When Emma and Mark set out to plan their wedding, they knew they wanted something simple and relaxed. They picked a venue in Spain so that they knew they would have warm weather and give the day a garden party meets holiday vibe! The entire day was held outside and it was perfect.

Planning a wedding from Canada, with a six-hour time difference to Spain, did case some challenges. So, Emma and Mark, originally from Ireland, relied heavily on their family back home with the communication with suppliers, site visits to last-minute fan pickups for the day! Luckily, their family was more than willing to lend a hand and the whole weekend had a really lovely, informal family-gathering feel.

The groom put all the playlists of music together, including for before, during and after the ceremony. Emma’s brother stole the show as the ‘Flower Boy,’ dancing down the aisle to Donna Summer’s Hot Stuff, as everyone cheered! Emma and the bridal party followed with a classical version of Alicia Keys’ If I Ain’t Got You. Two friends officiated the ceremony, which made it feel very personal and both mothers read poems.

“Just getting to opportunity to gather all our friends and family in one place was really special”, Emma told us. “There are so few occasions in life where you can bring every single person you know together to celebrate so having everyone there, getting to sing and dance with them, knowing they were there to celebrate us was a really beautiful feeling.”

Emma and Mark advice to other couples is to not get swept up in the minutiae. Focus on what will make you and your guests feel happy and relaxed. “There’s so many videos and articles out there telling you what you should or shouldn’t have at your wedding and it’s really easy to feel pressured to have your day look a certain way”, the bride said. “Take a moment to step back and imagine how you want your day to look and feel away from all those things, you’ll find the day you want to have.”

“It can get very overwhelming when you start planning and you feel like you have to have the best of everything and stay on top of all the hottest wedding trends but the best compliment we got on our wedding day was that the whole day ‘felt like us’ and we’re so glad we didn’t get swept up in the tiny details like stationery and personalised tables etc. because at the end of the day the thing that people remember was how you made them feel and we certainly felt just so happy to be surrounded by friends in family on a lovely summer’s evening.”