Helena and Keio – a lovely couple from Estonia who did their vow renewal at Alpe di Siusi mountain meadow and finished the day at Seceda. In this post you can read about them and their day, see their detailed itinerary, read their review and also access the full gallery.

The story of Helena and Keio

They have been together for 10 years, married for 5. They are joking that they met through Tinder although neither of them has ever had a Tinder account. Helena’s best friend and Keio’s best friend met through Tinder and this brought together these two love birds as well. Years ago, they were in Dubai having a date night on a beach on a red carpet with a private 5-course dinner when Keio popped the question and Helena obviously answered with a big fat YES!

When they started to plan their wedding they were deciding between a big wedding party and an intimate winter elopement. They chose to have a big traditional wedding. Now, 5 years later, for the 10th anniversary of their relationship, they decided to still do the winter version of the wedding in form of a vow renewal!

Vow renewal

Helena and Keio had an 8 hour elopement package with me. As amazing views were the most important wish for them, we chose two iconic locations for their vow renewal. Helena and Keio travelled with their 1 year old daughter and grandmother who stayed at their AirBnB for the day. As the getting ready part would have taken place at their accommodation during the child’s bedtime, they chose not to capture the getting ready part of the day.

The weather was just perfect! It was sunny, but still a little bit cloudy so the sun wasn’t too intense. The temperatures were a little below freezing point. The snow was nicely fluffy, not melting and overall it was not too cold.

Please note that we come from a country where -20°C (-4F) is normal in winter. 0°C / 32F is considered rather warm for winter.

Alpe di Siusi mountain meadow

We started out a little before 9AM with a drive to Alpe di Siusi car park, where we put on the dress and did a 45min hike to the ceremony location.

When we arrived on the ceremony spot, Helena and Keio enjoyed the views while I set up the cameras and microphones for photos and videos. And then it was time to start the ceremony! So exciting! 🙂

First they did their emotional vows and exchanged rings to beautiful promises. Then they popped champaign and sat down for a picnic and to enjoy the views and company of each other.

Once they had warmed up again after being without jackets during the ceremony, they danced to the same song they had at their wedding 5 years ago.

And then it was time for some individual and couple’s portraits.

Lunchbreak

After portraits it was time to move to the next and very important part of the day which was lunch! We drove to a little village, chose a nice little restaurant and went in in full wedding attire which made all other customers cheer and smile! We had our pizzas (as you always do when you are in Italy…) and finished the lunch with a coffee break. It is very important to leave time for eating a break in a restaurant not only lets you warm up after hiking in cold weather but it also makes sure nobody gets hangry 🙂

Seceda

After lunch we went up to Seceda which is one of the most iconic spots of the Dolomites. You usually see only pictures of the most famous view of that viewpoint which is shown on the first pictures here. But there are two other very nice backgrounds as well that you can see on the next pictures!

We went down with the very last gable car of the day just around sunset time and I drove them back to their AirBnB. Helena and Keio finished the day with a lovely dinner with their family.

Feedback

“Eva had done all the homework regarding the locations, had everything with her and all we needed to do was just to enjoy the day! With her you can be sure that the preparation work is thorough and nothing is left to chances. Such a special day should be trusted into the safest hands only and trustworthiness is exactly what she provided us with!

Eva guided us with posing perfectly – it was all so easy! I was especially surprised how fast we got the first images from her. Just amazing! This day will definitely be on the top of the list of the most beautiful days of our lives: everything was as perfect as it could have been! We were in the moment, air was filled with love and it kind of felt like there was nobody else around us. The day with her was entirely stress-free, fun and exceeded all our expectations!“

Helena & Keio

Itinerary

As you can see, there were just two locations and specific activities in just one of them, but the day was still packed with activities. There was just enough time to enjoy and relax, but not too much time without any activities as it can get very cold very fast this way. I am not joking when I say that during the elopement time goes by so much faster than you can imagine and well. Also, driving to and between locations takes up quite a lot of time in the mountains.

If you want to see how the day looked timewise, then here you can see our itinerary for the day:

8.45 – I picked them up at their AirBnB

8.45 – 9.30 – drive to Alpe di Siusi

9.30 – 9.45 – getting ready at the car park

9.45 – 10.30 – hiking to the ceremony location

10.30 – 10.45 – setting up all of the gear for video, microphones etc, detail pictures, enjoying the views

10.45 – 11.15 – ceremony: vows, ring exchange, popping champaign, a little picnic, first dance

11.15 – 11.45 – portraits

11.45 – 12.30 – drive to a village to have lunch

12.30-14.00 – lunch and coffee break

14.00 – 14.15 – drive to Seceda gable car station

14.15 – 14.45 – buying tickets, driving up to the mountain

14.45 – 16.30 – wandering around on top of the mountain, taking pictures at three different spots

16.30 – 17.15 – coming back down with the last gable car and driving back to their AirBnB

Thanks

I want to thank Helena and Keio for trusting me to be their photographer and vow renewal planner. We had a lot of fun and I could see that they really enjoyed the day and the company of each other! They are such a good example of how communication even after 10 years can be on such a good level! It was so inspiring to see how they are with each other!

I also want to thank Paola for this amazing bridal bouquet and boutonniere that was exactly what we asked for! Wild looking, with pastel colors and with a lot of volume. It suited the dress and surroundings perfectly 🙂

If you wish to see the full gallery of this day, you can access it HERE:

I am so happy you were interested in this blog post about Helena’s and Keio’s vow renewal! I hope you enjoyed it and that it inspired you!

You know – your wedding or vow renewal could be like this as well! If you consider eloping in Italy, please contact me via my WEBSITE and we can chat more about your super-awesome day!