Emma and Yannick’s bloomin’ beautiful garden wedding

Bad food, sore feet and terrible weather couldn’t stop Emma Korkiakoski and Yannick Meeus from falling in love.

“We met at one of the biggest Belgian music festivals,” explains Emma, 27. “The weather was awful, the mud was everywhere, the blisters were plentiful and the food was unpalatable – but none of this stopped us from enjoying each other’s company.”

After what she describes as a “whirlwind romance”, they moved in together and became engaged in Paris a few years later. “After the trip, we quickly agreed a date far into the future, 18 months in fact, as we wanted to have plenty of time to plan, organize, hand-craft, paint and otherwise make sure our day was as perfect as it could be,” says Emma.

Their garden wedding started with a ceremony at St Mary’s Church in Birmingham followed by a reception at the Botanical Gardens. “The gardens looked stunning, the weather was perfect and everything was in full bloom,” she says. “Our florist In Bloom did a wonderful job getting that botanical feeling to the venue.” The bouquets adorning the pew ends of the church were re-arranged into a beautiful vase at the Gardens’ conservatory.

“After the ceremony, we treated our guests to a genuine classic red bus, as most of our guests had traveled from abroad,” says Emma. “Our first dance was to the Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend”, and it was just perfect.”

Photos courtesy of Daffodil Waves Photography

Emma found her elegant Maggie Sottero lace gown at Wedding Belles of Four Oaks.

“It was so difficult to choose which cakes to have when they all tasted so good,” says Emma of Cotton & Crumbs. They went with three flavours: vanilla-raspberry, carrot and orange.