Eloise + Ivan by Daria Walter

The château was such a beautiful backdrop, and the long, curved table made the most of it.

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

I’m originally from Marlow in England, and Ivan is from Calgary in Canada. We live in the Cayman Islands, where I’m a primary school teacher, and Ivan works in finance. We have a little boy, Milo, who turned two just before the wedding.

We love our life in Cayman and making the most of our beautiful island, especially spending time at the beach with Milo and our friends. Ivan particularly loves golf, and we’re both big foodies. Much of what we enjoy doing together involves food, whether that’s dinner on the island or a trip planned around Michelin-starred restaurants—when we’re childfree!

Our everyday life revolves around family and friends, with Milo at the centre of it all. Having him at the wedding was something we were both looking forward to. He’s such a huge part of our story, and it was lovely for him to be there with us.

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

We met at a Gaelic football boat party in the Cayman Islands in spring 2022. Ivan had moved there in 2019, and I arrived in 2021. There was an instant
connection, and we’ve never looked back.

It’s lovely to think that we both moved so far from home and ended up finding each other. Since then, we’ve become parents and built our life together on the island.

With our family and friends spread all over the world, our wedding was our chance to have everyone we love together in one place.

Wedding Day

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 château and its grounds were such a beautiful starting point. Having dinner outside was something I felt strongly about from the beginning, and the serpentine table beneath the château at night was something dreams are made of. Seeing the flowers, candlelight and setting come together was incredible.

The tables brought together ikebana-style flowers, travertine, sand candles and silver coupes. I loved the combination of textures and the way the details worked with the surroundings. The château was such a beautiful backdrop, and the long, curved table made the most of it.

Our ceremony took place by the fountain, another part of the grounds I loved from the start. It gave that part of the day its own setting before everyone moved through to the evening celebrations.

We also had a Diet Coke tower during cocktail hour. That was one of my favourite details and a little something of us amongst the flowers and candles.

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

I loved thinking about the personal touches that would make our guests feel part of the weekend. We wrote handwritten notes for everyone to receive at check-in, alongside a wedding weekend newspaper lovingly put together by one of our best friends. With everyone travelling to be there, we wanted them to feel welcomed from the moment they arrived.

My biggest piece of advice would be to have a planner you completely trust. Jess at Dorulete Events made the whole experience so special, but what I’m most grateful for is how I felt on the wedding day itself. I had absolutely zero stress and truly enjoyed every second.

I could be completely present with Ivan, Milo and everyone we love, knowing she had everything in hand. After putting so much thought into the weekend, being able to let go and enjoy it was priceless. I couldn’t have asked for more from the day.

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

Jess at Dorulete Events took my ideas and brought the weekend together so beautifully. She understood what I was hoping to create and put so much care into making it happen.

We have been completely blown away by Daria’s photographs. The number of people who have said they belong in Vogue! We already loved her work, but seeing our own wedding through her photos has been incredible. We quite last-minute asked her to photograph the welcome evening too, and thank goodness we did.

Lucy and the château team didn’t even flinch at our request for an Asian feast in the French countryside. The food was amazing, and their warmth made such a difference throughout the weekend. They made everyone feel so welcome.

And Larissa, my hair and makeup artist—I have never felt more beautiful in my whole life, but also totally myself. I absolutely loved how I looked and felt that day.

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

My wedding dress was Pnina Tornai, purchased at Kleinfeld in New York. Living in the Cayman Islands meant there wasn’t an option to buy it here, so we travelled to New York to find it. That trip became another memorable part of the wedding experience.

I altered the neckline to close it and added a bolero from Anthropologie. Those changes brought the whole look together and made it feel personal to me. I loved having those details as part of the finished outfit.

For the evening, I changed into a dress from Azulu, which Ivan found during his bachelor party. One of his friends was too sick to attend a pool party, so Ivan stayed to look after him and ended up being dragged to a shopping mall instead. Somehow, they found my evening dress!

Ivan’s suit was from Atelier Monroe. Vincenzo Fazzari is his go-to for suits, so it wasn’t going to be anyone else.

Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.

My engagement ring is from Concierge Diamonds, by LA-based designer Dan Moran. The sizing wasn’t quite right, so we had to fly to LA to get it resized – shame!

Inside, it’s engraved with “it’s only downhill from here”. It’s an ongoing joke between us because things have often felt too good to be true, so we’ve always said they can only get worse.

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?).

The venue and entertainment were two of our biggest priorities. We looked at more than a hundred venues virtually before finding Château de la Couronne. We wanted somewhere we could bring everyone together for a whole weekend, and having dinner outside was something I wasn’t willing to compromise on. Finding the right setting was worth taking our time over.

We also flew our band over from the UK and have absolutely zero regrets. They were amazing. Music was such an important part of how we wanted the day to feel, and they brought so much energy to the celebrations. Seeing everyone enjoying themselves made it more than worth it.

There are so many things you can spend money on when planning a wedding, but these were two decisions we were really happy with. The setting and the atmosphere were a huge part of what made the day everything we’d hoped for.

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

Seeing Milo walk down the aisle in a tuxedo matching Ivan’s was a moment I’ll treasure forever. He looked so adorable, and having my uncle Chris marry us made the ceremony even more personal.

Our roaming band led everyone from cocktail hour to dinner, playing “Tequila”, while everyone did a shot of tequila. It was such a fun way to bring everyone through to dinner.

My best friends did the speech of all speeches. They rewrote the lyrics to “Choosin’ Texas” and sang it, getting all the guests involved in singing separate parts. Seeing everyone join in was amazing, and I’ll never forget it.

My sister also made our wedding cake as a surprise and incorporated a goose because Milo is obsessed with them. It was perfect. Such a thoughtful thing to do, and I loved that she had included something for him.

There were too many favourite moments to choose just one or two.

Welcome Dinner

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

Marriage to us is slow mornings with coffee, always making time to tell each other the small details of our day, home-cooked meals and jumping into our pool with Milo after long days at work. It’s enjoying the life we’ve built together and making time for each other amongst everything else.

One of our rituals is taking a beach walk, just the two of us, when we have a serious conversation to tackle. We took quite a few of those walks during wedding planning!

On Christmas Eve, the day before Ivan proposed, we took a long beach walk, and he talked through what our future together could look like. Little did I know what he had planned for the following morning, when he proposed at home in our pyjamas through an advent calendar.

I’ve since asked him, “What exactly was your plan if I hadn’t agreed with what you were saying?”