A Black-Tie Wedding Weekend Rooted in the Sea, Sun & Spirit of Tarifa

In Tarifa, where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean and the wind is part of everyday life, Anouk and Vincent created a wedding that felt deeply rooted in the place they love. Their celebration brought together the effortless spirit of southern Spain with the refined sensibility of their life in Munich. Every detail was personal, from shell-inspired stationery and deadstock fabrics to the decision to let the palms take the place of traditional florals. With Spanish guitar, Cava towers, long dinners, a disco ball beneath the palms, and a dance floor that quickly became the heart of the celebration, the weekend was as atmospheric as it was personal — a thoughtful, fashion-forward take on a Tarifa wedding that never lost sight of what made the place, and their story, uniquely theirs.

Our Love Story

The Day We Met

We met over 14 years ago at a bar in Munich, when we were both still students. We became friends first, and two years later, that friendship turned into a relationship. Almost twelve years on, we have shared so much of our lives together, with Munich and Tarifa (Southern Spain) becoming the two places that have shaped our story most.

The Proposal

Vincent proposed in June 2024, after ten years together, in Tarifa—a place that has always felt deeply like ours. I thought we were simply heading out for dinner, but Vincent had secretly arranged for one of my favorite local street pianists to play for us at a beautiful, secluded spot in town. With no one else there but the two of us and the pianist, he asked me to marry him in a moment that felt incredibly intimate and completely true to us. From that evening on, there was never really a question of where we would eventually celebrate our wedding.

The Engagement Ring

Vincent chose and had the engagement ring made entirely on his own, with the idea of creating something I would love wearing for the rest of my life. He chose a yellow-gold setting with a round solitaire diamond and smaller diamonds along the band, and even made sure I would have the option to adjust any details afterward if I wished. I found that incredibly thoughtful and romantic—the fact that he had put so much care into something I would wear on my hand for a lifetime. As it turned out, he could not have chosen more perfectly: it was exactly the ring I had always imagined and has felt completely like me ever since.

Our Wedding

The Vision

Our vision was to bring together the best of both worlds: the unmistakable Andalusian spirit of Tarifa and everything we love about our life in Munich. Tarifa is a truly unique corner of the world—set at the southernmost tip of continental Europe, where the Atlantic and Mediterranean meet across the Strait of Gibraltar, shaped by the sea, its famous winds, and an effortless outdoor way of life. Munich, on the other hand, is where we have built so much of our everyday life together: our work, many of our closest friends and family, the lakes and nature surrounding the city, and a quality of life we deeply appreciate. We wanted our guests to truly experience the warmth, openness, and effortless rhythm of a place we love so deeply, while creating a celebration that still felt timeless, elevated, and very much like us. A cohesive visual thread ran throughout the weekend, with soft drapery becoming one of the defining elements.

We chose it very deliberately because, rather than designing against Tarifa’s ever-present and unpredictable wind, we wanted the wind to become part of the design itself—allowing the fabrics to move, change, and take on a different shape throughout the day. In that way, the surroundings could quite literally help shape the aesthetic of the celebration and make the entire design feel even more rooted in Tarifa. As a content creator and creative, I (Anouk) have always had a strong connection to aesthetics and visual storytelling, so developing the overall creative concept for our wedding myself felt very natural. From the visual direction and choice of fabrics to the way the different spaces and details came together, every element was shaped with a very personal vision and then brought to life on-site together with our wedding planner, vendors, and friends.

Our Team of Vendors

When choosing the people who would bring our wedding to life, we cared less about big names and more about finding people who genuinely understood us, our connection to Tarifa, and our vision for the weekend. Our wedding planner, Sarah of That’s Amore Weddings, was a perfect match. The same was true of our photographer, Melli, and videographer, Shayne, of EMÈS Weddings. Having her and Shayne document our wedding all these years later felt like a beautiful full-circle moment. We loved their editorial sensibility, but even more so, their ability to capture genuine emotion and fleeting, in-between moments without ever making the wedding feel like a production.

The Location

Tarifa has always held a deeply personal meaning for us. It is where I (Anouk) was born, where my family lives, and where I have spent so much of my life, while over the years, it also became one of Vincent’s favorite places and an important part of our shared story. Between the sea, the wind, long beach days, sport, sundowners, and slow Andalusian dinners, it is a place that feels both grounding and full of life—and one we hope will continue to be part of our future together.

