Every so often a real wedding comes along that we wish we'd been guests at, and Michelle and Franzi's laid-back wedding is one such bash! With help from their stylist and wedding planner, this fab pair spent the months leading up to their day planning an elegant day focused on their loved ones. They wed in August 2020, at Gut Sarnow in Schorfheide Brandenburg, a rustic-style venue with breathtaking scenery in the German countryside. 75 of the couples' nearest and dearest were able to attend their big day, which featured a natural colour palette, a ceremony in a field, a ballroom reception space, and lots of gorgeous, personalised details. Melanie of Lumentis Fotostudio documented the day, and we're a little bit in love!

The couple tell us that they met in 2016 while attending a baby shower. Franzi fills us in, "I was there with my ex-girlfriend, and Michelle was also there with her ex-girlfriend. We actually didn't really have eyes for each other in that moment because we were both in a relationship. But, the following year, I got in touch with her, after the the mom-to-be from the baby shower let me know that she was single again! As we were writing back and forth, Michelle said that the whole thing, with the two recent break ups, called for a round of shots! And that's how we ended up having our first date!"

After they rekindled in early 2017, their relationship moved quickly. The proposal happened in January 2019 in Italy while the couple were on a skiing holiday with their parents and friends.

The brides took a moment to take in their surroundings and each other before tying the knot. They say, "The most emotional moment was when we saw each other alone for the first time at the first-look shoot. We are so happy that we chose to do that."

Michelle sourced her beautiful lace detail gown at the Amour Elle boutique, and Franzi's navy 3-piece suit is by KUHN. We love how she accessorised it with handmade suspenders and a rust bow tie by German designer Anna Dezet.

For their wedding, the couple chose Gut Sarnow in Schorfheide Brandenburg, a property boasting a spacious meadow, a manor house ballroom, a charming rustic barn and its very own forest.

The couple describe the style and vibe of their wedding as "cozy with lots of green, white, and dusty blue, mixed with wooden elements."

Michelle and Franzi said 'I do' under a pear tree in one of the fields at the property. Franzi says, "It was really magical and beautiful! Just us, the ceremony and our loved ones around us in an empty field, under this single tree in the middle of nowhere."

Since the venue's landscape was so lush, the couple installed simple, minimal ceremony decorations, adding bunches of eucalyptus and white blooms to chairs, and setting up lanterns and linen drapes at the front of the space.

All the wedding details were masterminded by their talented wedding planner, Madlen of Marrybylen, whom the couple have some high praise for. They tell us, "We were very satisfied and happy with our wedding planner. We would recommend everyone to hand over the planning or to get support. They did so much that day, and yet, we didn't really notice them. We could enjoy our wedding, completely relaxed, and the planning part also was also very relaxed because we just felt it was well looked after."

Just Married shots! Very appropriate given the nature of the couple's first date!

Officially wife and wife!

The couple's venue suits their day perfectly, but Michelle and Franzi tell us it wasn't exactly love at first sight! They explain, "We received different location suggestions from our wedding planner, three we shortlisted and wanted to visit. But Madlen recommended and asked us to have a look at a certain location from that list, which we found not so appealing, even from the first impression. But we trusted her and took a look. We had imagined our celebration in a barn, but during our visit, we looked at the ballroom, which was still under construction at the time. And guess what, we loved it! Funnily enough, Madlen already had this location in mind during our very first meeting when we described our dream location!"

They add, "What convinced about the location was the opportunity to hold the wedding ceremony on the spacious meadow under the big tree. In addition, all guests could stay overnight, which was very important to us. And we could celebrate as long as we wanted, there was no time limit.  The style was exactly our thing. We wanted something rural, exclusive and comfortable. It also had an extra special personal touch due to it being a family business."

Due to Covid, Michelle and Franzi had to cut their original guest list of 102 to 75, and make a few other adjustments to their original plans. "We were pretty lucky to have our wedding around the time when many restrictions were lifted. However, we did have to reorganise a few things, such as the seating at the wedding ceremony, the table plan at the celebration, details of the decoration and the schedule of the buffet in the evening, in order to adhere to all distance rules and to minimise contact between the guests. Our wedding planner, Madlen, had some good ideas for this and helped us reorganise."

The couple's soft-iced cake was made by their friend Veronica. We love the rustic details!

Michelle and Franzi have some incredibly sensible advice to pass onto engaged couples. They say, "We believe the best advice is that everyone should just be who they are! Everyone should openly and honestly communicate their wishes and ideas about the day. You should feel welcome to say no if you don't like something or something bothers you, because it's your day and not someone else's day!"

The evening reception was in the venue's charming ballroom space, where they continued their understated green-and-white colour palette, adding eucalyptus centrepieces that showed off the white linens and chairs.

Guests were gifted with gorgeous glass favours, hand-engraved with the name of each guest, which also doubled up as a personalised place card.

At the reception, the brides were surprised with a video recorded by loved ones who were unable to attend the day. The couple also tell us that their Dads' emotional speeches were "one of the highlights of the evening!"

Due to Covid travel restrictions, the couple chose to honeymoon in Austria. They tell us, "It was an active trip, we've done a lot and explored the area. We can recommend it as we are going there again this year! But if travel restrictions weren't in place, we would love go further away, somewhere closer to the sun and beach."

Michelle and Franzi stole away for a few for portraits during the reception, which is such a lovely idea. "We really enjoyed the time we spent taking the photos at sunset," they say. "We were just so happy, and so full of adrenaline and happiness that we were able to glow the whole time."

Thanks so much to Michelle and Franzi for sharing their day with us, and to LUMENTIS Fotostudio for providing the beautiful imagery! There are even more gorgeous photographs to peruse in the gallery below.