Katia + Daniel by Ksenia Antonova

We landed on rustic elegance as our guiding idea – warm, characterful, and unfussy.

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

Danny and I are both Russian by heritage, but his upbringing took him from New York to Spain and eventually London, while mine began in Finland before my family settled in London too. These days we split our time between London and Madrid – a rhythm that suits us both. Danny is the founder of an AI-driven optimisation platform with a background in commodities and the venture space, while I run a travel agency, Little Blue Door (@littlebluedoor.travel), where I spend most of my time hunting down destinations with real soul. The kind that stay with you long after you’ve left. Travel is the great shared love between us – it’s how we spend our time, how we celebrate, and ultimately how our whole story began.

Wedding Day by Ksenia Antonova + Matt Godkin

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

For seven years, Danny and I lived in the same London building and somehow never crossed paths – which, honestly, feels almost impressive. We shared friends in common, and he’d been quietly following me on Instagram for ages without ever sending a message. Eventually I got tired of waiting and did what any modern woman would do: I slid straight into his DMs! The rest, as they say, is history. From the very first meeting, it was an instant connection. We’re so alike, with such similar backgrounds and ways of seeing the world, that it almost felt like we’d been circling each other for years without realising.

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

We landed on rustic elegance as our guiding idea – warm, characterful, and unfussy. I’ve always believed less is more, so the approach was to let the venue speak and keep everything else soft around it: candlelight, delicate florals, romantic touches of pink. Tonnara di Scopello carries so much of its own history and texture that overdressing it would have been a mistake. The cocktail hour leaned into a “Tonnara Pink” palette, pulling from the venue’s beautiful pastel façade, while the rest of the day kept that same romantic register. Underneath all of it, though, the real brief was simple: gather everyone we love in one place and dance until sunrise.

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).

Our florist, Fluida, is a true artist – she created a dreamy cloud of pastel blooms around our seaside ceremony that felt completely of the place. The Tonnara Pink theme carried through cocktail hour and tied everything together visually without ever feeling forced. But the detail closest to my heart was our place settings. Rather than printed cards, every guest received a handwritten note alongside a photograph of them with Danny or me. Watching people find their seats and read those notes became one of the quietly emotional threads of the day. Then there was DK-10 – our rave cave, named partly as a wink to DC-10 in Ibiza and partly our own shorthand (Danny, Katia, 10th of September). That space ended up holding the wildest, best hours of the night.

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

Honestly, what I enjoyed most was learning to let go. I’m a bit of a control freak by nature, so handing the reins to Lisa and trusting her vision was a real shift for me – but it turned out to be the best decision I made. So many of the details and decor moments on the day were actually a surprise to me, which meant I got to experience them fresh, almost as a guest at my own wedding. There’s something really magical about walking into spaces you helped imagine but didn’t entirely orchestrate.

My honest advice for couples going into the planning process: lock in the venue first – it sets the tone for everything else. After that, trust your planner, trust the process, and don’t sweat the details. The small things have a way of resolving themselves, and at some point you just have to remember that you’re marrying your best friend, which is the only part that actually matters. On the day itself, please put your phone away. It passes faster than you can imagine, and how you feel sets the energy for everyone in the room. And don’t skip the minimoon! Even a few slow days afterwards is one of the most worthwhile things you can plan.

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

Lisa at Isla & Smith was the heart of the whole operation. Calm in a way that’s almost contagious, properly creative, and somehow patient with every wild idea we threw at her – bringing it all to life without the process ever feeling heavy. Fluida brought our floral vision to life so beautifully I’m still thinking about it. The food was the other revelation: Chef Natale Giunta put together a menu still being discussed by our friends, with his paccheri pasta now firmly in folklore territory! The Gypsy Queens took the reception somewhere magical – napkins in the air, tambourines out, the full Italian wedding dream.

Ksenia Antonova also captured all of it beautifully, and our hair and makeup team shaped the morning in ways that go far beyond the actual work. Their warmth made everything feel right before we’d even left for the ceremony.

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

Corsetry has been my obsession for as long as I can remember – that distinctly Victorian shape, tightly laced and uncompromisingly feminine. So when I slipped into the Vivienne Westwood gown, it wasn’t really a decision so much as a recognition. Nobody does a corset like Westwood – nothing makes you feel more snatched or sculpted. My second look needed to be the opposite: light, mischievous, made for moving. Kricket Marie, based in Texas, designed a custom corseted mini that did exactly that. Short, flirtatious, and somehow comfortable enough to dance through to sunrise.

For my bridesmaids, I went with brown! It’s such a chic colour for a wedding party, and after a summer of sunshine the girls were all gloriously bronzed, so it worked perfectly. Their dresses were custom-made and turned out beautifully.

Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.

My engagement ring is from G Collins & Sons, a British family-run jewellery house that means a great deal to us. One of Danny’s groomsmen is Josh Collins, who now runs the business his father founded back in 1985 – so when it came time to plan the proposal, Josh was naturally the first to know and thrilled to be the one making the ring. Our wedding bands came from G Collins & Sons too, which felt like the only right choice. Knowing every ring on our hands was crafted with that much personal love behind it makes wearing them feel even more meaningful.

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?).

For us, it came down to two things: how the day would be remembered, and how the morning would feel. Photography and videography were never up for debate – long after the flowers wilt and the music fades, those images are what you actually have to hold onto. The other was our hair and makeup team. So much of getting ready is invisible from the outside, but the people you spend those hours with shape the entire emotional tone of what follows. Both felt worth every penny.

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

The thunderstorm. The very minute we cut the cake, the Sicilian sky simply gave way – lightning, thunder, sheets of rain. Within minutes everyone had flooded into DK-10, and dinner tipped seamlessly into a full-blown rave. The timing was almost suspicious, like the weather had been reading the schedule. We’ll be talking about it forever.

The other moment I hold close is our ceremony. I walked down the aisle with my mother to one of my favourite RY X songs, while the bridesmaids and groomsmen made their entrance on Vespas – peak Italian energy. We’d pre-recorded our vows and had them played as we held hands and listened, which turned into the most emotional part of the day. I’d recommend it to anyone too nervous to speak live – there’s something about hearing it back together that’s hard to describe.

And then there was day two: our beach barbecue at Tonnara di Scopello, which was honestly cooler than any Pinterest board. Sun, sea swims, pasta, lemon sorbet and long hours overlooking the water. La dolce vita in its purest form.

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

The thing I keep coming back to is how simple it is at its core – you’re marrying your best friend, and everything else really does fade into the background. The day itself was overwhelming and beautiful and chaotic, but what’s stayed with me since is something much quieter: the feeling of having chosen each other out loud, in front of everyone we love. Being married, for us, isn’t a transformation so much as a deepening of what was already there.

Our one ritual, and the one we’ll never let go of, is returning to Tonnara di Scopello every summer. It’s where Danny proposed, where we got married, and somehow it’s become the place we measure our years against. We’re heading back in summer 2026, and every summer after that — for as long as we can. It’s our happy place, and going back each year feels like the truest way to honour what we built there.