Vibrant Indian Wedding by Carmen & Ingo

This beautiful Indian wedding from Carmen & Ingo may just be the sentimental favourite for me from the current {MAG}rouge issue. Kismet and I have become great friends over email and twitter through blogging over the past couple of years (she is a photographer herself and writes the blog Unreal Bride), and I absolutely love learning all about her life in India, so naturally I was thrilled that we choose to feature her wedding in the magazine. On top of that she discovered her fabulous photographers on Magnolia Rouge... yay!! I love it when that happens! Carmen & Ingo - who are based in Germany - had been travelling through New Zealand early last year and I featured this lovely vintage shoot they did on their travels down in Oamaru. Before you knew it Kismet had approached them and they were winging their way to India. I'm so so envious that I couldn't get to India for the wedding to meet them all as it truly sounded like the most incredible and special time. I also had the honour of designing Kismet's invitations... however would you believe I don't even have a copy to photograph! It was a job that involved a fair amount of compromise to keep all parties happy (and a bride just trying to keep the peace right Kismet?)

Kismet & Nitin... I wish you every ounce of happiness in your future and sincerely hope that someday our paths cross xo

PLEASE head over to her blog and read more about their wedding... I've just seen she's written some posts about it. If you think you have a lot of prep to do this may help you feel better when you see the work they had to put in - literally toiling the land - to get their dream wedding day!

Wintery Austrian wedding by Carmen & Ingo

Given that we are having quite the cold snap right now (3 degrees in the morning - that's pretty darn cold for Auckland, and esp with no heating in our houses!!) it seems very fitting that I feature this pretty wintery mountain wedding from Carmen & Ingo Photography*.

Sylvana is a creative soul and put a lot into styling the perfect day for her wedding to Hannes. Isn't this series of Hannes seeing her for the first time priceless? I love it! They were married in Tirol, in the heart of the Austrian Alps... an area that is one of my favourite in the world!! Sylvana shares more about the details of their day below...

The civil ceremony took place in a little old city in Tirol and all guests dressed up in dirndl and lederhosen. But, as you might know dirndl is not dirndl – fine silk, wool and cotton qualities for the dirndl, country typical stitching on the lederhosen as well as hand printed linen combined with traditional jewellery and accessories from the Salzkammergut, created a harmony look and feel.

As a civil ceremony alone was not festive enough for us and a classic religious ceremony did not suit our way of life, we wished to have a “free ceremony” which is not to common in religious Austria but is becoming more and more popular. We found the perfect person to marry us in Birgit Grafinger - from the first time we met. She created a very personal, charming speech with many laughs for us and our guests which was an unforgettable part of our day.

One more positive aspect from two days of celebrating was of course... two days, two outfits, two stories! The big white day was supposed to be simple, elegant, romantic, no clichés, no bling bling, down to earth, a little bit playful and relaxed with a touch of vintage. Therefore everything was handmade. Together with some perfect busy little helping hands we created, staged, knitted and sewed.

We were very lucky that the municipality of Achenkirch gave us the possibility to hold our “free ceremony” in their small charming Annakircherl, set in a magnificent natural scene which contributed to a cheerful unique atmosphere.

The question of the right photographer wasn’t really a question. The way Carmen and Ingo capture emotional moments in their shots, their feeling for the right light, scenery and their sensibility for all the tiny details, enchanted and convinced us from the very first beginning and were just confirmed when we met them in Munich.

We used one of our favorite flowers – the tulip – a spring flower and symbol for love and affection, therefore quite suitable for a wedding in April. Like a red ribbon the tulip has been integrated into paper work like invitations, tags, namecards, brides bouquet, even the lace on the bride's dress included tulips. Combined with filled roses (love, happiness, youthful freshness) and camomilla blossom.

The big question was if our wedding should take place in Hannes home country, the beautiful Salzkammergut where we love to spend our weekends or in Hannes new home country Tirol. Lakes and Mountains were the criteria for nature and sport-loving Hannes. Relaxed, comfortable but romantic. So what could be better than the Seealm at the beautiful stunning Achensee.

We gave our guests cosy pashmina scarves (it was only about 5degrees) in theme-matching rosétones to reflect the missing flowers and colours after a hard snowy winter at Achensee.

Dancing shoes for tired and sore feets.

*Carmen & Ingo are one of my fabulous sponsors

Croatian wedding by Carmen & Ingo Photography

Today is a little bit of enviable travel inspiration mixed in with some stunning wedding inspiration... a perfect combination if you ask me!! This stunning Croatian wedding is from my lovely friends Carmen & Ingo Photography. Looking at these shimmering blue seas has me salivating for the summer we never had!! And check out the brides entrance on that boat... I love it!

Steffi & Alex go to Croatia on holiday each year so it was an obvious choice for their destination wedding. Steffi did a lot of DIY; the bunting, the candy bar signs, the ring holder and more... all made by themselves. Looks like they had an amazing day!

Intimate Vintage Wedding by Carmen & Ingo Photography

I'm thrilled to have Carmen & Ingo on the blog again today. They are absolute gems and I love that I get to chat to these amazing people from around the globe through writing this blog. You may remember them from this amazing shoot they did down in Oamaru when they were traveling around New Zealand earlier in the year. And since that post, they have booked two weddings from clients who saw that feature on Magnolia Rouge... which thrills me to bits!! Firstly a lovely couple living in Holland - (funnily enough we also share the surname Holland too!), and secondly the wedding of a fellow wedding blogger... I'm very excited about that one, but more about that closer to the time!!

Marisa & Marko are from the USA and Germany respectfully, and Marisa perused wedding blogs in the lead up to their big day, soaking up as much inspiration as she could. And looking at all the beautiful elements she's infused into the design, I'd say she did a great job! All assisted by wedding planner Doreen Winking. I love that they had a gorgeous photo board to involve all the family members who were unable to be there on the day.

Thanks so much to Carmen & Ingo for sharing their lovely work with us again, and best of luck to the happy couple!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wedding Planner | Doreen Winking Weddings, Flowers | Blumen Julia Hörl, Cupcakes | Wir machen Cupcakes, Location | Herrenhaus Aying, DJ | Rob James Perkins, Stationery | Elsje Designs, Hair | Sarah Woodward, Make=up | Brautzauber Katharina Michel, Dress | La Sposa