Hannah and Nicklas’ Castle Wedding

Hannah wore the Willow gown from Odylyne The Ceremony, which features the most amazing butterfly pleated skirt that opens up to a WOW-moment. She finished off the look with a veil, jewellery and white flats from Everlane. Her favorite accessory were earrings from her friend’s brand, Zofia Day (which also happens to be Meghan Markle’s favorite!).

Hannah describes the dress shopping as the easiest part of the planning process - when she found the one, she knew it was meant to be.

“It sounds cliché but this was the last dress I tried on at LoHo Bride in Los Angeles! It was unlike everything else I tried on that day (mainly slip dresses) and immediately when I put it on I was obsessed with it. I came home and showed Nicklas all the dresses I tried on and he agreed that it was the prettiest one. I wanted to try it on again, so I searched online to see if anyone else sold it so I could see it again soon. One girl in the whole world was selling it second-hand and she lived a few blocks away from me in Los Angeles. I went over to her house to try it on and we were the same height and weight so not a single alteration was done on it and I paid in cash that day. It was meant to be!”

This magical fairytale venue is Sofiero Slott, located in the Swedish coastal town Helsingborg. Hannah found the castle online and had an instant gut feeling that it’s where she was supposed to get married. The couple chose Sweden since they aimed for a relaxed and casual vibe and they wanted to be close to Nicklas’ family and friends, but that also meant that they couldn’t see their venue until the day before. Luckily her gut feeling was right, as it turned out to be exactly what they dreamed about. 

Hannah tells us she used to be one of those girls who told everyone in her life a thousand times that she wasn’t a ‘wedding person’ and never saw herself having a big wedding. When the day she once dreaded arrived, a castle wedding did sound pretty perfect to her after all. 

“Even though it ended up being at a castle, it was the most relaxed day of my life! We spent the morning together, my best friend did my hair and makeup, and I started getting ready later in the day with a few close friends at our AirBnB right on the ocean.” 

Hannah and Nicklas didn’t have a theme or a color scheme. Instead, they trusted the people they hired with creative freedom. They kept the décor minimal with flowers as a focal point, and let the castle speak for itself. Their florist, Kulla Floristen, surpassed their expectations and they couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. 

“Our florist made the most beautiful chuppah, or wall-less house for us to stand under during our ceremony. The chuppah is a traditional Jewish wedding element and does not contain walls or physical possessions as a reminder that the guests present at your wedding are always welcome in your home, and that physical possessions are not nearly as important as the relationship you have with each other.” 

The couple wanted to capture both Hannah’s Jewish heritage and Nicklas’ Swedish roots. The Jewish traditions included Jewish prayers, signing a Ketubah (Jewish marriage contract), dancing the horah and Nicklas smashing the glass. To incorporate some Swedishness, they played traditional Swedish games with all the guests the night before the wedding and had one of their friends as their toastmaster - a Swedish wedding host who keeps the wedding reception and all speeches on track. Hannah even said her traditional vows in Swedish as a surprise! 

Seeing her niece from Colorado play with their nephew in Sweden when their families met for the first time was such a world’s colliding-moment for Hannah. 

"My niece was the flower-girl and wore a white jumpsuit with a white turban. She was the most fashionable one there! Our nephew was our flower-boy and took the job very seriously.”.

Hannah tells us they chose not to have any bridesmaids or groomsmen since they wanted their friends and family to be able to witness the ceremony from the audience. She asked her sisters to wear white or cream colors, and her youngest sister was the officiant with Nicklas’s youngest brother. 

Sharing their written vows to each other is Hannah’s favorite moment from the wedding and something she reflects back on daily. She cried while she was writing them, and didn’t look at them again until the wedding day. She remembers every word they promised to each other, and shared an excerpt from what she vowed to Nicklas: 

“My expectations of most people before knowing you were pretty low. I expected them to let me down, to have a vice or flaw that would ruin my chances of having a lasting connection with them, and I made plenty of excuses for their behavior – justifying why they were mean, or why they were hurtful. But with you my expectations of human beings has grown. I expect them to be kind and to be humble. I expect them to be good-hearted and optimistic. I expect them to be only good, because I spend most of my time with you, and you are the highest standard of a person that I’ve ever met.“

Their first dance was “Always Remember Us This Way” from A Star Is Born. They took dancing lessons and learned a fully choreographed dance - impressive!

“Dare I say people cheered during our performance?”

They danced all night to the live-band @meele_music while enjoying the open bar (which included Hannah’s favorite, Aperol spritz!).

If Hannah could give one piece of advice to future brides in search of their perfect dress, she says: “Try on everything, even if you think you have a vision for your day. I ended up going with something I never would have picked on my own!”.