Anne Sophie + Sebastian by Jennifer Kivinen

We wanted the wedding to be personal, to highlight the magical and wild Norwegian mountains around.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…

We live in Oslo in the city centre, where we have lived since we moved back from studies in Trondheim, where we met. We are both naval engineers and work in ship owning companies, Sebastian with IT systems and Anne Sophie with decarbonization. We both love to be outdoors, hence the wild mountain location for our wedding. We usually spend several weekends during the year hiking or ski touring in the mountains or Norwegian forests. Apart from this Anne Sophie loves dogs and would love to have 2-20 dogs in the future, she has many hobbies, sewing, knitting and pottery are the main ones and she does all of them in the living room in the apartment. Sebastian sometimes comes to see the aftermath of a creative storm where 5 different projects have been attempted or finished and lie around the apartment, and Anne Sophie says, “I’ll clean up”. Sebastian loves all kinds of exercise or sports like running, cross-country skiing and cycling. He has run a few marathons really fast, but has no huge goals in sports other than not being bad at anything. He also loves all of Anne Sophie’s hobbies and considers himself the biggest fan of her work.

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

We met very briefly before we started studying in Trondheim, Norway, so we knew who each other were when we met on Anne Sophie’s first day at University in 2016, where Sebastian had been for a year. We met outside one of the auditoriums, and both were so happy to see each other, and the rest is history from then on.

First impressions are a bit hard to pinpoint; it’s more of a feeling than a specific quality. It just felt so natural and fun and balanced. But I (Anne Sophie) remember him as so cool and fun, but also kind. Sebastian just remembers thinking, “Yes! How cool that she is starting here”, when she saw Anne Sophie outside the auditorium at the University. We just had the best time studying together and went on an exchange to Australia together, even though it was a year before Anne Sophie’s classmates would go. One more thing I (Anne Sophie) remember that I have felt all along and still do is that Sebastian is always present and never looks like he wants to be anywhere other than where he is at the moment, which I think is such a great quality. Unless he is really hot, then he definitely looks like his soul is burning. Sebastian has always loved Anne Sophie’s creative joy and her mindset of “I can do it if I put my mind to it” and her ability to sleep wherever she wants and can.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood and style of your wedding. (theme, key styling elements, florals, colour palettes etc.).

We, like most couples, I would guess, wanted a wedding that felt like us, and we both agreed that having the wedding in the mountains would do just that. We wanted the wedding to be personal, to highlight the magical and wild Norwegian mountains around, while combining it with cool flowers and well-thought-through decorations. We both wanted something that feels natural, so from the beginning, we wanted to have things like moss to be central in the decorations. About a year before the wedding Anne Sophie bought an embroidery machine so it was quite quickly in the planning process we decided to do linen napkins with names as the table setting and as a personal touch from us which the guests could also bring home.

There are very few flowers growing up in the mountains, and the ones that do grow there are beautiful, but tiny, so they would not have been the best to do floral arrangements with. Therefore, we had to and wanted to do flowers that were “unnatural” to the location. We love it, or Anne Sophie does, Sebastian rarely notices when we have flowers, with flowers that are different or a bit strange and likes it when you are able to see the individual flowers, so not too busy bouquets. We also thought this would be a cool contrast to the location. The colour palette was created together with our planner, Emma, and was a lot of green, burgundy red, sharp red, orange and soft blue. We loved the contrast of the special flowers and the moss that our florist put together.

One thing that we knew would be a bit of fun and wanted to highlight was all the contrasts. Like a white marquee with draping in the middle of the mountains. The moss and the more exotic flowers. A white wedding dress in silk and wool fabric, in general, is up in this landscape, although the fact that the dress contained wool was actually perfect. Black tie, when it could be more expected to have Norwegian traditional “bunad” clothing instead. The disco balls in the traditional Norwegian mountain hut.

What styling and visual elements worked best for you? (could be things, the florals, particular hire products or your marquee, etc., something the stylist created or simply just the scenic beauty of your location or the existing design of your venue).

