From the bride’s hand-painted gown to the berry-infused gin cocktails, this vibrant October wedding was a celebration of a couple’s love, as well as of nature in all its colourful glory.

Sarah Borg Abela, 28, and Franklin Farrugia, 34, tied the knot on 9th October 2016 in an intimate ceremony in a small chapel in Gozo, followed by a reception nearby with the couple’s closest friends and family. Every aspect of their wedding, from the choice of venue to every detail of décor, revolved around a garden wedding theme.

“We were sure we wanted a morning wedding, to make the most of the wedding venue, Ta’ Mena Estate, which is set amongst vineyards. We also knew we wanted a small church for an intimate ceremony, which is why we chose Lourdes Chapel in Mgarr, Gozo,” says Sarah, a marketing executive, whose relationship with Franklin, a business support manager, kicked off one evening during a work event. “We got chatting and, rather than love at first sight, I’d say it was more a case of love at first debate.”

The couple handled most of the wedding preparations with help from their parents and Franklin’s sister. “We had a clear vision of what we wished to achieve and both our parents supported our views.” Sarah’s work experience in event planning came in handy when planning her own wedding, and although stress is inevitable throughout it all, it’s part and parcel of the whole experience. “You have to ride it out and stay true to the initial plans. Fortunately, I come from a family who have long been in the wedding catering business, so we were familiar with all the nitty gritty.”

The couple chose to get married in October to avoid the scorching summer heat, and luckily, were blessed with beautiful warm weather on the day. The wedding centred on a garden-inspired theme, with all floral arrangements supplied by Xerri’s Garden Centre, in part to maximise the venue’s potential and all the natural light that it offered. “We wanted to achieve an informal and intimate celebration. It was a very relaxed affair, and we took our time to enjoy a few post-ceremony drinks on the chapel parvis, which overlooks the magnificent Mgarr harbour.”

The couple’s wedding invites, which featured a modern design and informal wording on cream textured paper, were designed by Sarah’s director who heads a marketing company, while the souvenirs, miniature bottles of pure olive oil, were created with the help of Franklin’s father, who hand-picked and pressed the olives himself.

With the couple being self-proclaimed foodies, catering was an important part of the wedding reception. 160 guests, including one of Franklin’s sisters who flew over with her family all the way from Australia, were welcomed with a berry-infused gin cocktail complete with edible flowers, and treated to an array of gourmet finger foods during a standing reception, as well as three food stations: a sushi table, a fritto misto live cooking station served in newspaper cones, and a beef tagliata station.

“I am a doughnut fan, so I made sure to include these while coffee was served, along with imqaret and other chocolate delights. As for the cake, we opted for a classic three-tier cake, part almond and part carrot cake, decorated with fresh flowers.”

The cherry on the cake of this wonderfully-adorned wedding was the bride’s very own gown, which both honoured the garden theme and echoed her personal taste, as did the groom’s three-piece navy blue suit from Cefai Formal Wear, complete with a floral boutonniere. “I tried on many lovely dresses but nothing really excited me. Inspired by runway looks, I came up with the idea of a figure-hugging boat neck dress with cap sleeves in cream silk, embellished by hand painting on the bodice.”

The dress was the result of a collaboration between a talented Gozitan seamstress and Sarah’s gifted cousin, Maria Xerri, a budding artist in the final year of her architecture studies at University. “Maria accepted this challenge full on. The risk was quite nerve-racking as the dress had to be completely sewn before she could paint on it. However, I had complete confidence in Maria, and the dress surpassed my expectations.”

Despite being an exciting and moving day, Sarah says they were grateful to share it with their loved ones. “The best part of the day was definitely the ceremony – it was quite emotional to share such an intimate moment with those closest to us, and we were also very touched by a speech that my mother gave in our honour of the day.”