A lovely spot to hang out in a beautiful place

The story

A year after Amelie and Oktay first met at a nightclub in Malmö, where they were both living at the time, and then got together when Amelie moved back home to Jönköping, Oktay got down on one knee and proposed. It was during a trip to the Maldives. Amelie downloaded all the wedding podcasts and ordered planning books online that very same evening. 

What was the best thing about the wedding? 

– For us, it was important that the whole experience was about having a great time. We wanted the wedding to be one big party from start to finish, and we think we managed that really well. Our priority was to have fun in beautiful surroundings, to have things to do before the ceremony, to have surprises throughout the day, and for everyone to be able to party well into the early hours. But the absolute best thing about the whole wedding was probably that we had a truly magical day with our loved ones, who were there to celebrate our love – and that we got married, of course! 

Tell us about your wedding

– Amelie has always dreamed of getting married by a lake. It was also important to us that the wedding was a longer event, so that everyone could stay overnight. The day before the wedding, our families were invited to stay overnight and have dinner at the hotel, as well as to put the finishing touches to the arrangements. We organised a golf tournament on the wedding day and arranged a padel tournament for those guests who preferred that. As we were at a spa hotel, guests were able to make use of the spa facilities throughout the wedding. All overnight guests were greeted with sweets in their rooms and a bottle of sparkling wine featuring our photo in the wedding’s colour scheme. We scheduled the ceremony for 5.30 pm to avoid any stress, so everyone could relax and socialise. The ceremony took place down by the lake, with a live band playing in the background. Immediately after the ceremony, we cut the cake, which we enjoyed with sparkling wine whilst listening to the live band.

After the cake and some mingling, the guests headed to the dinner venue just a stone’s throw away, whilst we slipped away to our hotel room to have a glass of champagne and just take in the fact that we were now married! We then made our entrance to the dinner as husband and wife! During the three-course dinner, between the starter and the main course, the waiters came in with loads of bottles of bubbly and ice torches to liven up the party atmosphere. We had a sweet buffet where guests could fill a bag with as many sweets as they liked. The live band played throughout the dinner – it really got the party going! After the first dance, the DJ took over and the party went on until late into the night, ending with an after-party on our terrace. The next day, we had a champagne brunch for the guests who’d stayed over – something we really appreciated as we could mingle between the tables and enjoy having our loved ones there. The day continued at the spa for those who fancied it.

What are your wedding tips? 

– Do exactly as you please! Try to outsource as much as possible; if you don’t want to hire services, ask someone from the wedding party to help out – bridesmaids, groomsmen, parents, siblings, etc. Have brilliant toastmasters – ours were Amelie’s sister Lovisa and her partner Eric, and they really put on quite a show!

– We chose to have our photos taken before the ceremony. We wanted to spend as much time as possible with our guests and not have to dash off straight after the ceremony. 

– Enjoy yourselves and have fun! Don’t worry about things going wrong, because they definitely will, haha. The most important thing is that you get married, and we promise that only you will know how it was ‘supposed to be’. No one else will notice.

– Do make checklists! Tick things off so nothing gets missed.  

How can you use social media or new technology at your wedding? 

– One example is that, instead of traditional paper invitations, we sent a ‘Save the Date’ video to all our guests, with a link to our wedding website where all the information was regularly updated. Everything from hotel bookings to activities and contact details. It was very handy. Amelie used her own Instagram page, which she runs as part of her work as an influencer, to find inspiration and tips for the wedding. You can create personalised hashtags so that guests – and, of course, others – can get a glimpse of the wedding, whilst also seeking inspiration and ideas on social media in the run-up to the big day. 

Wedding facts

WEDDING FACTS

Bride: Amelie Sjöbring Cimen (on Instagram @ameliesjobring).

Groom: Oktay Cimen

Ceremony: Ook’s Herrgård, Hok.

Bridesmaids: Amelie’s three sisters; Lovisa Sjöbring, Linnéa Sjöbring and Mathilda Sjöbring.

Best man/groomsmen: Oktay’s brother and two cousins: Tony Cimen, Askin Midbeck and Tansu Metin.

Invitation cards: Everything was done digitally apart from the menus for the dinner at www.fyrapunkter.se in Värnamo. 

Wedding dress: Dress from Ivory & Grace in Gothenburg, www.ivoryandgrace.com

Shoes: Amelie received these from Oktay as a Valentine’s Day present www.christianlouboutin.com

Groom’s attire & shoes: Tuxedo from Oscar Jacobsson NK in Gothenburg. Shoes by Versace www.versace.com

Rings & jewellery: Amelie’s ring, earrings and tennis bracelet from LWL www.lwljewelry.com. A bracelet from Cartier. Oktay’s ring was purchased during a weekend in Paris at Cartier www.cartier.com

Hair styling: Amelie’s and the bridesmaids’ hair, as well as the bride’s mother’s, was styled by Cissi Pilfalk from www.salongcheveux.com in Jönköping.

Make-up: Amelie’s sister Lovisa did the make-up. 

Flowers: Butik Botanik, Mjölarp www.butikbotanik.com

Venue & dinner: Hooks Herrgård, Hok www.hooksherrgard.se

Wedding cake: Made by Andrea Brändstöm, based in Jönköping and winner of the baking programme *Hela Sverige bakar* www.fikerian.se

Music/DJ: Jonas Gallneby and others (the bride and groom were in touch with Jonas, who put together a band for their wedding; during the wedding itself, they thought they played so well together that they decided to form a band to do this more often – they’re on Instagram @smash_bandet). The DJ was Oliver Marouki, Jönköping. 

Wedding singer/vocals: Jonas Gallneby.

Number of guests: 87.

Honeymoon: They went to the Maldives, where they’d also got engaged.

Photographers: Linda-Pauline Pehrsdotter Arousell and Jeanette Wilén, who can be found on Instagram @lindapuline.se @jeanettewilenphoto www.lindapauline.se

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