Lauren & David

The couple

Ibiza meant a great deal to Lauren and David, and they wanted to marry there with only their closest family and friends around them. For a small wedding with total privacy, a rented villa was the natural answer: no shared spaces, no other guests, and the freedom to decide every detail. Planned by Bliss Ibiza Weddings, the search began with three houses. The couple received detailed videos and notes on each, and picked the one the planning team also liked best.

The ceremony

Villa Es Vedra sits on a cliff in the west of the island, with a large garden, arched architecture and, as the name promises, the rock of Es Vedrà offshore. The couple married on the lawn under an arch of flowers, with a stone wall and the sea behind them. The ceremony had a classical feel, and a string duo played for it, then stayed on through the aperitif. Couples planning a villa ceremony like this will find the practical side in symbolic ceremonies.

Dinner and party

Dinner was served outside on the villa's terrace, which faces the sunset and Es Vedrà. Los Magicos Ibiza Catering handled the food. The meal started with dips and Spanish specialities to go with the first toast, then three courses paired with Spanish wines, then dessert. Cutting the cake led straight into the first dance, and the dance floor opened from there.

Eating outdoors is one of the simplest pleasures of an Ibiza wedding, and here it was helped by timing: the candles were lit as the sun went down over the water, so the tables changed from daylight to candlelight during the meal.

The details

Because it was a spring wedding, peonies led the flowers, in a deliberately colourful mix of pinks, reds and creams rather than all white. They appeared on the ceremony arch, along the long tables and around the cake, and their scent carried through the garden. The welcome sign, lanterns and place cards kept to the same soft palette.

• Peonies in season, in colour rather than white
• A string duo for the ceremony and the aperitif
• A terrace dinner timed for sunset
• Candlelight taking over as the light faded

Good to know

If you are choosing a villa from abroad, ask for video walk-throughs of each house rather than relying on listing photos; the couple here compared three before deciding. Spring brings flowers such as peonies that are hard to find later in the year, and milder evenings for eating outside. Check early whether the villa allows events and what the music rules are; the rules and permits page covers what to ask.