This morning, we're popping over to the heartland of Germany, to Bavaria, somewhere we've never featured before on One Fab Day. This most romantic lakeside wedding, a symphony of white and green, is something to inspire any Spring brides dreaming up their nuptial style and will surprise those among you who have ideas about beer […]

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This morning, we're popping over to the heartland of Germany, to Bavaria, somewhere we've never featured before on One Fab Day. This most romantic lakeside wedding, a symphony of white and green, is something to inspire any Spring brides dreaming up their nuptial style and will surprise those among you who have ideas about beer halls and lederhosen at German weddings. Bavaria is so beautiful, all lakes, mountains and forests, the perfect location for a couple to bring their family and friends together like Agnes and Mark did in high style. We're delighted that Nadia Meli shared her beautiful work with us today...

bride and groom portrait in a garden

Agnes and Mark met at work – he was a budding IT system engineer and she was a journalist. "It didn’t take us long to become friends, but it took me a while to realise that Mark’s occasional hints and compliments were actually great proclamations of love. I got it in the end and we haven’t looked back since" harbour wedding venue

beautiful bride with understated wedding gown and long veil

Believe it or not, Agnes' beautiful assymetrical white and green bouquet and the little white and green posies the bridesmaids carried, were not the product of hours of design but rustled up by the obviously very talented duo of Agnes' godmother and her daughter after a flower shopping disaster necessitated a little floral DIY. The pair made the bouquets out of hacked-up pot plants and Agnes thought "they did remarkably well." So do we! It's amazing to think they just rustled them up in minutes. Beautiful.

No matter how many real weddings I write about, there's one thing that never ceases to delight me, and that's how at each wedding it's the kindness of friends and family that is always the source of most delight and appreciation from the couple. The little (and big) things they do for each other really touches the heart strings, and help the couple realise how loved they really are. So it was for Agnes and Mark as Agnes explained "My bridesmaids (my sister, sister-in-law and three best friends), amazing “wedding peons” Jake and Rebecca, and groomsmen Luke and Simon made the day incredibly special for us. They brought us breakfast, took care of all of the little details (and there were a lot of those), surprised me with a bracelet and photo book, snuck into our honeymoon suite and sprinkled the bed with rose petals and were generally superstars. My mother gave me a lucky horseshoe charm, which my grandmother had bought for my wedding before she passed away. I wore it on my wedding necklace."

The other thing which I’ll never forget — and remains one of my favourite memories from the wedding — is my husband shedding a quiet tear during the ceremony. It was moving beyond words."

After the ceremony in the Library at the old castle, the couple wandered around the island with Nadia Meli for some beautiful portraits, all very serious of course, as all German weddings are! (Oh you have no idea how wrong that stereotype is!!)

"We were going for down-to-earth with a touch of breezy and I think we pretty much achieved that. It was fluid, effortless and beautiful. Our number one priority was our guests. A lot of them came from overseas (Australia, the US, Switzerland and Poland) so we wanted them to have a blast and feel appreciated.

Tied for second were the photographer and the venue. The Hotel Chiemgauhof is located on the edge of a beautiful lake in a sleepy little Bavarian town — everything wedding dreams are made of. The hotel has been run by the same family for generations and their passion is evident. The owners and staff are lovely, attentive and super flexible. They have an incredible knowledge of and pride in the locally sourced (often grown on their own farm) food and offer an all-inclusive package. We fell in love at our very first meeting."

The venue, with it's simple white rustic decor and lakeside location is the perfect blank canvas for any decor theme, but Agnes and Mark opted for a subtle white and green botanical theme, adding their own little diy touches like a dessert table, and spray-painting their leaf motif onto basic white Ikea blankets – that way the guests could keep warm and then have something nice to take home with them. They also made all of their stationary themselves – Agnes designed the Save The Dates, invites, programs, welcome booklets, table numbers, seating plan, menu covers and place cards, after which we bought fancy paper and printed them at home. Now that's putting a personal stamp on things!

white purple and green table centre pieces

So after organising a destination wedding with all the trimmings, what advice would you give to couples planning their day? "Probably the same thing that everybody says – take a few minutes to take it all in. It goes by really fast so try to find a few quiet moments throughout the day when it’s just the two of you and soak it all in."

Since their family and friends had come all the way to Europe, instead of flying off around the world, the couple chose to go on a road trip in Europe. Their first stop was the Black Forest where we spent time with Mark’s family, after which we drove to Stuttgart with friends, and then to the Cinque Terre in Italy to meet up with Agnes parents.

Huge thanks to Agnes and Mark, and of course congratulations!! Hope you enjoyed your inter-railing around Europe! And a big Thank You to Nadia Meli - a super photographer for any of you getting married in Germany soon (hint, hint, Sarah & James!)

The Wedding Details