The location, definitely! We wanted the mountains to be a key element, and even though we knew a weekend of sunshine was unlikely in September in the Norwegian mountains, we hoped the guests would be able to see how beautiful it is up there, so we at least hoped it would not be foggy. We also talked about how amazing it would be if we woke up on the morning of the wedding day to snow-covered peaks. And when the day came, that is exactly what we got, it was so lucky and so beautiful. This was maybe the best visual element we could get. We got all kinds of weather throughout the day, even a rainbow, so the guests really got the whole experience. In addition, the wedding marquee was stunning. We loved that we had long tables, draping, and the flowers and everything together created such a great atmosphere. It was kind of a contrast to the surroundings, but also fit in somehow. I am also so happy that we made an effort with the personal details, like the napkins with names and other things.

The location of the wedding weekend, the mountain hotel/hut, Leirvassbu, is a place we go every year to ski, and it is very traditionally decorated. This was something that we thought would be cool, but also not the grand castle or mansion that you see in so many weddings. This was, however, so cool, and looking at the photos, we just think it looks amazing. It created a really great and cozy atmosphere, or “koselig” as we would say in Norway.

What did you enjoy most about the planning process, and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?

The whole planning process was a lot of fun. We started by finding the venue, which was a mountain cabin/hotel, 5 5-hour drive from Oslo in the heart of the Norwegian mountains. They do weddings only once a year or so, and we did not have space for all the guests inside for the wedding dinner, hence we had to have a marquee. We knew that this would be a lot to plan, and with the distance from where we live, we would have to avoid last-minute stuff. We therefore started looking for a wedding planner right after we found the location. We found Emma, and we are so glad we did. She made the planning so much fun, had so many great ideas, and removed stress from the whole process. For us, this was definitely our key to the best wedding, both before and during the wedding. Also, we booked together with Emma all the major things early, which meant we could relax and focus on the details for several months. To have a planner is maybe not that common in Norway as in some other countries, but we were so glad we did. A lot of the personal touches we had would not have been possible if we hadn’t. Like linen napkins with their names that Anne Sophie made, and one other thing we did that everyone loved, which was a tiny booklet with a few sentences about all the guests. This was a bit of work for 130+ guests, but everyone really loved it, and many who didn’t bring one home wanted us to send it to them digitally. Anne Sophie also had time to make a huge vase a few weeks before the wedding for one of the main flower arrangements.

Tell us about your vendors. Were there any standout suppliers you would like to make special mention of?

The hosts from the mountain hotel, Leirvassbu, were incredible. They provided all the food and drinks for the whole weekend, breakfast, lunch and dinner for 2 days, and all of it was great. They were so flexible and we could choose any food and wine that we wanted. They do weddings very rarely, as it is a place people usually come to hike or go ski touring from, but they really nailed having a big wedding as well.

Also, the guys with the marquee, Lavvoutleie, were just amazing. It is such a weather-exposed location so we had a plan B that we could decide a day or so before. They built the tent in pouring rain on a slightly sloping place, but it just looked amazing.

Our florist as well was so talented. We and our planner, Emma, had a great dialogue with her from early on, and she really got our vision and, of course, had some amazing ideas as well. So happy with the way it turned out.

Lastly, our DJ was amazing. Both of us (Anne Sophie and Sebastian) are very interested in music, so we wanted someone good. She made sure we had a packed dance floor the whole evening, which is not often given with Norwegians.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, and is there a story?

