A beautiful ceremony in Vadstena Abbey Church

From a marriage proposal in France to a wedding in Vadstena

Who are you? 

We are Christian and Katarina, currently 28 (soon to be 29) years old, and we live in a suburb of Stockholm. Christian is a doctor and researcher with a keen interest in exercise and reading. I, Katarina, work as a child psychologist and have a passion for baking. My love of baking has also led me to run my own part-time baking business: Katarina’s Cakes AB, better known as Katarina’s Cakes. 

What rings did you choose?

Christian chose the engagement ring himself (with a little help from my best friend). It’s a gold ring with a lab-grown diamond from Kronan Guld in Upplands Väsby. So it was only natural that the wedding ring we chose for me was also from there – a slim gold ring, a half-alliance, set with lab-grown diamonds. Christian’s wedding ring is a simple white gold band. 

The planning

What was your vision for the wedding?

I had a clear vision from early on of the colours the wedding would feature: white and eucalyptus/sage green with touches of gold. Medium-sized, and more on the country, slightly rustic side.

When you started planning, what was the first thing you decided on?

Whilst the wedding planning was underway, Christian was very busy with his work. We therefore agreed that I would take care of much of the planning (which was great fun for me!). That was probably the very first decision. The first major decision after that was probably the venue.

Did you have a list of priorities, i.e. what was most important to you? 

We didn’t have a clear list as such, but one priority was to be surrounded on our wedding day by people we like and who really wanted to share our big day with us.

How long did you spend planning your wedding? 

Just under a year.

What were your thoughts on the wedding budget?

We really wanted, if possible, to make sure the wedding budget didn’t get too out of hand. At the same time, we were keen to ensure it truly reflected our dreams and visions, which we were aware could cost quite a bit. I sought the help of a wedding planner for an hour-long consultation, but apart from that, I planned the wedding myself (with the help of friends and family). This was a way of keeping costs down, whilst I also found the planning process incredibly enjoyable. 

The wedding day

Where did the wedding ceremony take place?

Vadstena Abbey Church.

Where did you hold the reception? 

The dinner and reception took place at Vadstena Klosterhotell.

What was your favourite memory of the day/weekend? 

It’s so hard to choose just one – everything was fantastic! Not least finally becoming husband and wife. If I had to choose one, it would perhaps be the night-time dip in Lake Vättern that we, the bride and groom, and most of our guests took at three in the morning after the reception had finished. 

Did you organise any activities for the guests?

As well as the standard activities, such as dinner, the bridal toast and the like, we organised a little quiz that the guests could take part in between the bridal toast and dinner to get to know each other better (“Find the guest”). We also had a Selfie Cam, which was used extensively during both the toast and the reception.

How would you best describe your wedding? 

A day – or rather, a weekend – filled with love. The most perfect weekend we could have imagined

What was on the wedding menu? 

Starter: Crayfish soup with homemade cheese and jalapeño cream, served with hand-peeled prawns.

Main course: Whole roast veal fillet with parsnip cream, seasonal vegetables, herb emulsion and sage sauce

Dessert: Wedding cake. Vanilla sponge layers filled with passion fruit mousse and raspberry mousse, covered with marzipan.

Tell us a bit more about the day

The wedding turned out, somewhat spontaneously, to be a three-day affair. As our guests had travelled from far afield – some from Stockholm, and others from places such as Italy and Mexico – many were already there the evening before the wedding day. We therefore suggested that anyone who wanted to could join us for dinner at a restaurant where we’d booked a table the evening before. The day after our wedding, my parents also organised a brunch for all the guests who wanted to come – and just like that, we ended up with a whole wedding weekend!

Attire

What did you wear? 

I, the bride, wore a dress that was originally from Abby Waits, but which I altered quite a bit. Sleeves had already been added by Abby Waits, but a tailor also helped me tweak a few details – including the sleeves themselves. Christian, the groom, wore a green suit from Wedding Bells By Little Fairies. 

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Was there a dress code for the guests? 

Dress code: Jacket

Tips

Best tip for a wedding? Best tip during the planning stage? 

Have the courage to stick to what you like and what your gut feeling tells you. People have so many opinions about weddings, which is great but also means it’s easy to forget what you yourself think and feel.

Best tip for the day itself? 

This isn’t really about the day itself, but rather the run-up to it: plan so that you don’t have to make decisions or sort things out on the day itself. Delegate, delegate, delegate! Sort out everything you want in the run-up to the wedding, but on the day itself, all that sort of thing should be delegated so that you can enjoy yourselves to the FULLEST.

Is there anything you wish you’d done differently? 

Yes, Katarina, I wish I’d been more firm about my hair. I know my hair type and how difficult it is to get curls to hold. I raised this with the hairdresser, who assured me that her method would make the style last. On the morning of the wedding, it struck me that she hadn’t actually worked the hair as much as promised, and although it looked absolutely lovely straight after styling, the curls and so on didn’t hold up at all throughout the day.

Any dos and don’ts you’d like to share?

Once again – go with what feels best for you (= a ‘do’). It’s easy to get swept up in what others think and say, so a ‘don’t’ would be doing things just because family members or friends are pushing for it. A ‘do’ for us was to skip dessert and just stick to the wedding cake (unless you choose to serve the wedding cake with the bridal toast, which is lovely too).

The best tip for newlyweds after the wedding? 

Take time to settle in. We were so incredibly tired and needed time to take it all in, but went back to work shortly after the wedding. Looking back now, it would probably have been wise to have planned for more recovery time.

Vendors

Wedding cake: or other baked goods for your big day – I can’t resist giving myself a bit of a plug. You can find me at katarinaskakor

Reception venue: Vadstena Klosterhotell

Coordinator: Wed By Us – A wonderfully friendly and knowledgeable young woman runs this business, and she was a great help even though I only felt the need for a brief consultation.

Wedding rings: Kronans guld

Photographer: Johanna Ellen

Printed materials: I chose to create these myself by buying a template on Etsy and then ordering through VistaPrint. It worked a treat.

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