Ladies and gentlemen, if you’d please present your boarding passes — I mean invitations — and take a journey with us to Salena and Stefan’s super glam wedding at Villa Padierna Palace Hotel in Marbella, Spain
Captured with aplomb by much-loved and often-featured Smashing Supplier, photographer David Pullum and fabulous videographer AtMotion, Salena and Stefan’s big day was all about friends, family and, of course, the party of a lifetime, which lasted until 3am!
There are so many adorable details to look out for, but this one is particularly steal-worthy! The couple had the genius idea of sending their guests passport invitation packages. As it was an overseas wedding, this was a really fun way to represent that and present all of the necessary information in a cool, chic and creative way. Sticking with their stunning chosen colour palette of duck egg blue and gold, the invitations themselves were styled as boarding passes.
At Smashing the Glass, we love a bride who expresses herself, and wedding singer Salena looked every bit the belle of the ball in her show-stopping Berta Bridal dress, complete with jealousy-inducing Jimmy Choos and to-die-for jewellery. Looking catwalk ready with her perfectly executed hair and makeup, Salena was an absolute shining star.
‘What will be will be’ was this bride’s philosophy, opting to give her epic crowd of loving bridesmaids and her mother the freedom to choose their own styling – which she absolutely loved.
Perhaps the most touching detail of the day is that the bride’s own band, Muzika Showband, flew over to perform for Salena and Stefan’s big day, with dear friends singing them down the aisle.
How we met
Salena, the bride: We met at my husband’s friend’s wedding where I was the wedding singer. He chatted me up by the cheese board… enough said!
Choosing to get married in Marbella, Spain
We had our wedding at Villa Padierna Hotel in Marbella. We loved the look of it — it wasn’t the usual spot for Marbella and was very accommodating. It was such a beautiful venue that both my mother and I cried as soon as we saw the first glimpse of the grounds. It was a very special moment.
Wedding planner
We had an amazing wedding planner – Katy Cresner Events – and as well as the wedding we did a welcome beach party (white theme) on the Tuesday before and a ‘hag’ on the Sunday (stag and hen joined together).
Our passport invitations
For our invitations, we went for a passport holder look with slips giving our guests different information. The invite itself looked like a boarding pass to signify an abroad wedding (our save the dates were luggage tags) and it featured our colours: duck egg blue and gold. We didn’t want a usual white wedding, we love colour.
Hair + make up
For my makeup, I went glam, not your standard wedding safe make up. I wanted glam, chic and bold, but still elegant. The make-up artist did an amazing job and I was so happy. I loved the flawless look she did for my complexion. I put my hair back into a chic pony tail with big waves. The heat is something else out there and I needed my back to be visible to show off the dress.
A Berta Bridal wedding dress
My dress was from The Wedding Club. I tried on about 50 dresses and this one blew me away – I loved it. It’s by Berta Bridal and The Wedding Club were amazing in choosing my dress and the whole process. They were so lovely and made me feel like a princess each visit.
Jewellery
I wanted my earrings to match my ring which is a fancy yellow diamond with white diamonds. I got the earrings from The Outnet. My dress spoke for itself, nothing else was needed. It was covered in pearls and lace and was backless… it was so beautiful. I miss my dress!
My maid of honour bought me my something blue, a beautiful bracelet from Monica Vinader, and my mum gave me my grandma’s ring as my something old, which was a pink stone so I really didnt need any more colours or jewellery as it would have been over the top.
My something borrowed was my wedding planner’s bag for the smashing of the glass. My veil, which covered me for the ceremony, was also from The Wedding Club and was longer than my already extremely long train.
Jimmy Choo heels
For my shoes, I went with Jimmy Choos of course. A good heel: not too low, not too high. Perfect.
The handsome groom
Stefan wore Hugo Boss. He looks handsome all the time in my eyes, particularly sharp on our wedding day, but he’s an amazing man, he never ceases to amaze me and it was his speech that made me swoon the most. He mentioned how he loved being a part of my small family as I craved a big one, and when he made all his promises in his speech I just burst in to happy tears; it was so emotional.
Bridesmaids in ice grey
I had nine bridesmaids! They were the best bridesmaids ever. They took me to Barcelona (#Barsalena) and they wore gorgeous couture ice grey, all in different styles (my maid of honour chose a style that only she could wear, just so I could make her feel that more special as she was incredible for my whole engagement year).
I let my bridesmaids choose everything: hair, make up and shoes. I think this is where so many brides go wrong, let your maids feel like themselves walking down that aisle. I love all my friends for who they are and how they like to be; I didn’t feel comfortable telling them how to dress or do their make up. They look gorgeous when they go out I trusted them implicitly. I also know they wouldn’t dress the way I would want them to on a normal day or night out so why change anything?
The funny thing is, though, they all did really ‘Salena-fy’ themselves of their own accord! It was amazing. They know I love to be super glam, so they really went all out, but I always said they had to make sure they liked it whatever they choose. I think they all looked insanely gorgeous.
I wanted my family to be as relaxed as possible, so I also let my mum wear what she wanted. I made sure my friends and bridesmaids, my mum and her friends, spent the night before with me in the beautiful villa I was upgraded to in Villa Padierna (thank you Yasmin) and we reminisced on my single life, laughed and cried tears of joy. I loved every minute.
