Ceremonies by Nikki Kulin, Costa Celebrant - Real Life Wedding Ceremonies
Gorgeous Irish couple, Lisa and Jonathon, are based in Estepona and we first met at an outdoor shopping mall in Malaga. It became clear, from the outset that their Irish roots, Lisa’s amazing creativity and their rescue dog, Ella, all needed to play a significant role in their ceremony. Although they don’t live that far away from the venue, super lively Ella would be on her doggy holidays so Lisa had a printed cardboard cut out which took pride of place at the front of the ceremony space.
Lisa and Jonathon chose the beautiful Casa de los Bates hotel, just 20 minutes east of Nerja by car, is a unique venue which offers a wonderful 19th century manor house built in the Italian style. Set within abundant tropical gardens, it has a vast array of foundations, waterfalls, 100 year old palm trees and the gardens themselves have been deemed of artistic interest. The gardens are just stunning – an abundance of tropical plants. As it has no close neighbours, it is the perfect place for a wonderful night time party!
One of the features which always stands out to me is the incredible staircase leading from the ceremony space up to the main house which, when beset with red carpet, could well be a Hollywood film set. Such a photogenic space!
Boho Irish wedding in Spain
The fabulous stairs at Casa de los Bates – you could be in Hollywood for your bespoke wedding ceremony.
Lisa, as a wonderfully creative fashion and print designer, had definite plans for her decorations. She runs www.instagram.com/boholovebouquets – a boho bridal bouquet service and she made all the floral and table decorations for the day. She looked absolutely stunning in her Rue de la Seine Dress purchased on a trip back to her native Newry in Ireland. The flower bouquet hoops and Lisa’s flower crown were just fabulous!
Lisa made all her floral decorations - Bespoke wedding ceremony
Lisa also made all of the dream catchers, wedding favours, fans and place names.
I absolutely love it when I have to learn a bit of my couple’s native tongue and I can tell you that Irish is, quite definitely, one of the hardest to master! It was just one short phrase but it took a lot of practice for me to get my tongue around with the help of my wonderful Irish friends!
Lisa walked up the aisle accompanied by her mother and was preceded by her 6 bridesmaids.
Writing Lisa and Jonathon’s love story was a sheer delight. Their journey took them from meeting in Tipperary, to a proposal at the bride’s late father’s special place in Enniskerry, to living today in Southern Spain.
As I mentioned before, rescue dog Ella, who has her own Instagram page and website, aptly named www.everyonelovesella.com, where Lisa designs and sells doggy fashions and interiors, had a huge part to play.
With the cardboard cut-out of Ella taking pride of place in the ceremony space, we had decided on using the fabulous ‘Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog’ by Tailor Mali which was read by one of their guests. I also used inspiration from the film, Love Actually, and also a quote from Bridget Jones as Jonathon refers to Lisa as his very own Bridget! I also took lyrics from one of the couple’s favourite bands, The Cranberries – and their song ‘Dreams’ was played after the couple shared their personal vows.
Beautiful gardens and backdrop – a stunning location for your wedding ceremony in southern Spain
Their personal vows and promises, shared for the first time on the day itself, included Jonathon promising to love Lisa even if she tie-die’s everything in the house or turns into Barbara Streisand in ‘Meet the Fockers’! Lisa also included a promise to try not to bring the whole beach back with her after a walk knowing how much Jonathon loves sand, not!
The couple finished their ceremony with a personal sand unity ceremony, in colours chosen to match their theme and to represent their unity and commitment on their special day.
Sand Unity Ceremony in the wedding theme colours
With Irish blessings, I was delighted to invite Jonathon to kiss his bride and the couple enjoyed an incredible party with their family and friends.
I was absolutely delighted to be part of Lisa & Jonathon’s special day and that we are in regular contact since. There was only one problem, choosing images from the incredibly photogenic proceedings and the wonderfully talented www.thelovehunters.com
Boho Irish Wedding in Spain
Lisa said: Lisa said: ‘Nikki was a dream to work with and the ceremony was beautiful from beginning to end. It was very special, intimate and fun. Nikki was amazing from the first time we met her. She got to know us so well and that was totally accepted in our beautiful ceremony. A fabulous ceremony and a fabulous Celebrant’.
Venue: Casa de los Bates, Motril
Wedding Planner: Spanish Wedding Planner
Flowers: www.instagram.com/boholovebouquets
Celebrant: Nikki, Costa Celebrant www.costacelebrant.com
Photography: www.thelovehunters.com
