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Simone and Marco
Castillo De Santa Catalina | Malaga Spain
Country: Johannesburg, South Africa
Wedding Planner: Sunshine Weddings
Cake Maker:Â Castillo da Santa Catalina & My Aunt (Zeza Polonia)
Father Gerrard
Lorraine Romain from Princess Bride
Marco Contreiras:)
Videographer: James Peters AMAZING!
Shona Stevenson from Bunches Florist
Tiles from Michelle at Gorgeous Event Decor
Designer:Enzoani; Boutique: Bridal Wardrobe South Africa
When I drove up to this venue I could not wait to photograph the wedding of Simone and Marco, Castillo De Santa Catalina was an amazing choice to host their destination wedding and I was so honoured to be part of their day!
History: Castillo de Santa Catalina is a palace of Moorish revival style, built in 1932, ordered by Martinez Manuel Loring, Count of Mieres. The palace was built by the French and Levard Lahalle architects and is integrally linked with the ancient fortress city, ordered by King Philip IV in 1624. The hotel stands majestically overlooking the bay of Malaga. With its gardens and terraces, fabulous views and spectacular rooms
Marco & I are high-school sweet hearts. When we first started dating, we didn’t quite understand how quickly our love for each other would grow, nor how long it would last, however after about 1 year, we both realised that this was going to be our forever. We proceeded to University together, helping each other along the way and slowly becoming best friends. We are now inseparable and love spending our time doing our favourite things- which include travel ling(every chance we get!), spending time with family & friends, playing soccer & binge watching series. We are so excited to continue our love story…now with the strongest promise of all.
Our family and friends travelled from all corners of the globe- Canada, USA, Portugal, France & South Africa to spend our special day with us! Also, our venue is an old forte that was converted into a holiday for a Spanish Aristocratic Family before becoming a boutique Hotel and Wedding Venue.
It started with an invitation from my sister to do my nails half way through a work day. I told her that I was not going to take off work to do my nails, she then proceeded to tell me that perhaps my boss would let me off early. As this was seldom the case, I told her she was crazy, only to be completely surprised by my boss telling me exactly that. Anyways, I accepted the time-off gratefully and proceeded to do my nails with my sister, on the way back, she took an extremely long route back, which I laughed at her about, only to realise later that she was avoiding the route along which Marco had placed balloons and left letters leading to him. Each letter had a special note and a quote from my favourite books/movies. The final note said “After all this time…Always”, after which I found him waiting for me with a picnic basket full of items, a photographer…and a RING! He asked, I said yes…I think…or I may have just nodded and smiled…and the rest is history. Oh..and we can’t forget my monkey (my dog, Zoe)- Marco tied the first note around her collar so when we reached home after the nails, she ran to me with balloons and a note tied to her.
My dress made me feel so beautiful…and comfortable! It has a fitted silhouette with a slight fish tail at the bottom. The v-neck and open back were perfect for the hot weather and the train added just the right amount of WOW. I was worried that I was not going to have that “AHA” moment when shopping for my dress, but after putting it on…I definitely knew….screaming from the change room that we were in trouble because it was the one!
Marco chose black to match his father’s suit and to keep the classic look.
Nervous, excited, happy!
Try to do it in a small town or somewhere that guest can easily gather, walk around, site-see etc. Also, just relax, everything will turn our beautifully!
The tiles- personalised & the venue. Also our videographer, James Peters from KZN South Africa- he is so extremely talented!
Sitting down for dinner and being able to take in everything after the whirlwind of the day
Just everything coming together properly- it all did come together beautifully. Although there were a few hiccups and items different to what I had imagined.
Please Forgive Me by Bryan Adams (First dance) The Wonder of You by Elvis Presley (Dad-Daughter)
We sure missed a beautiful wedding but it gives me great joy seeing how beautiful everything looked and how happy you both look so all I can say is I hope you have a wonderful life together forever
Love you guys
JOHN and Maria