Bold, luxurious and romantic; these three words describe the vision of so many Dubai brides-to-be when it comes to dreams of their big day, and thankfully, being in a city such as Dubai means that these big dreams can be turned into reality.

Today we are thrilled to feature the wedding of Kim and Denver, who were married in October 2018 at a gorgeous celebration at Burj al Arab, which followed their ceremony at St. Mary’s Church. As bloggers over at Where My Food At, Kim and Denver have already teased a glimpse of their big day via their Instagram account, so we are really excited to learn more about their wedding and showcase some more incredible images here on BCME! And what gorgeous images they are too…

Read on to learn more about how Denver proposed to Kim (it’s an incredible proposal story!) and to discover how their ‘Beauty and the Beast’ theme was brought to life. Enjoy!

How did he propose?

Believe it or not, Den and I went to the same school and stayed three blocks away from each other all our lives, but it was only in the beginning of 2012 (during university) when we connected and what got us closer? Food! Shocking, isn’t it? Haha!

Fun Fact: Apart from food, we both were (and still are) weirdly obsessed with the TV show Friends. We couldn’t sleep without watching at least one episode a day. In fact, we know the entire script, word for word, of each and every episode in that series by heart (something we’re very proud of, besides all our Where My Food At achievements). So, on 25th October 2012, Den invited me to his house in the afternoon and I readily accepted. As I walked in, I saw Den standing in the middle of his hall, filled with rose petals and candles and he comes up to me and asks me to be his girlfriend. For those of you who watch friends, one of my favorite scenes in that series was when Monica proposes to Chandler by lighting up her entire apartment with candles and roses, and Den decided to re-enact that entire scene. I should’ve known then, that when the time came for the big proposal, he’d pull out all the stops.

We were about to take a trip to France, and I got an email from a manager at Shangri La Paris inviting us to review their hotel whenever we’re in the city. Obviously, I got excited since it’s perfect timing and I called Den and shared the news with him as well. I immediately reply to the email confirming that we will be in Paris on 30th August and would love to review the hotel. The manager then replies asking us to arrive an hour before dinner since she wants us to review their Rooftop Champagne Bar, to which I readily accepted. She also made it a point to mention that there’s a formal-chic dress code for the dinner, so I made sure to pack one of my prettiest dresses. When we arrived at the lobby of the Shangri La Hotel, the hotel manager approaches us and asks us if we’re Kim and Den – the Dubai bloggers, and offered to assist us to the rooftop bar. As we walked in I noticed the bar was empty, and it was just the staff waiting to greet us. We were then escorted to our table at the terrace and THE VIEW was one of the most beautiful views I’ve ever come across! As I gazed at the Eiffel Tower, I noticed a photographer clicking pictures of the tower and of the Shangri La property. The photographer then approaches us, introduces himself as the hotel photographer, and asks if he could take a picture of us with the tower for the hotel’s website. He took a couple of shots of us and then excused himself for a moment (I think he said he needed to take a call). Once he left us, we turned to the Eiffel Tower and were soaking in the moment of being in one of the most romantic cities in the world, and it was precisely at that time when Den popped the question by going down on one knee and made me the happiest girl in the entire freaking world! Thank God for waterproof mascara because I was balling like a baby.

It turned out that Den contacted the manager of Shangri La and asked her to send me an email inviting us to the hotel. This way, I would think that the entire evening had been planned by me (not Den) and I would never see the proposal coming. Also, remember the hotel photographer? Turns out he’s one of the best local proposal photographers in the city and Den contacted him weeks in advance and planned the whole thing with him. Want to know the best part? The ‘Rooftop Champagne Bar’ is actually one of Shangri La Hotel’s most expensive rooms since it’s got the best view of the Eiffel Tower (Beyoncé stayed there too!) and it gets converted into a bar for a short period during the month of July. The bar technically wasn’t supposed to function on 30th August but the fabulous team at Shangri La made an exception and booked out the entire room/bar for us!

