathering of just the very nearest and dearest or when we can again the full big fat Indian wedding that we all know and love so much.
The day was so much fun and I can honestly say it went without a hitch, the whole team gelled, the models were so easy to work with and we all laughed right up to the end of the day which as we called it a wrap we toasted with a cheeky glass of Veuve Clicquot which we all deserved at that point.
Back home Jessica and I could not wait to see the images and video, we knew they would be stunning but we were still taken aback by how incredibly beautiful it all looked once we had both the video and the images back from Sam and Helen and Jeremy. I knew that this shoot was very blog-worthy and there was only one place for it to be seen. With that clearly in my head, I contacted the owner of WeddingSutra whom I had met earlier in the year in India, told him the love story and he immediately said they would love to share our work on the blog. We were delighted, it had been just an idea a few months before and now with the best team I could have asked for our work was being recognised and shown on the largest online wedding platform for the Asian wedding market.
This is why we do what we do.
Here is a link to the blog: WEDDINGSUTRA.COM
2020 has been such a strange and difficult year for the wedding industry all over the world but the one thing we all know is that there will always be weddings, couples and their friends and families will always want to celebrate. People will always want to travel and will again as soon as safely possible. Destination weddings are the perfect way to bring people together for a happy occasion and to spend a short holiday together so they will happen again in the nearest possible future. .
Love and celebrations will always happen and celebrating love can only be postponed and never cancelled 😉
I want to say a huge thank you to the whole team whom without this shoot would not have been at all possible. I am a person with many ideas running around my head and I know that I am super fortunate to work with only the best of the best to make them all a reality.
Thank you all, you really are my dream team.
Supplier List:
Planners: @optimum_weddings @dyana.optimumweddings @jess.optimumweddings
Filmmaker: @jeremy_standley_weddings JEREMYSTANDLEY.COM
Photographers: @bloomfield_wedding_photography BLOOMFIELDPHOTO.COM
Florist, decor and tableware: @virginiaflorista VIRGINIAFLORISTA.COM
Venues: @hotelalfonsoxiiiweddings | @hotelalfonsoxiii | @casapalacioguardiola @HOTEL-ALFONSO-XIII-A-LUXURY-COLLECTION-HOTEL-SEVILLE
Hair: @alexbridal ALEX-BRIDAL.COM
MUA: @MARMARTINEZ.ES
Bride model: @sabahfakihi
Groom model: @joaquinmartinp
Cake: @cake_couture_marbella CAKECOUTUREMARBELLA.COM
Stationary: @calligraphypayal CALLIGRAPHYPAYAL.COM
Bridal Dress: @susanahidalgo_altacostura SUSANAHIDALGO.ES
Groom’s Tuxedo: @lebrelmalaga LEBREL.ES
Bride and Groom’s Indian Attire: Sourced from Hyderabad India
Jewellery: @martina_dorta MARTINADORTA.COM
Indian Jewellery: @sanjeet.optimumweddings
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