Every so often a wedding comes along with so many striking photos that it makes it really hard to pick a "feature image" (the one that you see on our home page). Catherine and Nils got married in Denmark last summer after planning the wedding from London and by the looks (and sounds!) of it they had an absolute blast. Catherine fills us in on the details and challenges of planning the wedding below. This is definitely one of those weddings that you'll wish you were at, and it's also our first feature by the talented Barney Walters ... hopefully the first of many!

"We met while studying in southern England- we were living in the same house together for a year before we started dating and then moved to London for our MA. Nils had bought the ring in advance and carried it with him on holidays and weekends waiting for the right moment. In October 2012 we spent a long (sunny but cold) weekend in Copenhagen. One afternoon we set out to visit the Museum of Modern Art a few kilometres north of the city. When we got to the Louisiana sculpture park on the way to the museum, Nils decided to go for it right then and there. Surrounded by the sea, trees, moon and sculptures, he asked me the question which usually comes with a ring..

We both have family in Germany, and I have some in Switzerland as well. We both have friends there and in Britain so either way people would had to travel. Actually deciding the location was one of the easiest decisions in the whole planning process- we both have strong ties to Denmark. Nils' family always spent their annual holidays in Husby in Denmark. I lived 100km from Husby for three years when I was a child. We felt this was perfect- common ground for both of us! We knew that we wanted to run down the dunes at the beach in Husby and that we liked the idea of getting married in the church there. We looked for a suitable venue nearby and found Nørre Vosborg, which was ideal. Most of the guests ended up staying on for a week in Denmark and myself and Nils stayed for 2 weeks.

Both being German citizens but living in London for the past 10 years, when we wanted to organize the wedding in Demark the paperwork was rather complicated. After several back and forth communication with our Hackney council in London and the German embassy ,we eventually found out that that the City of Hamburg (our last registered address in Germany) was responsible for our case. The paperwork the German authorities required was laborious, but once we arrived in Denmark it took us 5 minutes to get everything signed. Apparently Denmark is the Las Vegas of Europe for fast and economical weddings! The civil ceremony cost about £50. Planning the wedding well in advance was a bigger problem than trying to book it at short notice- we were only allowed to apply for an appointment 3 months in advance. We had to book the venue prior to having a fixed appointment for the civil ceremony and the church! We sent a Save the Date email 6 months prior to the wedding, and the paper invitations went out only 7 weeks before the day as we had to wait for the official confirmations from the registrar and the church (that was a bit nerve-racking).

We planned the entire wedding ourselves and travelled twice to Denmark between the engagement and the actual wedding. But we had very good support from Thomas Holme, the director of Nørre Vosborg. He put us in contact with a DJ, hairdresser and florist. I would like to think that the style was influenced by Scandinavian design: simple and modern shapes, 'clever' details, some tactical elements and natural materials- minimal yet friendly. Denmark as a country- its landscape, flowers and colours but also furniture and pottery etc. has a strong influence on both of us.

For all the stationery we used red and white as the main colours accompanied by a light grey. These colours are commonly used in Denmark- red and white are on the flag and grey is found in much old architecture. We used a modernist typeface (Futura) and a modern Dutch typeface (Arnhem) throughout with very simplified illustrations. Most of the stationery was printed on an off-white recycled paper which was made from cotton, giving it a sophisticated finish without being tacky. Designing everything in a bilingual format too prepared our guests in advance for a bilingual wedding.

We used natural flowers and local fern and grass for the bouquet, my hair, on the wedding cake, in the church, at the reception and for the dinner tables- all ordered from the same florist. Repeating certain elements allowed for consistency, brought the style visually together, and also made our lives easier! Nils' suit and my dress both had a clean fitting line and used natural fabrics. Since my dress was made to measure I was able to choose the fabric myself and chose pure silk.

When we told our friends and family that we were bringing a photographer from the UK they thought we were a bit crazy. In reality this was one of the best decisions- a good photographer is worth more than an expensive hair and make-up team. I would say Barney's style is a mix of editorial, documentary and wedding photography. After the first 20 minutes we had forgotten about the existence of the camera and just enjoyed the day. I think the most memorable moments were running down the sand dunes with all our friends running behind, and afterwards standing at the beach just feeling happy and free.We have absolutely no regrets about the way we did things! Our advice would be, if you have a two-day wedding, try to get an early night and don't party too much on the first evening. Oh, and do a full test run for your hair a few days prior the wedding- especially if the hairdresser doesn't speak fluent English."

Photographer: Barney Walters | Ceremony: City Hall | Reception: Catering & Cake: Nørre Vosborg | Stationery: Catherine Nippe | Florist: Violas Blomster | Bride's Dress: Garment Hamburg | Bride's Shoes: Bridesmaid Dresses: Chie Mihara | Jacob Sandal | Church: Husby Church | Hair Styling: Ted Baker | Groom's Suit: Prada | Groom's Shoes: Ruth Tomlinson | Wedding Celebrant: Edward Green | Wedding Rings: Susanne Skovmose