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Janne and Adel
Villa Zara
Wedding Planner: Celebrations
Cake Maker: The Cake Studio
Officiant: Paul Devlin – A dear friend
Wedding Colours: Tropical Vibes, Lots of gold pineapples
Guests: 60
Hair and Makeup: Rock Gorgeous Hair
Decorations: Gold painted pineapples, palm leaf, lots of fairy lights
Live Music: Suite Elite, they were awesome
Dress: BHLDN Reagan gown
While on holiday with her parents on a cruise in the Caribbean in December 2014, Janne went scuba diving, one of her favorite hobbies. After the dive, her dive partner Erin invited Janne to join her and her husband to have drinks with “someone her age.” After meeting them for drinks, Erin’s husband Matt found out that Janne was living in New York. Being the ever thoughtful and boisterous person, Matt immediately thought Janne should meet his dear friend who was also living in New York. At that moment, Matt called his childhood friend from Las Vegas with whom he went to elementary school, high school and college- Adel. When Adel picked up the phone, Matt told him that he was sitting next to the second most beautiful woman on the boat and that he should meet her when she gets back to New York. He then put Janne on the phone for a very awkward conversation. After a few minutes, Adel asked Janne if she would like to get a drink when she got back to New York. She asked, “Well don’t you have to see a picture of me first?” To which, Adel replied, “No. I trust my friend.” To which, Janne replied, “Well I needed to see a picture of you first!” “That’s fair,” said Adel.
How did he pop the question?
Adel asked Janne to marry him at a beach in the Dominican Republic. Before proposing, he surprised her with a special bottle of champagne that they shared on the beach. After asking her to go for a walk, he got down to one knee and proposed. Janne and Adel has always shared their love for beaches, so it was no surprise both the engagement and wedding happened on the beach.
I originally bought a different dress, but 3 months before the wedding I felt it was not the one and did not make me feel as beautiful as you want to feel the day of your wedding. I started searching for a new one, and its not really easy to find something so soon before the wedding as most bridal saloons will have much longer timeline to get ready. I knew BHLDN makes dresses that you can get immediately, and I fell in love with their Reagan gown and the way it made me feel. For the grooms suit, we wanted something well fitted and of light material, and we got a custom suit from Suit Supply that turned out just as we hoped for. For a casual beach look, we paired it with white sneakers. The bride’s gift to the groom were a bow tie and cufflinks from Hermes. Both of us loved our outfits on our wedding day, and it was perfect for the location.
Rebecca was the best. She is so experienced and positive, and she know for sure how to calm down a stressed bride! We had so much fun and all the guests was also very impressed by her during the day. She really is very passionate of what she is doing in a edition to be very personable, and that reflects the great quality of her work.
If you choose to do your wedding in a private villa, be prepared that it will take much more planning, effort and cost than if you choose a hotel or restaurant for your venue. On the other side, having our wedding on the beach and pool area of a private villa was really special and truly amazing, and something you won’t quite get at a hotel and restaurant. Our party was a lot of fun and the last guests left at 4:30 in the morning. If the ability to keep the party going is important for you, I do think a private villa is the best option as no one will close you down.
For grooms doing the first look photos during sunny daytime, it can be smart to have an extra shirt available to change into before the ceremony since it can get very hot on the island.
We did decide to see each other and recommend doing a first look, as it really was nice with this time alone and it felt very intimate and special. There is nothing making you feel more beautiful as a bride to be when your future husband is so touched by your look that he gets tears in his eyes. It also helped with taking the edge off and made us more relaxed for the rest of the wedding.
Things tends to take longer than you think, so be prepared that everything will not always be on schedule. Smile, play and have fun, and follow Rebecca´s guidance.
What was your favourite moments from the wedding?
Favorite moments were just being there together with everyone we love. We really appreciated the guests traveling from Las Vegas, Norway, New York and other places to be there with us. As our wedding was intimate, we got the chance to enjoy the company of everyone. Janne loved the private moment with her dad before walking down the isle. We loved the food that Chef Remy had prepared. All the speeches were also wonderful. One highlight was when one our friends sang “All of Me” by John Legend during the ceremony. No eye were dry, including ours. We also loved all the fun dancing when Suite Elite wasz playing. That band knows how to make a party!
We did a lot of the planning and decorations ourself, so that part was a bit stressful, but totally worth it in the end when we saw how beautiful all of it was and how much people enjoyed the setting. It is indeed an extra effort to plan a wedding in a private villa versus using a restaurant and hotel as a venue. The wedding was magical and guests has described it as something out of a movie. We felt so happy, and there were so much love!
Were there any traditions or ethnic customs that were included in your wedding? (i.e jumping the broom or smashing the bottle)
We had a lot of speeches as this is normal in Norwegian weddings. They were all very lovely and luckily everyone enjoyed them, even though the dinner was a bit longer than normal.
What was the first song you danced to as husband and wife? Father-daughter dance? Mother-son dance?
Our first dace was to Stand by Me by Ben E. King. In the middle of the song, we changed over to do the father-daughter and mother -son dance.
We went to Grand Cayman for our first trip away together, and this was probably where we both understand this relationship could become something special. We have been back every year after, and it’s just a very special place for us.
Initial online search and seeing the blog and instagram site. Rebecca also came highly recommended by our villa host and wedding planner.
