Tessa + Chris by Sharon Kastelijns

The beauty of the location and venue made the biggest impact on our wedding’s style.

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

Christian is from Liverpool but has lived most of his adult life up North in Scotland. He is an active triathlete and has always loved wild swimming and exploring the outdoors. Since moving to the Netherlands last year, Christian has started to learn Dutch and is now working as an engineer for a Dutch recycling company.

Tessa grew up in the Netherlands and Belgium before heading off to university in Madrid. With a Dutch father and Taiwanese mother, she spent childhood summers visiting family in Taiwan with her sister and remains deeply connected to her roots on both sides. In her free time, she loves practising yoga, working on crafts like knitting, and spending time in nature.

We like to go wild camping, try new restaurants and cafes, and travel to new places all with our Australian Labradoodle, Bowie, by our side. We are looking forward to exploring more of Europe and our next adventures as husband and wife.

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

We met on a beach on Jeju Island, whilst studying abroad in South Korea in 2019. A long weekend with our friends brought us close together, and we had a lot of fun getting to know each other as we visited waterfalls and climbed the Hallasan volcano.

Christian was interested in Tessa from the start and was very happy that he was seated opposite her during their first lunch together. He was drawn to her warm nature, her beautiful smile and her dark eyes. She always has very funny reactions and facial expressions, which made Christian laugh a lot.

Tessa thought Christian was a bit of a player as he seemed to be showing off his muscles on the beach the first time they met. However, she quickly realised how kind, caring, and attentive he was to everyone around him. This attracted Tessa to Christian from day one. He is definitely someone who knows what he wants and made it very clear he was interested in her.

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 beauty of the location and venue made the biggest impact on our wedding’s style. It also paired nicely with our summer chic dress code. We loved how the interior looked on its own, creating an atmosphere across the grand indoor spaces and surrounding grounds that was chic but still felt cozy. While the Manor House features Dutch architecture, it reminded us of the countryside houses and castles from our four years living together in Scotland.

Our floral styling was designed to build a romantic, natural atmosphere. We focused on soft, organic arrangements that enhanced the venue’s existing charm without overpowering it. The graphic designer helped create small touches, which helped bring our own style to the venue. All these elements came together perfectly during the dinner, where the flowers and tables were set beautifully within the romantic Cremer room.

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

Overall, it was really fun to plan and make the wedding our own story. We got a chance to show our guests little bits about our lives together as a couple. It was also really exciting thinking about all the most important people in our lives, from all around the world.

Meeting in South Korea was very special for us, and that’s why the Korean photo booth and Korean fried chicken were a fun way to celebrate our time there. We also lived together in Scotland, so it was great to be able to share the traditional Scottish Ceilidh dance with everyone.

A tip would be to start as early as possible. We only had 9 months, but we got to work quickly!

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

Our photographer, Sharon, helped us feel relaxed when taking photos throughout the day and made our morning photoshoot a lot of fun. It’s very nice to be able to feel at ease with someone that you don’t know very well. We are really happy with the photos and also with her suggestion to submit to this magazine.

We managed to find a band through some friends, and they flew from Scotland to join us on the day. It was really special for the family to join together for the ceilidh, and the band did a great job in calling the steps of the various dances. Their music was beautiful, and they also played during our ceremony too.

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

Tessa had her dress tailor-made by Sarah at Blanc Wear. She is usually terribly indecisive, so choosing the very first dress she tried on was surprising! She visited two shops with her mom and sister, starting at Blanc Wear in Amsterdam. Tessa was initially nervous, expecting a formal experience, but Sarah immediately put her at ease like an old friend. Although many stunning dresses were tried on with Sarah, they kept coming back to that first one. Watching the dress come to life piece by piece over months of fittings, and catching up with Sarah along the way, made the whole process such a joyful and memorable experience.

Christian chose a suit from Suitsupply but decided to get the suit custom-made. At first, he didn’t recognise himself in the suit but got more confident with each wear. The choice of the suit came quite easily, but the difficulty came when finding a tie. A frantic search the month before the wedding ended with a perfect tie that was eventually found in the shop Pauw.

Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.

The engagement ring is a bespoke piece made by Millie Savage in Melbourne. Over a period of 8 months, Christian and Tessa’s sister worked on the design together with the Millie Savage team. Working from Scotland, Bali and the workshop in Australia, respectively. The main diamond is an emerald-cut white diamond with citrine, yellow diamond and white diamond side stones, bringing earthy tones to the ring. We managed to keep all the work a secret and maintain the surprise for Tessa.

Tessa discovered Robyn Smith’s stunning jewellery online and booked an appointment at her London studio. Robyn’s collection features unique, fine rings crafted entirely from 100% recycled metals. The studio visit gave us a relaxed space to try on different designs, making it a memorable experience. It was also fun for Christian, who had never worn rings before!

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?).

We share a love for food, so the wedding dinner (and Korean fried chicken) was very important to us. So much so that we had two tasting dinners at the venue to help make our decisions! We were lucky that the kitchen at the Landgoed Duin en Kruidberg is very well established, and despite catering for over 70 people, the quality was incredible.

We also had lots of guests travelling from all over the world for our big day. It was great to know that they had the chance to stay at the venue and enjoy the festivities in full. That was another reason for choosing the venue. But everything seemed easy once we had the venue settled; we could picture the perfect wedding there, and we were lucky to get the last Saturday available in summer 2026!

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

Our favourite moment was toasting after the ceremony and cutting the cake. We do not like being the centre of attention, so it was a chance to celebrate and relax after having all eyes on us. It was also really impressive to see everyone squeezed together for the photo. We felt so much love and really appreciated our friends and family being there with us.

The first dances of the ceilidh were special because you could see everybody smiling and trying to learn the moves together. It was a bit chaotic in the beginning with everyone bumping into one another, but it was amazing to see everyone with a big smile. Seeing both of our families and friends spinning, jumping and swapping partners like that is a memory we will treasure forever.

What does being married mean to you, and are there any special rituals you have that you would like to share?

Although Tessa was surprised by the proposal, we had always known which direction we were heading. Over the years, usually while on a train travelling somewhere, we would each take a pen and paper and make some notes about what we wanted in our future. This would include both of us separately writing a few things we wanted for 1, 3 and 5 years into the future. We would never hold onto the paper afterwards, and the intention was not to hold each other accountable but simply to have the conversation and think about what we both want personally and what we want as a couple. By writing it down, you reflect more deeply and are also not swayed by what the other person says.

Since moving to the Netherlands and planning our wedding, our lives have become a lot busier. We are now making sure that we spend quality time together and enjoy the next chapter of married life.