We chose Cortijo El Aguilón, a traditional Andalusian cortijo and former horse estate set among palm trees and lush Mediterranean vegetation. The location already held a very personal meaning for me (Anouk): my father had celebrated his own wedding there, and I had spent time there as a child, playing with the family’s children and growing up with memories of the place long before imagining my own wedding there. Its unmistakably Spanish character, natural beauty, and sense of history made it feel like the perfect setting for us to introduce our guests to the Andalusian way of life we love so much.

The Ceremony

The ceremony took place along the cortijo’s long, palm-lined driveway—a setting that had never been used for a ceremony there before, but one I (Anouk) had imagined for years. The setup was logistically challenging, as the driveway also served as the main access route to the venue, but seeing the drapery suspended between the palms and moving with the wind made it more beautiful than we could have imagined. We chose not to have a first look, so Vincent saw me for the first time as I walked the long, palm-lined aisle toward him with my father, accompanied by a slow live piano rendition of “River Flows in You” by Yiruma.

As our civil wedding had already taken place in Munich, the ceremony in Tarifa was a deeply personal celebration led by my uncle (Anouk). As he speaks Dutch, Spanish, English, and German, he was able to weave all four languages into the ceremony and make guests from different parts of our lives feel included in a very personal way. Miguel, the same pianist who had played for us on the evening of our proposal and whose music we had first discovered in the streets of Tarifa years ago, welcomed our guests and accompanied the ceremony on piano. Having him there made the moment feel like another deeply personal, full-circle part of the day.

The Cocktail Hour

The cocktail hour took place around the cortijo’s pool, framed by palm trees and a relaxed, distinctly Spanish atmosphere. After the ceremony, we took a few quiet minutes just for ourselves while I (Anouk) transformed the very same wedding dress I had worn for the ceremony: hidden drawstrings allowed the lower part of the dress to be gathered and draped, creating a completely new silhouette without changing dresses. 

We then joined our guests and opened the celebration together with a Cava tower—consciously choosing Spanish Cava rather than Champagne—so everyone could raise a glass with us in one shared moment rather than forming a traditional receiving line. Freshly carved jamón and small Andalusian bites were served while Daniel, a Spanish guitarist we had first discovered playing in the streets of Tarifa and later personally asked to be part of our wedding, accompanied the afternoon with live flamenco music. We wanted our guests to experience Andalusia not only through the setting, but through its flavors, sounds, and way of life—quite literally bringing some of the sounds and spirit of Tarifa into our wedding.

The Reception

The dinner began with our guests making their way past long white fabric panels carrying the seating plan, moving beautifully in the Tarifa wind. Each table was named after something closely connected to the place—from Sol, the sun, to Levante and Poniente, Tarifa’s two winds, and Estrecho, the Strait of Gibraltar. The evening felt warm, emotional, and very Andalusian, with Daniel’s live Spanish guitar music carrying into the beginning of dinner before gradually giving way to a more celebratory soundtrack. The menu was created by an Andalusian catering team, combining regional flavors and locally sourced ingredients with a contemporary approach.

Throughout dinner, our fathers and witnesses gave incredibly moving speeches, while I surprised Vincent with a speech of my own, inviting guests to raise their glasses whenever they recognized one of his many acts of love in their own relationships with him. I also explained why there would be no traditional bouquet toss, instead gifting a second version of my bouquet to Vincent’s mother as a thank-you for raising the man I now get to call my husband. After heartfelt speeches and happy tears, the evening gradually shifted into a more celebratory rhythm, leading into the cake cutting before the night continued on the dance floor.

The Special Touches

One of the recurring details throughout the wedding was the shell, a motif featured on our stationery from the Save the Dates onward and later carried through to the dinner tables. For us, shells felt intrinsically connected to Tarifa and the sea, while also symbolizing something slowly shaped by water, movement, and time—delicate yet enduring. We consciously chose not to use flowers throughout the wedding, as the cortijo’s palms and surrounding vegetation already felt like our natural floral design. The only floral element was my everlasting bridal bouquet by Petra Müller, created to travel to Tarifa and remain with us long after the wedding. 

