Adeline and Aytac | Southern France Wedding | KV Photography

How did you both meet?
Like typical millennials, we met online. As a young and broke graduate student, I (Adeline) was using the free version of Match.com where I saw this coy picture of a handsome guy. Love at first sight feels tacky, but I did go to great lengths to find him on a free dating site and start a conversation there. After a week of talking back and forth we decided to go on our first date, on Valentine’s Day (cringe), and three years later here we are, hitched!.

How did your husband propose?
There are two proposal stories, what was supposed to happen and what actually happened after an unexpected flight cancellation. At the time, Aytac was living in Atlanta and I was in Orlando, I had worked a crazy amount of hours that week but I had a “client meeting” Friday morning in Lake Wales, at Bok Tower Gardens. I (Aytac) had coordinated with Adeline’s boss and Project Manager to have a fake meeting at Bok Tower Gardens. I had scheduled an intricate proposal scheme to take a flight to Orlando very early, make it to Bok Tower Gardens with a photographer, propose and then have a surprise getaway to Key West. As soon as I got to the airline to take the 6 AM flight to Orlando, I found that my flight was cancelled due to technical difficulties. With Adeline’s coworker’s help, I was able to make some changes but had to skip the Bok Tower Gardens. I met Adeline at the airport and we took a flight to Key West.

Given that plan A was out of the window, I was searching for a suitable proposal location as Plan B. I picked the fort in the Key West island to propose, after which a wine cruise around the island would be the celebration. However, as soon as we got to the fort, I was dismayed at the fact that it was closing in 5 minutes. At this point, I had been carrying the ring in my pocket for over 12 hours and it was burning and I had to propose that day. We went on the sunset wine cruise, and I finally dragged Adeline aside on the Key West marina under one of the marina lights, and dropped to one knee.

The first thing we did after I proposed and she accepted was have a frostie at Wendy’s, because as Adeline put it, she “could not marry someone who had not had a frostie at Wendy’s”.

What was your wedding inspiration? (think decor, overall theme and feel of the day, etc.)
Both of us feel strong ties to the Mediterranean so we picked Provence, in France, for our wedding location. An outdoor wedding was a must so we pulled our inspiration from the greens of Olive trees and the low-key countryside feel. We wanted to embrace the rustic charm of the 10th century French village and chose wooden bistro chairs, wine barrels for high top tables, and soft grey table linens with bronze accents and succulent centerpieces.

What was your favorite design element of your wedding?
The favorite design element was the venue. I stumbled on the village, Gordes, when I was remotely looking for venues online, from Orlando. In July, 11 months before our wedding, I visited and knew this was the perfect spot. The stone homes, bright purple lavender fields, and this village nestled in the mountainside. Our venue had all of these elements and beautiful outdoor spaces that were spacious enough to accommodate each part of the wedding: the ceremony in a courtyard with lavender, the cocktail hour between the olive trees, the bouquet toss by the pool, and dinner with sweeping views of the French countryside.

Describe some of your favorite wedding details and how you came up with them.
Aytac being from Turkey, me from France, and our friends American, it was really important to us to blend the cultures through decoration, food, and language. Our ceremony was bilingual French/English with a Turkish translated handout and we stood on an oriental rug. At our cocktail hour we served French Pastis, Turkish Raki, and American Fireball. Each place-setting had a beautiful blue and gold “evil eye” straight from Turkey. We enjoyed pouring a typically French champagne tower during dessert.

What was the most memorable moment of your wedding day?
We had a small wedding, with just under 60 guests. I was so worried that we would have an empty dance floor because of differences in age and culture. I worked closely with the DJ to have a blend of French and American (western) and Turkish music. The most memorable moment was when the first Turkish song came on, and Aytac’s family dashed to the dance floor and their charisma was contagious. All of our guests followed and there was this amazing energy, even though it was past midnight, that had everyone out of their seats.

Please describe your cake (if any):
We had a petite, two-tier, vanilla cake with roasted apricot filling coated with a white buttercream, gold flecks, and lined with olive branches.

Can you please list your vendors:
Photographers- KV Photography, Day-of Coordinator- Unique Weddings, Caterer- Mets D’Ici, Florist- Artisan Fleuriste Maryline, DJ- LBY Event, Rentals- Oravis, Tent- Steel Addict, Cake- Make Me A Cake, Belly Dancer- Association Souffles d’Orient.

Any advice for those planning their wedding now?
A destination wedding in Provence doesn’t imply a price tag you can’t afford. With the help of our day of coordinator, I was able to get each of the design elements I wanted without having to DIY anything and without blowing our budget. If there’s one thing worth splurging on it’s that peace of mind.

What was your biggest surprise on your wedding day?
That no one asked us when we were having kids. Kidding. Aytac and I closed out the night, just the two of us on the dance floor at 3AM.

What one moment will last with you both forever?
Every blog and website you read will tell you that something will go wrong on your wedding day. I was hoping I would be ready for that moment, but, surprisingly, it never came and our wedding was truly perfect, it’s not really one moment that we’ll remember forever it’s the feeling of being surrounded by your loved ones that have come from all over the world, to celebrate with you. It’s those moments like exchanging vows with our parents sitting side by side when they live in three different countries, introducing my French cousins to Fireball, and teaching everyone to toast in Turkish. We might never get another night with both our families in one place, but our wedding hit the spot.

Which moment are you the most excited to see in photos?
We can’t wait to see our dance floor pictures! The Turkish music really brought out our guests best moves. We can’t wait to share the pictures with them too.

What song did you walk down the aisle to?
I walked down the aisle to The Time Quartet’s rendition of Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis.

What song played for your first dance?
We both enjoy electronic music so we chose Tonight and Every Night by Robin Schulz.

What are you most looking forward to as a married couple?
We can’t wait to see what’s to come for us; we have our sights set on a move to Europe but who knows, as long as we’re together, in once place, we could be anywhere.

What did you like the most about working with KV Photography?
Val and Ed are a photography power couple that bring artistry into each frame. We didn’t feel awkward, or shy, or out of place. They really knew how to get us comfortable (even when they had us standing behind an HVAC unit in a parking lot) to capture unique moments in creative settings.

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