Vintage Elegance in the Swiss Alps: Ayla & Jack's Bespoke Wedding at Hotel Splendide

Author: Natali Grace Levine
Wedding date: 03/15/2025
City: Geneva

Love Story

Ayla and Jack's paths first crossed on Bumble while both attending Yale University. Their initial meeting at 116 Crown bar led to a hug goodnight and exchanged numbers—but fate had other plans for timing. Over the next six years, their lives intersected occasionally: another chance encounter at the same bar a year later ended with their first kiss, a brief lunch in London during Ayla's summer abroad, and sporadic messages.

It wasn't until summer 2021, when both were newly single post-pandemic relationships, that something changed. Daily WhatsApp messages filled with literary passages, music lyrics, and memories revealed a deep connection between them. When Jack invited Ayla to join him sailing in the South of France that September, she accepted. "Our compatibility feels too good to be true," they remarked about those early conversations.

Once reunited in France, their relationship quickly flourished: "We spent days in the Mediterranean sun, telling our life stories in chapters. By the end of the first week, we were in love. By the end of the second, Ayla has agreed to move back to London with Jack. We have been fundamentally inseparable ever since. We have made it work across different nationalities and time zones."

Four years later, they celebrated their union in the Swiss Alps.

About Your Wedding

When planning their celebration, Ayla and Jack sat down separately to write about their dream weddings, drawing inspiration from "The Art of Gathering."

"We wanted this wedding to be about our friends and family gathering together, and sharing the celebration with us," Ayla shares. "We wanted it to be elegant and elevated but FUN, not stuffy. We wanted it to be, as Jack wrote, the "Top Gun Maverick of Weddings" — so much fun, but also makes you cry." The couple drew inspiration from their 1920s Swiss Alps venue, embracing vintage aesthetics and celebrating the natural surroundings. Their flowers were foraged from nearby hillsides, and they incorporated elements of their own love story throughout.

"Not to sound self-aggrandizing, but our own love story played a big role!" Ayla admits. "We wanted to share with people the magic we feel together, and it was important to weave elements of narrative and storytelling into the entire wedding."

Morning Details

The couple poured their personalities into every wedding detail. Jack, creative and artistic, designed all the invitations himself, complete with his own watercolor artwork. Ayla designed the programs, bar menu, and food menu herself in Canva. They designed their wedding rings through CustomMade, with Jack's featuring a "sheet bend" knot (his favorite) and Ayla's wedding band complementing her symbolism-rich engagement ring.

The chosen jewelry spoke for their love story louder than words can. Each piece carried special meaning: Jack wore cufflinks Ayla bought him in Colorado during their "talking stage," and a watch he built from a kit she gave him on their first anniversary. Ayla's accessories were equally meaningful. "I wore a pearl necklace given by my grandfather to my grandmother on their 50th wedding anniversary; the earrings my mother wore on her wedding day; a bracelet that was the first gift Jack ever bought me, bearing the outline of the island where we fell in love."

She also wore a watch Jack gave her the morning of the wedding—"something old and something blue"—with a strap he made from scraps of her tailored wedding dress, plus a 200-year-old St Andrews Cross engagement ring passed down through her family.

Bride Getting Ready

Ayla's wedding dress search led her to La Premiere's "Olga" design, perfectly aligned with the vintage, wintery atmosphere of their venue—long sleeves, lace, a traditional A-line or ballgown cut. “When I tried on my La Premiere dress, I knew it was exactly right: everything I had envisioned and dreamed of, and I felt like a princess in it!!” She ordered the dress almost a year before the wedding, requesting custom adjustments: buttons on the back and sleeves, and a blush underlayer instead of white.

Ayla got ready at Au Club Alpin in Champex-Lac, surrounded by her two maids of honor, six bridesmaids (dressed in forest green Amsale satin gowns), her mother, and her aunt.

Her "something blue" came in the form of jewel-toned velvet shoes and a matching bag from Harriet Wilde. She completed her look with a cathedral-length veil trimmed to match her dress, and wore Tuberose and Angelica perfume from Jo Malone. "I wore it for the first time on my wedding day, and will wear it on special occasions and anniversaries from now on!" she explains. One particularly meaningful accessory was a handkerchief that had originally been Ayla's christening bonnet, given to her by her grandmother and repurposed for her wedding day.

Her bouquet, created by Linda at Tendance Floral, was elegant yet rustic, featuring in-season blooms from the surrounding landscape.
"It was important to us to have lilies (our mutual favourite flower), and also to have flowers that symbolised each of the three important places to us: thistles for Scotland, lavender for France, and alpine flowers for Switzerland. The florist did such an incredible job of incorporating all these elements, and the lavender sprigs were especially wonderful as they provided a very calming scent!" Ayla says.

Groom Getting Ready

Jack's attire was custom-made by Stewart Christie Tailors in Edinburgh, Scotland—right down to the bowtie. "The tux was designed to be the inverse of the groomsmen, who were wearing green velvet jackets with black lapels," Jack explains. The groom wore black velvet with green lapels and black tartan trews as a nod to their home in Scotland.

