Kairi and Jürgen’s winter wedding was genuine, heartfelt, and truly reflected who they are as a couple. It was a wedding where love, emotion, and a grand celebration came together in a unique setting. On February 11, 2022, their wedding day led guests to the Estonian National Museum, where the spacious and ceremonial architecture created a perfect backdrop for both the ceremony and the celebration.

Despite the restrictions of the time, Kairi and Jürgen’s wedding day turned out to be truly special – beautiful, warm, and unforgettable. It is a wedding celebration that both the couple and their guests still remember with affection and heartfelt emotion.

The couple:
“We trusted the wedding planners completely, and they did not disappoint. We received an outstanding wedding that we always remember with great emotions and a sense of pride.”

The couple’s memories of their wedding

Why and how did you decide to get married?

We had been together for a very long time – by the time of our wedding, we had been together for 11 years. Kairi had known her wedding year already since primary school. Two and a half years before our wedding, my sister got married, and her wedding was organized by Celebrate Group. Since that wedding was exceptionally beautiful and entertaining, we immediately knew who we would turn to for organizing our own wedding.

How long was your wedding planning process?

Our wedding planning process was relatively short. We set the date and location about a year before the wedding day. The more active planning phase started about six to eight months beforehand.

Just before our wedding, the COVID-19 pandemic had brought many restrictions (and at the time, people didn’t plan very far ahead in general), and our wedding was no exception.

What was your wedding vision or theme? How did you bring the idea to life?

A winter wedding, with a fixed date: 11.02.2022. We definitely wanted to have the wedding in one location so that guests wouldn’t have to travel between venues. Since we wanted a winter wedding, it was important to us that guests could arrive dressed up, change their shoes, and spend the entire evening comfortably in one place.

Did you have to make any major compromises in your plans?

Due to COVID restrictions, the wedding had to end by 10:00 PM. Normally, wedding celebrations last until midnight or even the early morning hours. This is where the wedding planners stepped in skillfully – we started the wedding a bit earlier so the entire program would fit within the restrictions. Even now, nearly four years later, guests still say they can’t believe the celebration ended at 10:00 PM, because everyone felt like they left the Estonian National Museum well after midnight.

Because we got married at the Estonian National Museum, we had to use the venue’s catering and bar service providers. Fortunately, they were very accommodating and asked what kind of menu we wanted. We also requested a tasting, and luckily, the dinner was incredibly delicious both at the tasting and on the wedding day itself.

We knew clearly where we were willing to invest more financially and where we were prepared to make compromises.

The wedding planners from Celebrate Group skillfully asked what mattered most to us – the host/master of ceremonies, food, videographer, photographer. Thanks to this, the ground rules were clear from the start.

What were your wishes regarding gifts and flowers from guests? Why did you choose this approach?

We didn’t want flowers. Instead, we asked guests to bring a monetary gift in an envelope and to give us one of their favorite recipes. This turned out to be incredibly lovely – we now have what feels like a personal cookbook as a keepsake, full of wonderful recipes and tips on how to make dishes especially delicious. We simply didn’t have space at home to store flowers.

Tell us about your choice of wedding venue. What were the main criteria?

We wanted both the ceremony and the celebration to take place in one location, so guests wouldn’t have to move around. It was also important that it would be easy for guests to get home at night, which is why we wanted to hold the wedding in Tartu. Most of our friends and guests are from Tartu as well.

The Estonian National Museum is a spacious, elegant, and beautiful venue for a wedding. It allowed us to host both the ceremony and the celebration in the same building, but in different rooms.

What would you do differently if you were planning your wedding today?

There’s not much we would change, because we had an amazing wedding. We trusted the wedding planners completely, and they didn’t let us down. We received a wonderful wedding that we always remember with great emotions and pride.

The most touching moment of the wedding?

Kairi walking down the aisle and the first look.

Which moments stood out the most for you and your guests?

Estonian band 5Miinust, walking down the aisle, great food, and wedding host Tõnis Niinemets.

What were you willing to spend the most on, and where were you willing to save?

We wanted the wedding to be beautifully documented – capturing the guests, emotions, and the entire celebration – so we were willing to invest more in both the videographer and photographer.

When it came to decorations, we were prepared to be more modest (for example, we skipped an ice sculpture), but we already considered this when choosing the venue. We selected a location that was inherently elegant and beautiful on its own.

What advice would you give to future couples planning their wedding?

Think about what kind of wedding you yourself would want to attend. Make decisions based on who you are as a couple. A wedding tells the story of the couple. We also encourage couples to consider non-traditional timing – winter instead of summer, a weekday instead of a weekend. It adds an extra layer of magic to the entire event.

Why hire a wedding planner?

We chose to work with wedding planners because it gave us confidence that the wedding would happen – and exactly the way we wanted it to. For us, event planning is a huge challenge and often causes too much worry and stress. You always want everything to be beautiful, enjoyable, and reasonably priced.

We had only attended two weddings before, so we didn’t fully know what needed to be considered or done to successfully host a wedding. We definitely wanted to enjoy our wedding to the fullest, and we knew we needed and wanted help with organizing it.

We were very lucky – the organization was wonderful. We felt truly taken care of. We received guidance on what needed to be done and how, and what decisions to make. The planners had extensive experience – they knew what works, what doesn’t, and what else needs to be taken into account.

In addition, the wedding planners had many industry connections. Whether we asked about a photographer, a performer, or cake design, they immediately had someone to recommend.

Read also about the wedding of groom Jürgen’s sister, which took place at Wagenküll Castle!