Tent wedding at Kadiorg Rose Garden

In 2024, a lovely couple from the United States reached out to us, bride and groom Aili and Eric. Aili, who has Estonian roots, dreamed of getting married right here in her ancestral homeland. And so began a planning process for a two-day wedding celebration.

Destination wedding in Estonia

Most of the guests of Aili and Eric’s wedding came from the USA to take part in their wedding celebration in Estonia. The first day was dedicated to welcoming the guests: Tales of Reval took them on an exciting Old Town tour, and the evening culminated at Restaurant Paat, where they enjoyed the sunset and sea views.

On the morning of the wedding day, the couple got ready at the Telegraaf Hotel and then headed to the courtyard of the Dominican Monastery for the ceremony. After a heartfelt ceremony, the celebration continued in the Kadriorg Rose Garden, where the bride, groom and guests were welcomed to a dream tent wedding.

Bride and Groom’s memories

What inspired you to choose a destination wedding in Estonia?

We were looking for a magical destination wedding location that we had a connection with and that would be a new place to discover for most of our family and friends. We considered several places and Eric suggested we look at Estonia given Aili’s strong connection through her grandparents. Eric had never been but had heard Tallinn was beautiful so we went to check it out in June 2024, met with Merily, and helped by some beautiful weather and a memorable Midsummer (Jaanipäev) celebration with family, he fell in love with Estonia too. 

What were your expectations for your wedding day, being so far from home? 

We had high expectations and hopes that this would be a memorable weekend  since all of our family and friends would be traveling a great distance to celebrate with us. We have been to many many weddings and wanted this to be truly special and one-of-a-kind for the two of us and the many people coming together for the event. Bringing everyone to Estonia was a great way to do this. But when planning from afar, one naturally has many more worries about whether the day and weekend will turn out as you hope. For this reason, we could not have done it without Merily and the Celebrate Group. We had seen pictures of previous events they had created so we knew they had good style but we also had to take a leap of faith. We put our trust in them and they produced the most dazzling, special wedding celebration of our dreams. 

How did the planning process go, considering you live in New York?

The planning process was very smooth. We had regular zoom meetings and it was incredibly helpful to have Merily keep us on track for all the many decisions one needs to make. We both have busy jobs and we are parenting five children together, so life is hectic. So it was critical to know when we needed to focus on what to stay on track. 

What was your wedding vision, and why did you choose it?

Our wedding vision was to create a midsummer night’s romance, which leaned into nature and Estonia’s rich history and also brought in Eric’s Jewish faith. We wanted to pick a setting and architecture that captured these qualities and as a result would be very different from our New York lives and those of many of our family and guests who live in North American cities. The rich long history of Estonia, the beautiful architecture of the Vanalinn (where our guests stayed) and the combination of gorgeous nature and a historical, architectural masterpiece in the Kadriorg palace brought all of these ingredients together.  Our color palate – whites, creams, blues and forest green (in the bridesmaid dresses) can all be found in nature. The timing of our wedding, right before Jaanipäev, was also part of the vision as Estonia’s white midsummer nights are famous around the world and this seemed like the perfect way to create a magical, otherworldly atmosphere. 

Did you have to make any compromises or adjustments because it was a destination wedding?

The main compromise we had to make was knowing that not all of our family and guests would be able to join in person as the reality of two flights would be too much for some and for others this time of year was busy with children’s end-of-year schedules.  Despite the distance, we were surprised with how many friends and family were thrilled to travel to join us, some bringing all of their children too and turning our wedding into a larger trip in Scandinavia and beyond. 

Which moment(s) during the wedding were the most meaningful or memorable for you?

There were so many! Our top moments:
1. The vintage wedding car that Celebrate found was so chic and beautiful and it was an extra bonus that our kind driver had worked for Estonia’s former president, Toomas Hendrik Ilves. For Eric and me, our time together in this amazing car and doing our own photo shoot was memorable because we could share how special the ceremony had been, and take a pause to celebrate each other and our marriage before the party began.