Jack prepared for the day at Au Club Alpin's bar area, accompanied by his best man (his brother), six groomsmen, their officiant Eric, close friends, and parents.

Photoshoot Before The Ceremony

The pre-ceremony photoshoot took place at the hotel where the day’s preparations unfolded. "It had plenty of space, with both charming indoor and outdoor spots," Ayla recalls. The setting was ideal for capturing those quiet, expectant moments before the celebration truly began.

Ceremony

The ceremony took place on the terrace of Hotel Splendide, overlooking the spectacular valley and mountains of Champex-Lac. Ayla walked down the aisle to "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys.

"The whole ceremony was SO SPECIAL," Ayla enthuses. "A mutual friend of ours officiated the ceremony, and he was so deeply thoughtful, warm, and brought an incredible calmness and presence to our ceremony. Jack's brother and a few friends from St Andrews sang "Archie Marry Me" a cappella to kick off the ceremony, which was so beautiful. My cousin and her husband shared a beautiful set of words and a poem with us. My best friend from high school composed an original classical piano piece entitled "prelude (morning)" that he performed live during the ceremony."

The couple wrote and read their own vows, creating an emotional atmosphere. "There wasn't a dry eye in the house," Jack remembers. "It was such a beautiful, fun, meaningful ceremony rich with symbolism and made possible by the extraordinary gestures, artistry, and thoughtfulness of our loved ones."

Photoshoot After The Ceremony

Following the ceremony, the newlyweds ventured to the frozen lake in the center of Champex-Lac for an unforgettable photo session. "It was SO COLD, but really fun to stand out on the snowy, frozen lake in our wedding outfits!" Ayla laughs. "They are some of my favorite photos of the day."

Wedding Venue & Decor

The couple's wedding color palette featured forest green and lavender, with sage green accents throughout. Their decor reflected their journey together, with each element carefully chosen to tell their story. "We had visited the venue for multiple years, staying there together in the winters, and fallen in love with it," Jack says. "We got engaged on their terrace in February 2024."

Personalization was paramount for Ayla and Jack. "We wrote a letter to every person at our wedding," Ayla explains, "and included photos of us with them throughout the years." These envelopes served as escort cards for the reception.

Each table was named for a meaningful place in their relationship. "Jack made the table toppers on his laser cutter," Ayla shares, "and designed every table topper to be symbolic of the place after which the table was named — for example, an outline of the island Porquerolles, or a racing horse to represent the Milestone Bar." The backs of the table toppers featured prompts, games, and questions identifying commonalities among guests at each table, facilitating conversation.

The vintage-inspired decor included boxes of antique books, old cameras, sextants, cars, and train figurines—all representing shared passions. Antique brass candlesticks donated by Ayla's godfather adorned the tables, later given as gifts to the wedding party. "is father had found, assembled, and cleaned hundreds of antique brass candlesticks in and across Mexico's markets," Ayla explains. Other personalized touches included a "Sip and Solve" game for guests, personalized card decks, coasters, and custom matchbooks.

Reception

For their first dance, Ayla and Jack chose "Detectorists" by Johnny Flynn—the same song that had played a significant role in Jack's elaborate proposal.

The cocktail menu, created by Cocktail on the Rocks, continued their theme of important places. "Once again, the theme of our three important places came through, and each cocktail took guests a journey to one of our important places," Jack describes. "A passionfruit Aperol Spritz represented France, a 'Forth and Clyde,' which was the drink we had on our first date, represented Scotland, and our bartenders crafted an entirely new cocktail with local ingredients."

The reception featured entirely local wines from within miles of the venue and a vegetarian menu by Simple Tastes. "I don't think even the most devoted carnivores noticed," Ayla says proudly. "The goat cheese tarts as an appetizer and the mushroom risotto as a main were SO delicious and beautiful."

Dessert was a special parfait from the caterer's father's recipe, along with a spectacular blueberry passionfruit wedding cake by Marine Daglia at Cupcaker. "I truly, truly love wedding cake and had dreamed of my own wedding cake since I was a little girl," Ayla confesses. "Our cake was PERFECT!"

During the reception, the couple honored Scottish tradition with a Quaich ceremony. "It is a wedding tradition where the bride and groom drink from the same, double-handled silver cup, and share it with their friends and family to unite the clans," Jack explains. They drank from a custom-engraved Quaich while guests toasted with antique crystal cordial glasses filled with whisky—glasses they could take home as mementos.

Looking back, Ayla and Jack are grateful for everyone who made their day special. “Every single wedding vendor was absolutely INCREDIBLE. We would highly recommend every single one of them, and felt like we were friends and family with them at the end of the wedding. Everything from the flowers to the music to the photos to the food and drink were literally 100% perfect and exactly what you wished for,” they share. “Big shoutout to our wedding planner, Stephanie, who helped all our crazy ideas turn into reality!”

Their Swiss Alpine wedding wasn't just a celebration of their love—it was the culmination of a remarkable journey across continents, years, and serendipitous encounters that finally led them to where they were always meant to be: together.