I played with the idea of sewing my wedding dress myself, but when I sew, I end up not loving the result 50% of the time, so I felt this was a bit risky. Also, although I sew a lot, I have no proper training, so it would limit some types of dresses to simpler designs. Therefore, I wanted to buy the main dress instead and sew something for the night before and the party/dancing. I tried on a few dresses in Oslo, but had already had my eyes on some dresses by Danielle Frankel, so this was a bit stuck in my mind. The closest place to try these on was in London so me and my mother, aunt and best friends (bridesmaids) went there to try on dresses and for a weekend trip. I tried on many different dresses, but ended up with the dress that I had already had my eyes on. As the wedding was in the Norwegian mountains with potentially 5 degrees celsius during the wedding day (as it was) I also wanted a long sleeved tulle top which also is from Danielle Frankel. The veil, as well, is from Danielle Frankel and is pleated in a similar way as the dress and has varying lengths, which I thought was very fitting to the wild and natural environment of the location. In a way, I felt like the outfit, at least the dress, felt like water or something natural, which felt perfect for the surroundings. Although you can wear anything you want on your wedding day, it was a bit of fun that it sort of suited the place also. I also loved that the dress was made of such an amazing fabric; it was about 50/50 wool and silk. I find that most wedding dresses are made from synthetic fibres, so being someone who loves to sew and loves great fabrics, this was truly a huge plus for me.

For the outfit on Friday, I found inspiration from different designers and designed a set with a skirt and a top in lace. I ordered many different test fabrics from bridalfabrics.com and ended up with a gorgeous wool lace fabric. I was so happy with the result and felt it turned out both cool and suited the location and atmosphere in the mountains surprisingly well.

For the party dress, I had a lot of different ideas, but wanted something fun, flowy and unique. I sewed a strapless corset dress in beige as an undergarment and then used a very flowy tulle for the main piece. The flowers on the dress were made out of tulle from the same tulle as the dress, and tulle from my mother’s and grandmother’s wedding dresses and freshwater pearls. I was also so happy with the result of this dress.

Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.

Sebastian bought the engagement ring while I was away on a bachelorette trip for a friend. He was the only one in the store, one of the best jewellers in Oslo, Langaard Juveler, and was asked to look at engagement rings. They showed him a tray of single stone rings, and he asked to see something a bit different and special. They then brought a different tray and he liked one with two stones, a toi et moi ring, which he went for as he knows I would love to have something a bit different.

We bought our wedding rings from the same jeweller, and as Anne Sophie only wears jewellery in white gold and silver, we both went for white gold rings; Anne Sophie has a small diamond on hers.

What were one or two elements that were most important to you both that you were happy to spend a little more on? (food, photography, florals, the venue, your outfits?).

Both a wedding planner and a great photographer are something we are so happy we had. Our wedding planner, Emma, helped us make the best wedding and our photographer, Jennifer, made sure to capture the day so we can relive it forever. Emma was so calm and in control the whole weekend, which made everybody calm as well, and everyone, including close family and bridal party, could focus on enjoying the weekend. Jennifer, our photographer, was also truly amazing. Neither of us (Anne Sophie and Sebastian) is the most comfortable in front of the camera, but she was, in addition to being an amazing photographer, just so cool and a great person. We really felt we were surrounded by the best people the whole day, including everyone working on the wedding as well as our guests, of course.

Was there a favourite moment (or two) that you will treasure always?

We were unsure about how much time we wanted to spend on taking portrait photos of ourselves; we really wanted to spend as little time as possible to not miss time with our guests. However, we brought our bridesmaids and groomsmen, and it was such a good time. We had champagne, and they were such a hype squad. Some people have serious and cool wedding portraits, but 95% of ours are of us laughing as we were just having the best time with our friends.

In the valley leading up to the wedding location, there lives a herd of really cool cows. There are some Norwegian types of cows and some that look like Scottish Highland cows with bangs. These cows blocked the road for a few minutes for the buses with all the guests and for us (Anne Sophie and Sebastian) coming back from the church where we had our ceremony and going back to the reception and wedding dinner location. This was just so much fun, and just another unplanned detail that so many of our guests thought was funny.

Not a moment, but worth mentioning as something we will remember is the atmosphere of the whole weekend and the wedding dinner in particular. Celebrating our marriage in a location like this with all our friends and family was so special. For us, the location makes all the memories feel a bit unearthly or something, even though there was a lot of earth around, but the mountains sometimes make you feel like that.