2. The ceremony was magnificent in every regard. We would have never found or known about the Dominiiklaste klooster – an incredible 14th century monastery in the vana linn-without the help of Celebrate Group. This created the setting for a very special ceremony where we were surrounded by the history of vana Tallinn but also secluded in our own protected area for our guests. Celebrate Group created a wonderful huppah, the canopy under which the couple stands symbolizing the new home they are building together, and our ceremony combining blessings and music from both our faiths and cultures is one I will always remember.  Hannes was an outstanding officiant – he truly listened when we met with him beforehand as the ceremony he helped create felt true to us both and the special combination of traditions and religions our marriage symbolizes. He added order and spiritual depth to the ceremony and he was equally excellent at the reception afterwards, deftly keeping the party humming along happily while still ensuring photos and other events occurred.

3. The reception brought to life our vision for a romantic and historic midsummer wedding. The rose gardens at Kadriorg were magnificent and the “tent” created for the party was more like a glass castle, beyond what we had both imagined  – elegant, gorgeously furnished and decorated and the perfect complement to the magnificent Kadriorg. It was a testament to the beauty that Celebrate created whereby our Estonian guests were blown away that such a party could be created in Kadriog. Our international guests (and we!) were dazzled by the menu from Siigur – people repeatedly said that one usually barely remembers the food at weddings but that our wedding food was the level of a Michelin restaurant and the best wedding meal they had ever had.

4. The music was also a highlight. We were perhaps particularly nervous that the band and DJ would fit what we and our guests liked and could create good energy on the dance floor. Dancing the traditional Jewish horah and the Estonian brides dance will always stay with me as will the fact that I enjoyed so much of the evening on the dance floor. I love dancing and one does not get to dance often enough in regular life so it was very special to bring our guests of all ages together onto the dance floor to dance together.

What advice would you give to future couples planning a destination wedding?

Pick a location that you have a connection to in some manner. For me, it was the ancestral land of my grandparents. For others, there may be a shared memory for the couple connected to a place. It provides an anchor to the significance of the event and I am so glad we were thoughtful in this way rather than just picking somewhere beautiful.

Try to visit your location well in advance even if you don’t have much planned yet. We visited Estonia a year before our wedding and while we had some ideas, we had very few concrete plans for the wedding. That trip, however,  made all the difference in selecting a hotel for our guests, a ceremony and reception  location, Siigur for our food, getting engagement photos done and so much more. 

A wedding planner is 100% necessary and spend time looking at your planner’s past work and meeting with them (whether in person or virtually) to ensure you are excited to collaborate to create a magical event together and that their past work strikes delight in your heart.

Why did you decide to use the help of a wedding planner, and how did it make a difference?

We knew there was no way we could create an elegant, exquisite wedding both from afar but also as neither of us work in any aspect of weddings. It was a joy to have the inspiration and creativity of Celebrate every step of the way to elevate what we had in mind into the wedding of our dreams. Having Merily and Celebrate plan our wedding meant that the process was fun – they were always cheerful and excited to show us new ideas for various components and it also meant that once we arrived in Estonia we could focus entirely on enjoying the wedding and leave the details to them. A prime example of how important it was to have Celebrate at our side was that a few days before the wedding, our selected photographer was hospitalized. I vividly remember sitting with Merily over coffee at the Telegraaf Hotel two days before the wedding to go over final details. She shared this development along with the news that she had already found another photographer with a similar aesthetic to fill in who then worked closely with our original photographer to ensure the final photos were magnificent and in the style and palate we desired. Without a planner, this news would have set off worry and panic. Instead, I felt no worry as Merily already had a solution ready and she calmly shared this update and we continued moving along with the preparations. And our photographic team produced the most amazing photos. 

You can also find inspiration for a tent wedding from the wedding we planned at Kernu Manor!