A Spanish Garden Wedding

At the end of a rambling path of wildflowers, Nina and Jack were married amongst Spanish gardens. Set on the grounds of a traditional manor, La Centenaria is a sprawling wedding venue in Spain, comprised of different spaces to move guests through as the day unfolded.

Using the naturally occurring arches of forest surrounds adorned with cascading fabric and earthen blooms, Nina and Jack exchanged vows. Afterwards, guests sipped on cocktails and canapés in the garden before a magical sit down reception dinner was revealed.

Capturing every beautiful moment with his signature eye for detail, was Marcos Sanchez.

garden wedding

wedding venues spain

Our Story

Names / Nina Danielle Constable & Jack Edward Constable

Wedding Date / October 28th, 2021

Guest Numbers / 72

Budget / $55,000 USD

How We Met

We met through mutual friends back in 2011 and dated for a while however I went travelling and moved to Australia, so Jack and I lost touch. Then in early 2016 I was looking on Instagram I saw Jack was in Sydney – I slid into his DMs, and asked him for a drink, we met, and the rest is history, as they say. Jack was visiting Australia and New Zealand for work, after 3 weeks he had to go back to the UK, so I decided to pack my bags and head back to the UK the following month. It all work out perfectly. I managed to transfer my job and to say my mom was over the moon I met someone from the UK, and moving back, was an understatement!

Our Engagement Story

Jack proposed on my 30th birthday at home. We were both getting ready to head into London as we had a lunch planned before my 30th birthday party, when he called me downstairs where I found him on one knee with a ring box in his hand asking me to be his wife. After shouting yes, we headed to the Corinthia Hotel where Jack had booked a room for us and a nail appointment for me. After my appointment we went to our lunch reservation where both our parents were waiting for us (a surprise for me) and we told them we were engaged (a surprise for them, apart from my dad who Jack had spoken to before).

After a very happy and long lunch we headed to my birthday party venue where we enjoyed a night of celebrating with all our closest friends and family – it was the perfect day!

Marriage To Us Means…

We’re both really lucky to have parents that met young and have been married for over 45years each! To have that meant we both value the lifelong commitment we made to each other. It also officially unified our relationship and signalled the start of a new chapter as husband and wife.

ceremony flower arch

The Setting

Wedding Location

La Centenaria, Gava, Spain. We knew we wanted to get married in Barcelona and being from the UK meant lots of online research before booking viewings and our trip (luckily before covid). La Centenaria had come up on our wedding photographer’s website and it looked perfect to us, we knew we had to book a viewing. On our first viewing we knew it was the venue for us, we loved that it was an old family home and that the family still lived there, it made it feel more personal. It also had several different areas (garden, courtyard, orangery, old stables) we could move the wedding through to keep our guests guessing where they would go next and have surprises throughout the day.

Aesthetic

We wanted our wedding to be modern keeping traditional elements and the key was for it to be simple and elegant with exaggerated features! It was important for our guests to experience each part of the wedding like they were arriving for the first time. We didn’t really have a certain inspiration; Pinterest was my best friend and I found myself saving things down that I thought were cool!

garden wedding ceremony

ceremony aisle flowers

Preparation

We both got ready at the hotel we were staying in with our guests (in seperate rooms). We had a dinner with all our guests the night before, so Jack went for a morning swim in the sea with his groom’s party to blow the cobwebs away. The groom’s party then got ready together before heading down to the hotel bar to meet our guests before getting the coaches to the venue.

It was an early start for the bridal party getting our hair and make-up done, but I had all my bridesmaids with me, and we managed to enjoy some champagne whilst I gave my bridesmaid their small gifts (personalized bridesmaid clutches from Katie Loxton). Marcos (our photographer) exchanged and captured the messages and gifts between Jack and I (Jack: Hermes pocket square. Nina: Christian Dior bracelet)

Once the bridal party was ready my dad came to meet me and saw me for the first time in my dress, I gave my dad his gift which was a handkerchief with his initials and date of the wedding on as he tends to get a bit emotional, it was used it straight away!

groomsmen styling

white bridesmaid dresses

Photography

Marcos Sanchez was our wedding photographer; he was the first person we found and the first thing we booked for our wedding! We loved his style and aesthetics of photographs and that he seemed to capture people in live moments rather than ‘traditional wedding’ style photos. We also found our venue through his website. Marcos was amazing on the day making us both feel really comfortable, he felt more like a guest and part of the wedding than being there to ‘just take photos’. He also stayed for most of the day, only leaving an hour or so before the end, making sure he captured the day from the start until the fun part at the end.

Videography

Marcos also managed our wedding videography, he brought along a wonderful videographer, Israel (tillforever_films). The video exceeded our expectations in style but most importantly how much was captured – the music and voice overs work perfectly with the film and Israel managed to capture a moment from everyone at the wedding and we love looking back at it to remember the day and see what everyone was getting up to!

