GEMMA & DAVID

“We got engaged in New York in 2017. Due to Covid, though,
our first two attempts to get married, first in London and then in Edinburgh,
had to be cancelled,” David says. It was third time lucky, but by then they had lost their appetite for large-scale planning. Both hailing from Troon in Scotland,
David and Gemma have known each other for over 22 years
and were originally looking forward to a classic wedding, complete with cake and lots of guests. But that all went by the board:
“This time, the concept was to focus on each other and enjoy a very relaxed
day in beautiful surroundings. We chose our favourite city,
Copenhagen, but we wanted to include our mums, so we invited them to join us for four days there.” Another reason David cites is that he and
Gemma had been involved in lots of weddings before and they knew how quickly the day and all those precious moments come and go.
Their mini-wedding took about a month to plan, and the couple divided the work between them: Gemma arranged the photographer and the civil ceremony, which took place at Copenhagen City Hall, while David booked the accommodation,
flights and restaurant. All the arrangements were made online, including choosing the florist who supplied the bride’s bouquet. Compared to preparing a wedding for
80 guests, it was a walk in the park. David and Gemma were also
delighted with their choice of the town hall – a beautiful building in a convenient location with friendly officials. A final bonus is that there is minimal paperwork for foreign nationals getting married in Denmark compared to other countries.
On the big day itself, the mums helped the bride get ready.
The bride and groom exchanged wedding vows and rings at the town hall
and then proceeded at a leisurely pace to Marv & Ben,
one of Copenhagen’s best restaurants. The wedding day flowed seamlessly into their honeymoon, with the keen travellers heading off for
a relaxing four-day stay in Norway, where they enjoyed a delightful digital
detox at a local spa, before flying to Australia for a month.
All of this was well within the budget Gemma and David
had originally set for their full-scale wedding, but the precious experiences
and moments they got to share lasted much longer.