Intimate Heirloom Wedding in Barcelona, Spain

Today, Lena Karelova shares this lovely intimate wedding of Marta & Fahad with us. They are originally from Spain and Pakistan, now living in Argentina – but opted to go back to Spain for their lovely wedding in Barcelona. We love how sweet and family oriented this wedding feels, from the heirloom touches applied throughout the design, to the casual feel of the lounges, and can we mention that sweet little guy pushing the wheelbarrow of toss greenery?

Marta, the bride, shares some of her wedding inspiration with us below!

What did you envision your wedding being prior to planning?

I had always wanted to have a small, intimate wedding where we would be able to enjoy spending time with all our guests. This was always the priority, and we wanted the wedding to have a romantic and relaxed atmosphere to make everyone feel ‘at home’ instead of a lavish, formal event.

What was your color palette and your style vision?

The aesthetic of the wedding followed the theme of ‘recovering the preciousness of things found in the trunks of my grandmother’. Following suit, we began sourcing antique trinkets and crockery and through this process the color palette established itself. We used dusty blue as our base color, and a worn, muted pink for accents, across an array of natural linens, woods and antique silver textures.

What unique elements or DIY details did you include?

My mother and I love decoration and interior design, we took care of every decision and detail for the aesthetic of the event. All the decorative corners were inspired by ‘places of the home’ ranging from seating nooks with antique floral pillows, to the ‘grandmother’s’ tea table with vintage crockery and old family photos, or an antique dressing screen with hanging vintage organza dresses and other clothing elements.

What was your favorite moment? Your favorite crafted detail?

To this day I find it difficult to highlight one favorite moment over others, but two of my most cherished memories was dancing with Fahad and my father to my all-time favorite Elvis Presley songs at the beginning of the dance. I also really enjoyed the overall mood of the seated dinner, set by candle-light and romantic songs of the past.

It was a wedding of ‘details’ as many have pointed out, and everything was handcrafted so it is very difficult to choose! I would have to say two of my most cherished details are the favours, which were little jars of homemade orange marmalade prepared by my father with oranges from our garden, as well as all the floral decoration which consisted of a mismatched collection of antique crockery such as fine ceramic tureens, teapots, vintage silverware and trays all filled with dried preserved flowers.

Tell us about your flowers, your gown, your favors, your cake, etc.

Flowers – being such an important part of the decorative aesthetic, the choice of flowers had to enhance and complement the main creative theme of the wedding. For this reason, we chose to use dried and preserved wild flowers and all the arrangements where done over antique crockery, trinkets, tureens and silverware. It was a whimsical idea very reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland’s mad hatter tea scene. Since the venue already boasted an extremely verdant environment (see: overgrown vines, olive trees, cypress tees, a whole forest in the back!) I wanted to use botanicals that would contrast against this background. My bridal bouquet had no greens in fact, it was made from the same preserved wild flowers in blush tones and cortaderias that gave life to the wedding!

Gown – It was an easy decision for me as I had a very clear picture of what I wanted and knew exactly who to enlist for the task. My dress was a two-piece Laure de Sagazan, consisting of a natural silk plumetti skirt, and a half-sleeve V-neck lace top. We paired it with an ‘ala de mosca’ style veil. My mother was not so keen on the stark combination of plumetti and lace at first, but as soon as we did the first fitting, she didn’t remark on whether it was pretty or appropriate, she just said ‘This is YOU!’. That’s what it’s all about.

Favours – We only decided on the favours perhaps a month before the wedding. They were small jars of homemade orange jam prepared by my father with oranges from our home garden. In our family, we call it ‘midnight jam’ as my father always ends up making it in the middle of the night. The symbolism behind this choice also relates to the venue where the wedding took place—the dinner was hosted at the ‘Orangerie’ room of the farmhouse, Masia Ribas.

Cake – We designed the entire dinner based on the age-old Italian proverb I grew up hear my grandmother say: ‘A tavola con famiglia e amici non s’invecchia mai’ (translating to ‘on the table with family and friends one never grows old’) I wanted the cake moment to be the epitome of this thought, and we decided to have small cakes for 8 people each, spread across the tables on vintage cake holders. We purposely presented them whole and in alternating flavors (Flavours: Dahi & Berries, Chocolate & Dulce de Leche) so that our guests would be compelled to cut, serve and share amongst themselves during this part of the dinner. It resulted in a funny, familiar and relaxed moment to mark the culmination of the dinner.

What is one piece of advice that you could give brides-to-be?

Be mindful during the planning process (and on the day, if it’s possible?). It might be stressful, emotional and overwhelming at times, but I deeply enjoyed seeing all my whimsical ideas come to life with the help of my family and friends. All in all, I feel I was more ‘present’ and aware during the planning that the day itself—it goes past so fast and it’s only with time (and wonderful photos!) that you being to recollect memories of the day. The wedding is not over once the candles go out, give it time to settle into your heart and mind.