We wanted something elegant, chic, and monochrome.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
We are Ida Marie and David, a Norwegian and English couple living in Oslo. Ida Marie is from Tønsberg, Norway’s oldest City, and works in Digital Marketing. David is from Bath, UK, and works in the Shipping Industry. We both love trying new things together, whether that be through travel or food, and spending time walking or cross-country skiing with our Black Labradoodle. We enjoy many outdoor activities – often downhill or cross-country skiing in the winter, or hiking in the summer. David has dragged Ida up a few too many mountains over the years (it may have been mentioned in one or two of the wedding speeches…) but normally they achieve a balance to their trips with a good mix of activities from hiking through to scuba diving, and learning about local cuisines through cookery classes. Outside of activities as a couple, Ida loves nothing more than spending time with her friends over brunch or a good few glasses of wine. David likes to get out and about doing anything active, particularly trail running, skiing in winter, or anything in the mountains.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
Our Love story is a modern one, meeting through Tinder when both of us lived in London and initially organising a first date on a summer Sunday. However, unfortunately, whether through cold feet or bad planning, Ida had to cancel as the food festival she was attending had overrun. Complete understanding from David and a breezy response saying to let him know if Ida became free another time meant that Ida was receptive to rearranging (maybe it was a test?!) and hence asked if David was free on a Wednesday. Of course, he also needed to check his calendar… but in those days, he had very little going on. They met near David’s work in the London Bridge area for drinks along Bermondsey High Street. David was immediately taken with this pretty Scandinavian with a beaming smile, and Ida thought this suit-clad (David worked in finance at the time) Englishman was very cute. An evening of story-sharing, laughing, and even a closing kiss made for a very successful first date, and they agreed to meet again that weekend.
When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
After a night out in London two months or so after the first meeting, and a week after David had taken Ida home to meet his parents for the first time, Ida had a question on her mind… was David bored of her? With shock, he answered of course not and that he thought we were in a relationship already (the stages of exclusivity, “closed off”, or in a relationship were confusing even back then) – didn’t the weekend before make it obvious? That was the first realisation. The second was likely when Ida received a job offer back in Oslo, Norway. David had just moved out of living in a rented flat with his best man, and he planned to move in with Ida and her friends for a couple of weeks before finding something themselves. Yet, in that time, this job offer came. It was an easy decision – the job opportunity was too good to say no to, and David was keen to follow Ida to Norway and try something different. Hence, the major first step and likely key indicator that this was it. It took David a year to find a job in Norway, given the language barrier, but when confirmed, the couple went from long distance to living together, and the rest is history.
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
Ida always thought David would propose on top of a mountain or similar and felt that David had the perfect opportunity after hiking to Trolltunga, one of Norway’s most famous hikes. Having set up camp and then enjoyed dinner, the two were watching the sunset over this stunning Norwegian landscape with the water below and mountains all around, with their dog, Ziggy, sitting between them. David turned to Ida and said, “Ida, I have a question”… this was it, thought Ida. But no, this was not the time. David asked, “Can I hang out with the guys next weekend?” It was a huge letdown, which David only learnt about a year later when he did propose. Ida did her bachelor’s degree in New York; hence, with a friend’s wedding there in the summer of 2022 and our first big trip post-COVID, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. The first stress was getting the ring to New York. David wrote a note and wrapped it around the box saying “this is an engagement ring, don’t show my girlfriend” in case the airport security staff checked his bag. Safely across the Atlantic, the planning began. On the Monday after the wedding, Ida said she wanted to revisit where she used to live. David had visions of a picturesque street right out of the Friends sitcom and a corny line of “Did you have nice memories here? Want to make another one?” at the ready. However, upon arrival, the street was covered in bin bags, and the entrance to the flat wasn’t all that nice. Cue internal panic for David, who was very nervous while walking around with a diamond ring in his bag in New York. Next stop – Central Park. “Perfect!” David thought, but one problem – Ida had said absolutely do NOT propose in a public space. Half an hour of wandering around later, David asked, “Is this a place you have nice memories?” a dozen times, they settled in the lower part of the park in Sheep’s Meadow. After a pleasant picnic, once the group playing American football had left, and just as Ida was picking up the trash to leave, it was time to strike. From calm to intense nervousness in 3 seconds, David said he had a question as he dropped to one knee. Ida started panicking, saying, “No, no, no,” and subsequently met with David, who was panicking and trying to stand up, worried he was doing it wrong. Ida told him to continue, and with the ring in hand, the box went flying. A shaky David slid the ring onto Ida’s hand, and she said yes. In all the commotion, we rushed out of the park, put the trash in the bin… and then realised we forgot to take a photo, so we circled back around to the exact same spot. David maintains it was the most private place in New York, with people around but minding their own business. Ida disagrees. Regardless, it’s a very amusing and cherished story and was a complete surprise for Ida!
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding.
