Sofia and Victor wanted to pick a wedding destination that meant the most to them and their families, since most guests would be traveling for the event anyway. They decided on Sofia’s birthplace of Halmstad, Sweden.

Despite over half of the guests invited to the couple’s wedding being based in the U.S., the newlyweds stuck to their decision because it would carry on a family tradition for the bride and be a closer location for Victor’s family in Turkey. The two knew not everyone would be able to make a vacation out of the trip and attend, so they made sure to plan accommodations before sending out the invites. 

“In order to make sure that our friends and family got a chance to celebrate with us, we also held a small backyard reception in Connecticut at Victor’s parents’ house,” Sofia says. 

Sweden couldn’t have been more of a perfect place to carry on the bride’s family tradition. The couple got married in the same church that hosted other family members’ weddings, including the bride’s 92-year-old grandmother’s wedding. 

Söndrums Kyrka was the perfect church and the couple also chose “the reception hall at Hotel Tylösand because it was a stunningly beautiful site with amazing beachside views, fantastic staff and beautiful rooms.”

The couple took all of the wedding planning into their own hands and relied on outside resources for advice.

“We used withjoy.com for our wedding website,” the two say, “It was very easy and had a mobile app that linked to the website, which allowed us to track and reach out to guests, provide directions and locations, and answer questions that people had.”

In order to stay sane in the planning process, the couple vowed to trust each other’s strengths and prioritize their values above all else. At the end of the day, however, it became a team effort, which the admittedly “type A” couple did not expect.

“Although we ultimately did most of our planning by ourselves, we had the luck of many friends who had already been married, who sent us their Excel sheets, helpful tips and self-made tools to plan the best wedding we could,” the couple says.

Other help came from various family members and friends with the special skills and resources it took to make everything come together. This helped with the personalization of the couple’s wedding.

As far as logistics for guests went, the couple got creative and included an “Introduction to Sweden” brochure, as well as their own website, which provided very clear instructions on how to get to the wedding. The newlyweds say they also used Viber and WhatsApp to communicate with people before and during the trip.

“Most of our guests used this wedding as a vacation primer, so they were traveling all around Europe before and after the wedding,” the bride says.

On the day of the ceremony, everything came together smoothly and Sofia and Victor, as well as their guests, were able to enjoy the fruits of their labor with smiles and a whole lot of dancing.

“Sofia is a trained dancer with years of experience, so we wanted to build off that,” the groom says. “Thus, Victor made a custom mix of songs for a fun dance and then we went to By Your Side Studio, where Guillermo helped us put together a fully choreographed dance,” Sofia says.

The dancing king and queen believe they paid less for their customized wedding in Sweden than they would have in the U.S.. In fact, the couple was incredibly grateful to Hotel Tylösand for doing an amazing job helping everything come together and allowing the couple to have a great day, with no stress.

The bride advises, however, “If you stress out, that’s normal – just realize you’ve done and planned as much as you can.” 

After all, whether your wedding is in Halmstad, Sweden or your own backyard, trusting in the process and letting love be the centerpiece of the day is the best way to go.

Vendors: Photographer: Scobey Photography, Ceremony/Reception Site: Söndrums Kyrka & Hotel Tylösand, Florist: Blomsterdekoratören i Varberg, Table Flowers: Hotel Tylösand, Stationery: The Copyshoppe, LLC, Cake: Hotel Tylösand, Gown Designer: Willowby by Watters, Groom’s Clothing Designer: JoS. A. Bank, Bridesmaids/Groomsmen’s Clothing Designer: Azazie & JoS. A. Bank, Music: Mike Berg Co., Dance lessons: By Your Side Studio – Guillermo