Did you decide on a wedding theme? If so, talk us through your choice…

Yes, we did. Ever since I was a little girl I have been obsessed with Disney, and Beauty and the Beast in particular. This is why I wanted our venue (church and reception) to be filled with red roses and candles. I feel its super romantic, elegant and classy. I also fell in love with the ballroom where Beauty and the Beast danced and I spent months looking for one that resembled that of a palace. Finally, we came across the double-floored Burj Al Arab ballroom which fit the theme perfectly!

Tell us about the wedding cake….

There was no doubt in my mind that Chateau Blanc would be doing our wedding cake. We think there are very few bakeries in Dubai that nail both aesthetics and flavour, and Chateau Blanc definitely tops our list. We told them what our theme was and we asked them (with no hope of a positive response) if they could somehow incorporate a forever rose into our cake. To our pleasant surprise, they did manage to present us with a gorgeous white and gold wedding cake with a forever rose inside it. The crowd LOVED it and it definitely got all the attraction at the reception.

What about the food trucks?

After the ceremony, we wanted to do something different and instead of handing out custom food boxes like most couples do, we decided to get two food trucks serving unlimited food to our guests instead. We are food bloggers after all, haha!

Let’s talk wedding gowns. Where did you buy your dream gown?

When I saw Aishwarya Rai walk on the Cannes 2017 red carpet, I fell in love. The dress was beyond breath-taking and more importantly, it was the perfect ballroom gown to fit with our wedding theme. So I searched high and low for a “fairytale” dress just like that. It took me a while, but after going through wedding gowns in at least 30-40 bridal shops, I happened to come across Sponsa Bridal and found a dress EXACTLY like Aishwarya’s. I only took about 15 minutes from the moment I spotted the dress, to trying it on, to saying “YES” to it. The second easiest “YES” of my life, haha!

Most enjoyable part of the planning process…

I would have to say my mother. I didn’t hire a wedding planner for the planning process so it was mostly my Mom and I doing all the running around, scouting for locations, dresses, bargaining, designing wedding cards, making giveaway boxes and what not. If it wasn’t for her I’m pretty sure the entire experience would’ve been a nightmare for me. She put her heart and soul into planning my wedding and for that, I’m forever grateful to her. Also, planning events – be it birthdays, anniversaries or a wedding, is something the two of us love to do which is why it was so enjoyable.

Most testing part of the wedding planning process as an expat bride…

It would have to be not having enough time. I think all brides, whether expat or not, struggle when it comes to time management. I’m a full-time blogger and a part-time T.V presenter so there are days where I devote my heart and soul to my work and hence don’t get enough time to allocate for the wedding planning process which in turn gives me anxiety. It was a real test to try and balance my work life, fitness, time with my family and loved ones, and wedding planning equally but somehow I made it through.

Top three tips for a bride-to-be…

Prioritise what YOU would love to have at YOUR wedding, over what you think others would love you to have. At the end of day, it’s yours and your fiancé’s special day so don’t over-think it.

Pamper yourself during those last few weeks leading up to your wedding. The last thing you’d want is for you to look stressed or tired on your special day so make sure to book all those facial and spa treatments (for you and your man) and just relax and take in every moment of your last few weeks as a Miss.

If you’re currently living with your parents, make sure to soak up as much family time as you can. No matter how perfect your new home might be or how excited you might be about being a new wife, chances are, you’re going to miss them terribly after you move out!

The Bride’s Little Pink Book

Photographers: Itsoura Motions and Stills and Anton Kuznetsov / Venue: ceremony at Saint Mary’s Church and Burj Al Arab / Flowers: Firenze Flora / Dress: Sponsa Bridal / Giveaways: Not Just Desserts Dubai / Cake: Chateau Blanc and Groom’s cake by Awesomelicious Cakeshop / Food Trucks: Tandem and Wokinaki / On the day wedding planner: Masha Cain at Fabulous Day / Entertainment: The Boxtones / Infinity chairs: Red Velvet Designs / Hair and Make Up Artist: Kiran Farooq

If you are interested in booking any of the featured vendors in the above article, just click below.