“Do not worry about things going wrong on the day, only you will know if a small detail is wrong or out of place! Just enjoy the special day you’ve been planning and looking forward to for so long! And make sure you take time to have a moment together to take the day in!”

Style Notes

Ceremony Décor

For the wedding ceremony we used the arches of The Centenaria forest. In the central part we hung a vaporous fabric to create movement and lightness. On the sides there were two big flower arrangements. For the aisle we had a floral composition, the colors were more present and was in-line with the chairs, after the chairs the aisle zigzagged for about 50m.

Reception Décor

For the wedding reception, the flowers from the aisle were added to the bar! We also had a neon sign above the bar that read “all you need is love”. We also had to two neon podiums for our guests to dance on and an LED wall behind the DJ booth.

Wedding Planner & Stylist

Aroa from Miss Little Things was our wonderful wedding planner and wedding stylist! Aroa helped bring all our inspiration together perfectly and helped us book and move everything given covid and that we are based in the UK. From their Instagram page I knew they would bring a unique and unforgettable wedding design which our guests would love! Aroa also paid attention to all the details that we’ll never forget. On the day itself Aroa made sure everything went smoothly and never bothered us with questions, everything run smoothly and without a hitch, it was perfect! If you haven’t got a wedding planner, we highly recommend getting one, so you enjoy the planning process and day as much as possible!

Flowers

Throughout the wedding our flower arrangements looked ethereal and natural with modern touches. There was a variety of textures and a mix of dry and fresh flowers. The color palette was earth tones, beige, peach with brown and greys! Fresh flowers that we had were rose, scabiosa, small seasonal flowers and dry flowers were hydrangeas, eucalyptus wit brown branches and wheat.

In all honesty, we put our trust in Aroa and the florist on the flowers and bouquets, the flowers they presented in the mood board were exactly what we were after so we trusted the arrangement and bouquets would be beautiful.

Stationery

We didn’t worry too much about wedding invitations, we ordered ours online from Papier and luckily, we didn’t spend too much time on these as we ended up having to send out two more sets! We also created a wedding website where guests could get wedding information on (hotel, restaurant recommendations, timings of the rehearsal dinner and wedding).

For the wedding stationary we had menus for each of our guests as well as menus on the cocktail tables and bars so our guests could see what the canapes and drinks were on offer – these were peach colored with red writing and rounded at the top. For the place settings we had individual half-moon place settings with a small tassel, our guests could take these with them if they liked!

Favors

We didn’t feel the need to have individual wedding favors for everyone as we’ve found we never remember taking our favors at other weddings. What we did do was give a personalized lighter to our guests that smoke (everyone always asks for a lighter) and we created little hangover kits which were placed at the bar for anyone that wanted to take one.

Cake

We didn’t want a traditional wedding cake because at weddings we have been to, we’ve never remembered the cake being cut or taken a piece of cake with us. Instead, we had two doughnut towers with bride and groom doughnuts on top which our guests could eat at dessert! The doughnuts are still a talking point with our guests who always tell us they were the best doughnuts they had ever eaten!

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Food & Beverages

I couldn’t recommend Caravan Made enough! They made the whole process really easy and getting the chance to taste the food and drinks before was really important to us, we essentially got to hand-pick the food and drinks for the day.

On arrival our guests were treated to seasonal waters and rosemary lemonades with cava. During the cocktail hour(s) we had separate stands for different guests needs, we had a gin bar, a sangria bar, cava going round, and beer buckets dotted around. We also had a salad bar for snacks and an Iberian Ham stand which was a highlight for the guests.

The canapes we had chosen was a mixture of meat and veggie to make sure there was something for everyone. The guests always comment on the canapés especially the amount they got to eat!

We then had a sit-down reception dinner. The starters were family style so our guests could talk across the table and try a bit of everything! We then had individual mains which our guests chose before the big day. All paired with white, red and cava wine – the Gin bar remained open for the Gin lovers! For dessert we had a sweet buffet, our experience at other weddings is that by dessert most guests are ready to get up and party and talk so we thought a sweet buffet would be a good idea. We also had a champagne tower to kick-start dessert.

For the party we had a signature cocktail, Picante, which is our favourite! As well as Mojitos and then all spirits, beer, and wine! It was important for us that there was something for everyone and that there was enough to go round!

Fashion & Beauty Notes

Bride’s Dress & Shoes

My dress by Made with Love Bridal had a plunging V shaped hand beaded lace bodice with delicate straps and lace detail overlapping. The skirt was a figuring hugging crepe skirt which gave it a sleek modern and fun look which was comfortable to wear all day and was easy to party in! My shoes were Jimmy Choo Lovella

Bridesmaids’ Dresses & Shoes

Each bridesmaid had a different style of bridesmaid dress to suit their body types. There was a mixture of the Piper maxi-dress which had a feminine v-neckline and high back silhouette and the Raleigh with a halter neck silhouette. Both styles were in an oyster matte satin which had a very subtle hint of blush in certain lighting. As the bridesmaid’s dresses were maxi, they wore shoes of their choice to make sure they were comfortable all day.

