This wedding is just so lovely and full of happiness - and brimming with elegance too! The images from photographer Matilda Soderstrom all capture a different moment of the day perfectly, including the emotional 'first look' images.

The couple look very chic in their well tailored outfits. Sofia's Pronovias gown fits her like a glove and adding a gorgeous sash has really made the dress her own. I love anything with bows on - so to me this dress is just stunning and her earrings are the ideal accessory. Groom Martin looks ever so dapper in iconic Swedish brand J.Lindeberg and a brown polka dot bowtie.

Rosenhanska Magasinet - their barn venue, with its sides open to the Swedish countryside and characterful large beams is the perfect place to hold a rustic, home grown wedding. Enjoy lovely ones!

The Venue

Sofia The Bride: We chose to have our wedding at Rosenhanska Magasinet, Torps Säteri, a few miles outside Nyköping in Sweden. A magical place for a country side and rustic wedding. When we had access to such a wonderful environment we felt that one day of celebrations was not enough and we chose to celebrate with our families and friends for three days. This was great as it allowed us to spend quality time with our guests and for them to get to know each other properly. We started the Friday with a bbq/pool party as all our guests dropped in to the venue. On the Saturday the guests could entertain themselves with activities such as kayaking or swimming until the ceremony started. The Sunday everyone was gathered to eat a brunch that our parents and grandparents had helped to arrange. We really recommend gathering the guest the days before the wedding as they have a chance to interact, break the ice and hopefully make the wedding party feel more relaxed and festive.

The Bride

I had a clear picture of how I wanted my dress to look like, partly due to my countless hours on Pinterest - an open-back dress that follows the body contours and topping up with a long veil. To make the rustic feeling present I felt that lace was the obvious choice I never thought I would find it after only three tries but I did - Pronovias 'Maricel'. However I felt that something was missing as the dress felt womanlier rather than pretty, which didn't feel like me to 100% so the shop owner helped me to make a bow to be attached in the waist and that would fall on the veil. I just felt straight away that we nailed it! The peeptoe-shoes matched the matte pink tone of the bow. Except for my rings I chose to only wear vintage earrings, as they were so grand that I didn't want the jewellery to take over from the dress.

The Decor

Lace, weave and pastel colours (blush pink, mint green and crème white) was seen throughout the entire wedding and created the rustic country side feeling that we were after. We wanted the guests to notice this straight away as they received their invitations so we created our own design for the cards with the pastel colours and a ribbon that the guests had to open to read the card. We did a lot of the decorations ourselves thanks to different DIY-websites and Pinterest.

We sawed thicker pieces of wood to use as centrepieces together with our flowers and candles. We also saved a part of the log and drew our names on with the date and a heart to serve the cake from. The barn itself was amazing with beams and ceiling height so we kept it simple. Some lights, buntings, pompoms and honeycombs in pastel colours were added. My grandma's jam-jars were dressed with lace and were used for flowers and candles on the tables and in the barn. We found golden frames in Martin's parents attic that we used to make black boards that we placed in the venue for example as children's menu, the bar menu, the dance floor rules and the candy buffet. The guest entered the venue by stepping through lace curtains on each side of the door. We wanted to do something fun for the guests and had made a bunting made out of photos of the guests that we had printed and attached with pegs. We used old planks of wood as signs around the area to guide the guests to our church and the venue. All of this of course resulted in lots of hours of crafting but it was all worth it in the end as the day had our personal tone, exactly the way we wanted it.

The Food

To us, food was very important as we have great love for food in general but also because we both have our roots in Northern Sweden and we wanted the menu to be influenced by it. Which meant a lot of wild meat and locally produced. We had contact with Anna Bonde who runs a catering business and cooks all the food herself with pure and ecological ingredients. Together we created a menu that was inspired by Northern Sweden with typical berries, vegetables and wild meat from Norrland. The cake was the highlight that ticked all the boxes for our wishes - both looks wise and taste-wise. As I am a sugar-junkie we also had a candy bar during the party.

Canapes
Smoked dear with herbs on special bread
Salmon cheesecake with caviar and leek
Pastry with Norrland cheese

Starters
Creme Vichynoisse (potatoes and leek soup with cheese flakes)

Mains
Moose-fillet with mushrooms and blackcurrant gravy

Dessert
Cloud berry mouse with almond macaroons and cloudberry jam

Cake
Layers of: Brownies, chocolate ganache, raspberry, passion fruit custard. Speckled with cream made of meringue.

The Ceremony

The ceremony took place in a stone church nearby the venue. Each row in the church had been decorated with tiny flowers to add to the country feel. The ceremony had many highlights; the music was one of them, especially as one of my closest friends sang. We had chosen three songs, one common and one song for one another. What Martin didn't know was that I had written a Swedish lyric to "Love Me Like You do" by Ellie Goulding. Another highlight was the sermon as it was very personal since the priests uncle knows us very well. The exit from the church was to the tones of "All you need is love" and the guests got to sing along to it.

The Photography

Similarly to the dress I had a very clear picture of what type of wedding photos I was looking for. I am very picky and want to know before hand what I will get to be sure it becomes perfect. My friend and bridesmaid used a photographer at their wedding where the pictures came out magical. She has amazing light in her pictures and the ability to capture the special moment during the day. I contacted the photographer, Matilda Soderstrom and got so excited when our date was available! Except the amazing photos we really appreciated the personal contact Matilda developed with us and also her being so receptive to try our crazy ideas. Her calm energy during the day was invaluable on the day and really was contagious which made the cooperation easy during the day. After the wedding she gave us sneak peaks in form of for example a slide show with music that she felt reflected us. This was very appreciated from both us and our family and friends.