Our Favorite Moment

The ceremony will always be one of the most meaningful parts of the weekend—after almost twelve years together, finally getting married beneath the palms in a place that has been part of our lives for so long felt incredibly emotional and deeply surreal in the best way. But one of the moments we never expected to love quite as much was our entrance to “Volare” before dinner. By then, all the nerves had disappeared, and we were simply walking into a sea of smiling faces, waving napkins, dancing friends, and so much love.  And one of Vincent’s favorite moments happened before the wedding had even begun: starting the morning with a tennis tournament with his closest friends on the cortijo’s own palm-framed tennis court. 

Our Style

The Bridal Looks

Drapery was not only part of the wedding design, but also became a recurring element throughout my bridal wardrobe.  For the wedding day, I chose a gown by the Spanish bridal house Pronovias from Munich-based nuovosì studio muc., whose concept of giving bridal gowns a second life immediately resonated with me. As part of that redesign, nuovosì and I developed a custom drawstring construction within the skirt, allowing the very same dress to transform throughout the day. For the ceremony, it appeared as a sleek, timeless silhouette, paired with an extra-long custom lace veil by nuovosì bridal accessories and white lace heels by Amina Muaddi. 

For the party, I finally changed into my second dress of the wedding day—a custom-made, crystal-covered mini dress by Kosovo-based designer Albina Dyla, created entirely to my measurements. I paired it with a bespoke lace choker developed together with nuovosì bridal accessories using the same lace as my ceremony veil, creating a subtle connection between two otherwise completely contrasting looks, as well as crystal René Caovilla heels.

The Groom Looks

For the wedding day itself, his complete wardrobe came from HIRMER, a traditional Munich family-owned menswear house. For the Black Tie ceremony, he wore a classic black tuxedo with a crisp evening shirt, coordinating accessories, and black patent leather shoes, with every element of the look selected through HIRMER. 

Our Bridesmaids’ Looks

We didn’t have traditional bridesmaids with assigned dresses or a fixed color palette. Beyond the Black Tie dress code, we asked our guests to avoid very bright colors such as red or orange and encouraged a softer range of earth tones and pastels. Among my closest girls, this naturally resulted in many choosing brown and other earthy shades—some of my absolute favorite colors—which created a beautifully cohesive look without ever feeling prescribed. Within that overall direction, it was important to us not to become too specific about exact shades or silhouettes because, above all, we wanted everyone to feel completely comfortable and like themselves in what they were wearing.

Our Groomsmen’s Looks

The groomsmen followed the Black Tie dress code in classic black tuxedos with bow ties. We specifically asked for black rather than navy or other dark shades, which created a very clean and cohesive look alongside Vincent’s own tuxedo.

Our Advice

For the Planning Process

One of the biggest advantages for us was knowing very early on where we wanted to get married. We would also encourage couples not to follow every wedding tradition simply because it is expected, or to build the entire celebration around what happens to be trending at the time.  Having a wedding planner was also a complete game changer for us, especially while planning a wedding in another country.  The other thing we learned is not to underestimate how much time the details take. The year leading up to our wedding was incredibly busy professionally, and when you care deeply about every little detail, the to-do list can grow very quickly. Setting aside dedicated time each week made a huge difference and helped avoid everything becoming overwhelming toward the end.

For On The Day

Our biggest advice for the day itself—or, in our case, the entire weekend—is to create the space to be fully present. Having someone else take care of timings, logistics, and anything unexpected meant that we never had to think about what was happening next and could simply experience it. We also made a very conscious decision not to leave each other’s side throughout the day. We wanted to experience every emotion, laugh, tear, dance, and toast together rather than constantly being pulled in different directions. Looking back, that was one of the best decisions we made: to move through the entire day side by side and see it all not only through our own eyes, but through each other’s as well.

For Post-Wedding

That idea of being present carries into the days, weeks, and months after the wedding too. If we could have one impossible wish now, it would be to experience the entire weekend once more as invisible spectators—simply to watch all of those fleeting moments, emotions, dances, and little interactions that were happening around us at the same time. After planning for so long, everything passes incredibly quickly, and there are so many emotions to process afterward. Giving ourselves the time to stay in that feeling, talk about it together, and slowly relive the weekend has been incredibly special. Having photographs and films that allow us to return to those moments again and again has become one of the most precious parts of the entire experience.