With Ida being Norwegian, and David English, we wanted to bring together the best traditions of both and give our guests a truly memorable day given many have travelled from far and wide to be with us. Great food was critical, and it was a memorable venue too, too. Kin House ticked all the boxes with its incredible kitchen team, its unique and special setting in the Wiltshire countryside – previously known as Leonard Cheshire House in an amusing coincidence – being quintessentially British, plus the impressive interior design with every immaculately decorated room. It was an easy choice, and then it was left to us to complement the interior with our vision, which Ida took the lead on, working closely with the florist and providing the vision for the colour scheme, the table layout, and smaller finishing touches. We wanted something elegant, chic, and monochrome, with the flowers adding that touch of colour to bring everything to life without being overpowering. Hence, all photos of the guests used for table settings and the photo wall were black and white, the bridesmaids wore black to contrast Ida’s wedding dress and black tie was strongly encouraged for the guests (of course, the Groom and his groomsmen were in black tie). The black-tie wedding is also traditionally Norwegian. We were super happy with how the venue looked and how it all came together on the day – everyone looked phenomenal, the food and drinks were amazing, and with the Norwegian quirks, like getting up to kiss the bride when the groom goes to the toilet, and eight speeches throughout the wedding breakfast (masterfully managed by our toastmaster), the traditions really complimented each other.
What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
Given that many of our friends were travelling from Australia to Mexico to be with us, we wanted to give them the authentic British experience. What better thing to do than splurge on upgrading the sparkling wine from a prosecco to an English sparkling brut? With a big wine-tasting culture in Norway, too, this also went down a treat (literally and figuratively) with the large Norwegian contingent! The other splurge was on the flowers, and The Good Florist (Roberta) did an incredible job in complimenting the colours of the interior of the house and providing contrast to the bridesmaids’ dresses, the flower ribbon, and the table menu and place cards which were all black and white. You could say there was also a splurge in time and effort, rather than money, in adding a personal touch by selecting photos of each guest and editing in Black and White to have on the place settings for the wedding breakfast and a photo wall again in B&W of photos of us with our guests from across the years. This was a large time commitment in the week before the wedding to get this ready in time, but we felt really added to the day!
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
We forgot to try the cake! Instead of leaving the cake until after dinner, we had a short joint welcome speech halfway through the drinks & canapes, where we also cut the cake. However, we forgot to have a plate and fork to put the first piece on and hence didn’t try it! Fortunately, the cake was served as the final canape, so it wasn’t long before we could try it, though it felt silly at the time! We also took two dance classes to learn a Batchata for our first dance. It started well but descended into a bit of chaos as we forgot our steps! We ended up repeating it much later that night with much more success!
We also had a guest painting that was a feature through drinks & canapes where we asked guests to pick a colour, pick a brush, and add a straight horizontal or vertical line, with strictly no aubergines 😉 Fortunately, the guests stuck to the rule book and the result was fantastic… though someone did add a subtle smiley face in the bottom corner. Fortunately, it looks like a signature and brings a smile to our faces when looking at it but we still have no idea who the culprit is!
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
The main thing unique about David’s outfit was the wedding ring itself. This was previously David’s late grandfather’s signet ring which we had melted down into a wedding band, with FCC (Frederick Charles Cheshire), David’s granddad’s initials and which was on the signet itself, engraved inside the ring along with the wedding date.
A note to the venue, with its stunning interior, fabulous surroundings, and very British setting, really ticked all our boxes, and the food and cocktails they served throughout the whole weekend were incredible – at our food tasting, we were blown away by the eggplant main which did not disappoint on the day, and the mixologists kept the whole party moving. Moreover, our wedding photographer could not have been better, and it genuinely felt that Tom was like another friend at our wedding – so warm, genuine, friendly, kind, and patient, and we LOVE the wedding photo album edit.
VENUE Kin House, @kinhousewiltshire PHOTOGRAPHER The Falkenburgs, @thefalkenburgs PLANNER By the bride; supported by the groom and Kin House, @kinhousewiltshire FLORIST Roberta Emmott – The Good Florist, @the_good_florist CELEBRANT Friend of the couple – Lauren Macy Smith, @lmacysmith ENTERTAINMENT DJ: George Hilton, @ghilton1 CATERING Kin House, @kinhousewiltshire HIRE Disco Ball – Nigel at Stylish Entertainment CAKE Made by the mother of the groom; decorated by a friend STATIONERY & SIGNAGE By the bride WEDDING RINGS Orton Jewellery GROOM’S RING Melted down from the groom’s late grandfather’s signet ring and remodelled into a gold band wedding ring ENGAGEMENT RING Tesori, @tesoridiamanter TUXEDO, GROOM’S SHOE & ACCESSORIES Atelier Munro from Ferner Jacobsen, @fernerjacobsen BRIDAL DRESS Made With Love Bridal, @madewithlovebridal BRIDE’S SHOE H&M, @hm; For the evening – New Balance, @newbalance BRIDE’S ACCESSORIES Family heirloom HAIR & MAKEUP HC Brides, @hcbrides BRIDESMAIDS HAIR Sam at Bath Bridal Hair, @bathbridalhair BRIDE’S FRAGRANCE Libre – Yves Saint Lauren, @ysl