Flower Girls & Page Boys

My flower girl (5-year-old niece) wore a Chi Chi London dress which had a bow detail and tulle skirt with satin body. Dress was in blush Pink.

Wedding Rings

Both our wedding bands and my engagement ring were made by a friend’s dad. Jack’s wedding band is a platinum traditional 5mm band. My wedding band is a 3mm diamond band. My engagement ring was designed by Jack and is a princess cut with a diamond halo and 1.5mm diamond band.

Jewelry / Accessories

We were both light on jewellery and accessories. Bride: Earrings, Monica Vinader small blue drop earrings for my something blue. Bracelet, Christian Dior pearl (wedding gift from Jack). Groom: Bowtie, Gucci. Pocket Square, Hermes (wedding gift from Nina).

Groomsmen

Groomsmen each had a tailored black-tie suit from an independent shop in Leadenhall Market London with patent shoes. Jack had a different bowtie and shoes to stand out against the others. The brides father loves wearing a waistcoat and is known for it amongst friends and family, so he wore one of his waistcoats as well.

Hair & Makeup

I wore my hair in a low wavy ponytail. I tend to wear to my hair down all the time so wanted something different on the day which was simple and elegant. My make-up inspiration was Rosie Hunter-Whitley. I didn’t want anything that looked or felt heavy or like make-up. It was simple make-up with a subtle smoky eyeshadow.

The Details

Transport

We didn’t fuss too much on transport to and from the wedding. Jack and his grooms party travelled in a car which me and my dad then got. We organised coaches for our guests so everyone could travel together and arrive at the venue at the same time. Jack and I got the coach back with our guests as we didn’t want to miss out on all the fun!

Honeymoon

For our honeymoon we travelled to Dubai and Sri Lanka in January 2022 for three weeks. We were lucky enough that covid restrictions for those countries allowed us to travel and taking covid tests and filling out forms wasn’t too much hassle.

We would highly recommend Sri Lanka as a honeymoon destination. It’s a truly beautiful country and everyone is so friendly! Its an ideal mixture of adventurous and relaxing for those who don’t want to just sit on the beach…although it has beautiful beaches in the south if that’s what you want to do!

We travelled around Sri Lanka so we could see as much of the country as possible, we visited Kandy, Ella, Yala national park and then Weligama bay.

We would recommend all those places to visit for different reasons, but our must dos are:

Train from Kandy to Ella – it’s listed as one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world and it really didn’t disappoint as you get to travel through the mountains and tea farms. You also get traditional Sri Lankan sweet tea and samosas to enjoy. Our tip would be to travel in second class as you get to hang out the windows and doors to enjoy all the amazing views. In first class the windows do not open, and you sometimes cannot sit at the doors which means you can only enjoy the views from behind the windows in the carriage
Yala national park – this was a beautiful national park and we got to see lots of animals on all our games! We would highly recommend staying at the wild coast tented lodge. Everything about the lodge didn’t disappoint, the rooms, food and we got to sit with monkeys around the pool. They also put on sunset cocktails every night by the sea. They also put on a special beach dinner for us, as it was our honeymoon – we did have guards dotted about as the lodge is in the national park itself so any animals can come wondering by!

Gift Registry

We didn’t do a gift registry and didn’t include anything on our invites. Most of our guests kindly gave us money which we contributed towards our honeymoon fund.

Our Advice

A memorable moment…

The whole day is a memorable moment that we wish we could re-live, but our memorable moments are; walking down the aisle with my dad and having Jack at the end, seeing each other for the first time, having our friend Shane marrying us, the speeches (best man, father of the bride and groom speeches), having our first dance outside under the lights with everyone else dancing.

One thing I wish I knew before I started my wedding plans…

The only thing we wish we knew before was that we’d have to plan a wedding during covid! The hardest part was deciding if and when we needed to push our date back, especially as everyone was travelling abroad. We ended up pushing our wedding back twice, but third time was lucky! We would tell ourselves not to worry so much as it all worked out in the end and our guests didn’t mind the changes as it couldn’t be helped and they just wanted what was best for us.

If I could give other brides to be one piece of advice…

Do not worry about things going wrong on the day, only you will know if a small detail is wrong or out of place! Just enjoy the special day you’ve been planning and looking forward to for so long! And make sure you take time to have a moment together to take the day in!

Sources of inspiration…

Pintrest was my best friend for inspiration, I created lots of different boards for the wedding, hair and make-up, dresses! You’ll already have an idea of what you want for the day so just draw on that and everything will come together. Our wedding planner was also incredible and brought all my pictures and descriptions come to life!