When I first met Annika and Matt I was immediately mesmorized by her stunning, modelesque beauty and his witty, warm personality. They exuded so much love and I darn near stared at them with “hearts in eyes” the whole time I listened to their story. Here’s just a small tidbit…
Matt, from Evesham, England, and Annika, from Åbo, Finland met while attending Rollins College. As she would describe, ha, Matt is loud, energized and extraverted and she is reserved and an introverted listener. True to his personality, his proposal had a life of its own and can’t be topped by many. Here’s the short version, for your sake!
After recently purchasing a new home, the two vacationed with their family in Vexala, Finland. While there, they decided to go to Stubben, an old fisherman’s island where Annika has been going since childhood. Matt lead her towards the “famous” rock pile (which he had seen in old family videos), where she, her cousins, and sister would throw rocks as children. When they got to the top, as they gazed over the Baltic Sea, Matt got down on one knee and asked her to marry him…in SWEDISH! Yes, you heard that right, SWEDISH! How romantic, right?! And the story continues…after popping the question, he gave her a poem he had written along with an envelope and explained that they go hand in hand but won’t make any sense for a few days. In the envelope Annika found cut out letters.
Two weeks later they arrived back in Orlando and went to their new home. In the mailbox was yet another envelope, with even more letters! Then as she walked through the house she was stunned to find a new washer and dryer! And again, she found an envelope on each, both filled with more random letters. So I’m sure you’re wondering, just like me, WHAT DID ALL THESE LETTERS MEAN?
The next day, surprise surprise, Matt delivered flowers to the office with MORE letters! Later that night it was her turn to match up the letters in the envelopes that she had collected, with the cryptic clues from the poem that read, “Let’s celebrate our engagement with a trip to the British Virgin Islands on September 2!”
Now on to the wedding!
When it came time to plan our wedding, they wanted simple and contemporary. They chose the beautiful Isleworth Country Club because of its intimate feel, yet it had modern appointments. They enlisted us and the FABULOUS Botanica International Design Studio to bring their simple yet stunning vision to a reality. The team, including our creative bride and groom, put a lot of thought into all the details. Their place “cards” were black river rocks, which they wrote their guests names on; the table numbers were painted on gray slate that was casually placed at each table. For the flowers, we kept it clean and simple by just having white flowers and to add to the modern table scapes, we chose to accent the tables with clear Ghost chairs.
With more than fifty family and friends traveling from overseas, they wanted to bring in as much Finnish and English culture as possible. For instance, the night began with the singing of Scandinavia snaps songs and celebratory vodka shots, which eventually followed each course, accompanied by a traditional snaps appetizer. At the end of the evening, a hot dog stand was set up for those late night munchies and mini cupcakes, from my absolute favorite cupcake shop Sweet! by Holly, were set up in to-go containers for guests.
We really could go on about all the minor details. From the bride’s lips, “The team we had in place for our wedding was the best one could have asked for. The room was prepared exactly as how I envisioned it and took my breath away. When looking back at our wedding, there is nothing we would have changed, it was the perfect day!
The “Dream Team”:
Planner: StyleHouse Weddings & Events
Ceremony Site: Knowles Memorial Chapel at Rollins College, Winter Park, FL
Reception Site: Isleworth Country Club, Windermere, FL
Invitations: Pearl Beach Paperie
Rentals: Panache, Fenice
Limos & Shuttles: VIP Transportation Group
Florist: Botanica International Design Studio
Lighting: Kaleidoscope, Orlando, FL
Photographer: Binary Flips
Videographer: Cinematique Films
Cupcakes: Sweet! By Good Golly Miss Holly, Orlando, FL
DJ: DJ Carl
Guitarist & Quartet: Beautiful Music
Photo”booth”: PhotoMingle
