A Rustic Garden Wedding at Villa Bloemenhof in Sint Anthonis, Netherlands

Having met while backing packing through Spain, Aya and Carlo Vloet—natives of Japan and the Netherlands—decided to make their passion for travel the centerpiece of their early fall wedding. They call San Francisco home, but decided to host the festivities in Sint Anthonis, Netherlands. The two-day fete incorporated a laid-back ceremony and dinner party at Villa Bloemenhof and a Dutch-style tea party at De Boergondische Tujin, complete with a sweets station sporting desserts and snacks from all over the world and flags representing all of the countries their guests were from. “Guests were willing to travel a long distance to attend the wedding, and some were willing to spend their time helping prepare the event,” Aya says. “We wanted to make sure they all felt welcome. We thought that having a gathering around a communal table was something that would bring us all together, and we prioritized those experiences at the tea ceremony and at dinner.” Aya, a floral designer, put her skills to work for the wedding. She used cream-colored dahlias, king protea, pincushion flowers, garden roses, scabiosa, eucalyptus and lots of sage-hued greenery from local floral suppliers to create lush bouquets and centerpieces. Following the event in the Netherlands, Aya and Carlo made stopovers in Santorini, Greece, and Milan, Italy. Aya created bouquets for each place with local blooms to bring out the elements of the sea and the city, and they brought a photographer along to capture the trip and take additional wedding photos.