Our music choices
I sing in a band at home: Muzika Showband. They are like my family and they all flew over to play for us! That was super special. They also performed at our chuppah – they are just amazing. One of my closest friends in the band, Lizzy, sung me down the aisle to A Thousand Years, which was super emotional for so many reasons. My other very close friend, Steven, sung Over And Over when Stefan walked down the aisle. He even got a little choked up, and I heard it all as I was waiting… nearly set me off! It was so beautifully sung.
Flowers
I loved coral, white and gold so I encorporated all those colours in my bouquet. My maid of honour had coral the rest of the maids had white. I like to be a bit different.
Our fabulous photographer
OMG – there’s only one photographer out there for me and that is David Pullum! He is, without a doubt, the best photographer I have ever witnessed, firstly as a colleague of mine, secondly as a friend and thirdly…
…His class and professionalism! His images show it all really, so elegant and classy, and I don’t know anybody else who captures all the special moments as well as he does. I get so bored with typical pose-y pics, but David goes way beyond that. I’ve got amazing moments, funny moments, emotional, beautiful, heartfelt, thinking-outside-the-box moments.
I couldn’t be more grateful to him for capturing what he did because I’ll have this to look back on for the rest of my life. He’s the man for sure… Plus we have a great laugh, so that helps. He also put me right at ease when I had a little bridezilla moment! I’d also like to say that I was quite a chilled out bride (despite what my husband would say!) he made my parents feel relaxed too which is important as it’s their day too. Great guy, great attitude to work, phenomenal photos. Nothing less! Thank you so much, David.
…and the videographer
We used AtMotion. I also work closely with them at work functions and they are just outstanding. They work so well together with David Pullum. Classy, edgy, elegant, fun… they’ve got it. Everywhere I turned, they were there, but never ever under my feet or annoying. Perfectly placed in every direction, capturing everything. They even went over time a little bit. So so generous and a lovely bunch of guys!
mEntertainment
For our entertainment, we had Muzika Showband of course! You should know us. If not, check us out and you will see why! We are insane! And yes, I’m blowing our own trumpet!
Dancing all night long
We didn’t have a photobooth or anything that could distract the guests from the band! We had a pre party with my DJ friend Sivan Neuman, who was incredible. Instead of the wedding finishing abruptly, we also decided to have an after party until 3am, also with Sivan.
This went down a treat as all weddings go so fast (it’s what everyone loves to tell you before the day too) so we made the night last. We just made sure everyone was dancing all the time – and I mean all the time!
The speeches were long, but they were incredible. So funny, so emotional and so special. It made us miss the last set from the band but I was actually thankful as that last set is full on and my band did me a huge favour by even being there, so for them to have that off was nice. They left a mark on everyone’s hearts anyway and I finished the wedding off with a song I prepared myself to sing to my husband, a song we love, which I kept as a surprise. He loved it.
Again, my good friend Steven sung our first dance, which wasn’t a generic song, it was upbeat and fun with meaning to it. We had no choreography for this though, which is a good thing – that can look so awkward and forced in my opinion. And judging by our dancing skills, more on the awkward side for us! I asked my maid of honour and my old roommate to do the loyal toast to The Queen with two of my husbands ushers. The Israelis and my boss from Muzika had the honour of hosting the toast to the state of Israel, which was amazing!
The importance of the family
Having a wedding abroad was the best decision we ever made. A special shout out to my amazing parents. Without them, I wouldn’t be me and without them, we wouldn’t be us! Thank you for making our wedding what it was and for giving me the wedding I have always dreamed of! You are the most generous and loving parents and I feel honoured to be your daughter and for Stefan to be your new son-in-law. We love you xx
Our favours
My lovely mother-in-law, Evelyne, made our wedding favours: gold sugar almonds and white and silver chocolates in a delicate white pouch with our names and wedding date. She also custom made munch bags and hangover kits for every single guest that stayed in our hotel, ceremony cards, welcome cards, menus, kids’ menus/table, handled all the kids’ clothes and presents, organised our entire engagement party as well as helping with our wedding prep… honestly she’s like a super hero of some sort with incredible ideas! I’d like to take this opportunity to do a personal thank you to her for that. All of the favours she made were praised by every guest!
Advice to brides and groom currently planning their wedding
Get a wedding planner if you can. Do not be a bridezilla, whatever you do. You only annoy everyone around you and, let’s face it, it’s not a nice person to be. Plus, you can’t control everything! Budget everything first. We made errors with this and went over budget. Have all of your trials early in the day so you can change or have second trials if needs be. I recommend a second hair trial if you have long hair like me. Get the dress early. I’m so glad I did this… less stress! Oh, and wear your shoes in… I learnt the hard way!
On the day, do not, and, I repeat, do not tell others how to do their jobs! They always know better than you and have done this a million times. Whatever will be will be, so just make sure you enjoy your day! Some things will/can go wrong, so just roll with it.
Salena & Stefan’s little white book
Photographer – David Pullum
Videographer – AtMotion
Wedding Planner – Katy Cresner Events
Venue – Villa Padierna Hotel
Bride’s dress – Berta Bridal bought at The Wedding Club
Bride’s shoes – Jimmy Choo
Bride’s jewellery – Monica Vinader
Groom’s attire – Hugo Boss
Band – Muzika Showband
DJ – DJ Sivan Neuman
