A beautiful weekend celebration in the South of France for Kate & Dima, a fun adventurous and sweet couple who travelled from the Ukraine with their friends and family for a weekend to remember, celebrating their love and marriage. The uber-talented Mary from Forever & Ever Events designed and managed the wedding, and created a really magical wedding in a beautiful setting. It’s was such a joy to photograph.

I’ll leave it to Mary the wedding planner to tell you more about this magical celebration….

“For K & D, the most important aspect when planning their wedding was to have a beach party in a foreign destination that none of their guests could ever forget.  Kate and Dima (and most of their guests) reside in Ukraine, where they are used to attending more formal, traditional weddings.  Having lived and studied in London, they wanted something completely different from what they were used to seeing in their home country – a relaxed celebration where their 35 guests could not only enjoy their wedding but also enjoy a vacation with them.  The perfect location we found for their wedding was the Royal Riviera in the beautiful Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, nestled between Nice and Cannes on the French Riviera.  This location not only provided an intimate garden ceremony overlooking the bay, but also provided a cocktail reception on a private deck, dinner in the seafront restaurant with a “sea” theme, and a bespoke evening beach party on the private beach.The couple arranged for an all-expenses-paid holiday at the Royal Riviera for each of their 35 guests, who also found, upon their arrival, a welcome tote bag full of fresh local fruits, a wedding weekend program, and a framed illustration of all of them. All of the design details were custom-made.  For their wedding invitations, Kate hired an illustrator in Russia to draw a fun depiction of each of the guests – these illustrations reflected something quirky about each of their personalities.  Then Kate took the illustrations and created a website, where she wrote “If you are pictured here, then you are invited to our wedding!”  These illustrations were weaved through each of the paper and design details for the wedding day – from cocktail napkins, fan programs, drink stirrers, menus, signage, and the welcome tote bag, which contained a framed copy of the illustration for each guest.

After the wedding, their entourage from Ukraine went with Kate and Dima on their ‘honeymoon’ to Monaco and Cannes, truly making the entire wedding celebration a group holiday experience”

To Kate & Dima: wishing you a magical, globetrotting and exciting life together… may you keep having fun forever more, and thank you for inviting me to capture such a special time in your lives…. xxxx

Wedding Planning, Design & Creative Direction: Mary Lee Herrington of Forever & Ever Events; Location & Catering: The Royal Riviera; Dress: Elena Burba; Headpiece: Masha Shylyagina; Shoes: Alexander McQueen; Clutch: Alexander McQueen; Videography: Shark Pig; Flowers: Roni Fleurs; Band: Fables & Friends; DJ: Atmosphere Sud; Illustrations: Grivina; Printing/ Day-of stationery: Coquette Paper & Press; Coordination assistance: Haute Weddings