Our last Wedding of the year last year in 2015, took us all the way up to the mountains that surrounds Malaga for the Wedding of Donnette and Nicholas. The wedding took place across 2 houses, El Carligto and Casa Wills. Perched high on a ´Loma´in the middle of the Montes de Malaga stand these two amazing properties.
El Carligo had been the very first property we added to our Wedding Venue list 3 years ago when we launched our business! When we discovered this secret hideaway, the owners Mark and Alan were delightful and keen to extend the capabilities of this luxury holiday Villa. We knew we could help them and within 6 months we had a Wedding booked with them. Donnette and Nicholas were the first couple that we had showed the houses too and they were smitten right away.
Initially Donnette and Nicholas came to us asking for a Villa on the Costa Del Sol. As the ´Costa del Sol´is not really our specialty (as you know we are much more lost in the mountains, far away secret wedding venue type wedding planners!!) . So I asked them lots of questions about what would really make their dream Wedding Venue. In actual fact from the briefing, their dream venue was more lost in the mountains than Costa beach front so I knew we could help them!
To satisfy their first requests (private Villas not far form Marbella and the Costa del sol) we showed them a few Villas hidden away near to Marbella, Casares and Istan. None of these properties really ticked the box for them, nothing blew them away. Luckily we knew we had this gem saved for the last. Off we drove an hour away form the costs to this tiny cliff top. When we describe the venue as ´lost in the mountains´you have to believe us it really is ´LOST´in the mountains. After many a dirt track and bumpy, bendy road we arrived. Donnette and Nicholas were instantly in love!! The Mountains high above us, the sea in the far distance, the silence and tranquility. They knew right away that this was their dream Wedding Venue. And we had found it for them!!
18 months on and over 100 hours of wedding planning later, we finally arrived to the wedding day. From the original plan of only using El Carltigo to expanding up to a house 1 KM away for the ceremony and the Cocktail and Dinner. Casa Wills, is another stunning property. Owned by the family of Mark and Alan, the house has a special style and with views across to Lake Vinuela and the Mediterranean Sea the situation cannot really be beaten!
The ceremony was truly remarkable. An arch with over 800 Roses created by Susana Sanchez. A carpet of Petals laid thickly by myself. The setting was perfect. Natasha, Malaga Minister Conducted a heartfelt, family focused and sentimental. Donnette and Nicholas are true friends and that really showed through in the beautiful ceremony!
The style of the venue merges perfectly with the theme of the Wedding. Donnette Chose the colours Blush Pink, White and Emerald Green. I designed the individual decor pieces, flowers and signs to complement this. Donnette had a clear vision of the colours and style. As always we worked closely with the bride and groom to bring their personal vision to life. Always with a touch of our own creativity and hard work sourcing all of the important elements that would make it special. I worked especially hard on creating beautiful bespoke signage for the couple. Their welcome sign was hand painted and all of the signs weer designed and handwritten by me. They were keen for a really rustic authentic feel. To achieve this, I insisted on hiring Pedro Navarro´s wooden tables and Cross backed chairs. To finish of the rustic look in an elegant way we hired the soft pink napkins!
The floral´s were immense, Susana Sanchez came all the way from Fuengirola with a giant floral Arch and almost 800 Roses! From the aisle pedestals to the table centers Susana captured the feeling of what Donnette had dreamed of perfectly! She really brought to life the elegant rustic feel that we were after!
Donnette is a Music teacher, a singer and a Musician so having a quality musical line up was a really important factor. We started of with a small simple wedding brief and ended up with a huge musical production!! For the Ceremony we had Quike Navarro and his String Quartet. The Cocktail time was serenaded by the magical Spanish guitar of Matt McGurk, don´t let the name fool you he really plays the spanish guitar like a native. Matt also arranged for a fantastic Flamenco Extravaganza for after Dinner. The night time party kept the house pumping with awesome sounds from DJ Scott MacNaughton!
Food is really important to Donnette and Nicholas; he proposed in a Michelin Star restaurant and these guys love to eat out in London’s best restaurants all the time so we knew we had to find them the best of the best! Luckily, the in-house chef at El Carligto is somewhat of a foodie superstar. We had the pleasure to taste the wonders of his cooking at his own Casa Rural – Cortijo Juan Salvador!! The couple wanted traditional food so David put a special touch to some Tapas Canapes and starters and then a fabulous chicken Paella as the main course!
To accompany the Flamenco show we served Cava and Cake, the cake, macaroons and Cup cakes were created by Omaya from Cake Couture Marbella, the cake table designed by myself! For the boys I styled and designed Nicks Sherry Station, with a beautiful rustic table and lots of manly elements!
Thank you so much to everyone who was involved in the successful creation of Donnette and Nicholas very special wedding day! A special thank you to Aleksandra and Eloy from Eloy Muñoz Photography for sharing their gorgeous images with us!
The Dream Team for Donnette and Nicks Wedding are listed below:
Photography- Eloy Muñoz Photogrpahy
Ceremony Music by Quike Navarro and his string Quartet
Cocktail Music by Matt Mcgurk
Evening Entertainment by Matt McGurk and his Flamenco Crew
Nightime Party- DJ Scott MacNaughton
Tables and Chairs – Pedro Navarro
The Cakes and Macaroons by Omaya at Cake Couture Marbella
The Flowers by Susana Sanchez
The Catering was David Palacios from Cortijo Juan Salvador
Cocktail Bar and Waiter by Marbella Parties
The Ceremony was performed by Natasha- Malaga Minister
The Venue – El Carligto and Casa Wills
Wedding Planning, Styling and Design was by The Boutique Wedding Co. Team- Lucy, Jesus and Lara.
See you again soon!