Romantic Minimalism in Holland

Photography by Roos Jooren for Karin & Hylke

There was a delicate balance of drama and dark ethereality in Karin and Hylke’s intimate wedding, held on the outskirts of Amsterdam. Cloudlike installations of bold blooms in a moody palette of mocha, vintage pinks and oyster greys effortlessly floated above their minimal tablescape, setting the tone for a day of artisinal romance.

Their theme of contrasting colors and shapes was inspired by the sculptural, floral details of Karin’s wedding dress, and was carried through to the flowers, unique place settings and stationery.

Spilling with emotion, artistic details, and carefully curated features, it was a relaxed celebration ending perfectly to the sweet serenade of acoustic notes in the dimly lit dining room.

Every detail was emotively captured by Dutch Photographer, Roos Jooren.

Our Story

Names / Karin & Hylke

Wedding Date / 26th June, 2020

Guest Numbers / 22

How We Met

We met each other through online dating. My sister pointed out Hylke while we were browsing through all potential dates. At first, I thought he was a bit too ‘boy next door’, but luckily my curiosity won, and I quickly sent Hylke a message. On the first date, it was already obvious that there was chemistry and after the second date, we were so in love! Our first kiss was in the middle of an Italian restaurant, exactly five years prior to our wedding day.

Our Engagement Story

Hylke proposed to me while we were on holiday in Portugal. We were at the small beach of Odeceixe when clouds appeared and the beach emptied out. Hylke thought, “this is the moment”! He went to get some blankets from our beach house, a bottle of wine, and the ring. The sun was setting on the deserted beach, he poured out some wine, put on a John Mayer song, and got down on his knees.

Marriage Means to Us

Unconditional love and the celebration of life and love itself.

The Details

Wedding Location

Our initial plans for our wedding day were cancelled one month in advance due to COVID. We were still 100% sure we did want to get married since love and sharing this with your loved ones is so important in these uncertain times. We are very happy that we did, it was such a magical day and the location turned out to be perfect. On the outskirts of Amsterdam in the midst of green, we found the secluded wedding location Het Rijk van de Keizer, with lots of space for all our guests to interact safely.

The ceremony took place in the courtyard, dinner in the main building, and the cake for dessert with limoncello in the courtyard. We ended the day with a small bonfire in the garden.

Preparation

We decided to sleep in our own home and share our last “single” night together. We wanted the wedding day to be as relaxed as possible, and what better way to start the day with breakfast in our beautiful garden. My sister and bridesmaid came around noon and Hylke left to go to the wedding location. My sister and I both got dressed and styled with some relaxing tunes in the background and the house to ourselves. My sister lives in Portugal, therefore it was really nice to spend some time together on such a special day. When we were ready, we took a taxi to the wedding location where my dad was waiting for us.

Overall Aesthetic / Style

Minimalist with a dramatic twist.

I am a designer and did the styling and wedding planning myself with a bit of help from Edenique Floral Design. I started out with making a mood board which made it much easier to pin down what we wanted. I chose to work with contrasting colors and shapes, and inspiration came from the wedding dress. The dress itself has a dramatic floral statement but is also minimalistic. I used contrasting typography in all the print work and as a color palette, I used black, white, grey, vintage pink and mocha. This also reflected in the floral arrangements and styling of the dinner table.

Photography

When searching for a photographer we wanted someone with top technical skills and an artistic feel for light. Someone with a dramatic sense of style, we wanted pictures like a Rembrandt painting. We found all this and more in Roos Jooren. Getting to know Roos was a delight, she has such positive energy and she took us on a creative journey during our wedding day. We were so fortunate to be able to work with her and are super happy with the end result.

Fashion Notes

Bride’s Dress

While looking for the perfect dress together with my mother, I quickly discovered that I wouldn’t find the dress in a regular store. I ended up going to I do! I do! in Amsterdam, they have a collection of dresses that are just out of the ordinary. The dress was designed by Olimpia Sanchis, and it was love at first sight! Although I had only tried the dress in the color blue and had never actually even seen it in white, I just knew it would look perfect on me. I wanted modern, romantic, stylish, and sexy, and this dress was all that.

Wedding Rings

We chose matching golden rings. Hylke’s ring is lean and brushed horizontally, my ring is bolder and brushed vertically. We didn’t engrave our wedding date since we’re sure we’ll never forget the date. We chose a text that symbolizes our unconditional love instead.

Style Notes

Stationery & Invitations

The invitations, menu cards, and name tags for the ceremony seating and table seating were in black and white design with bold, handwritten names and modern, minimalist typography. All the names were accented with high gloss varnish.

Flowers & Bouquets

I grew up with my mum always having flowers in and around the house, and on our wedding day I wanted exactly the same. I just love flowers, and therefore the floral arrangements were important to me. We found Edenique through Instagram and immediately loved her style. Her flower arrangements are like pieces of art, and we wanted her to have all the creative freedom she needed to surprise us. Based on our mood board and interview she created the most stunning floral pieces that completed the total styling to perfection. Everyone was blown away by the stunning floral centerpiece hovering above the dinner table. The flowers formed a gradient from white to pink, mocha, grey, and black.

Cake

We wanted the cake to be modern with a dramatic gesture, therefore, we choose a cake that was very geometric and covered in a dark grey fondant. We choose to work with Sugarlips Cakes because of their award-winning, modern style. The cake was red velvet with white chocolate filling, covered with golden brushed details, and finished with dried flowers by Edenique.

Entertainment

Because the wedding day was so intimate, we choose to have the acoustic singer Khalil Toumi, his beautiful soulful sounds made the whole day even more romantic and relaxed.

Readings

It was very important for us to make our own vows. This was a very intimate and personal moment where we really took the time to declare our love to each other and share this with all our loved ones.

Special Details

Sources of Inspiration

We took inspiration from previous weddings, some from Pinterest and Instagram, but mostly we followed our hearts and did what felt right for us.

A Memorable Moment

When my dad walked me through the garden to hand me over to Hylke. For me, this was such a beautiful moment to be able to do this with my dad and see Hylke’s and our daughter’s emotions when they saw me for the first time in my wedding dress.

If I Could Give Other Brides to be One Piece of Advice…

The day passes by so quickly, consider throwing the party on another day. This way you’ll be able to enjoy everything in a much more relaxed manner and really be present in each and every moment.