On a sunny Friday morning, we spoke at a safe distance with Liz (30) and Gijsbert (38) from Utrecht. They were born and raised in Oldenzaal, but decided to move to the Randstad. When Liz was asked to marry in April 2019, the lovebirds knew immediately: we are getting married at Kasteel de Haar.

A few years ago, Gijsbert and Liz visited the Italy Event at Castle de Haar for the first time. Since then they try to go every year with family. 'The event always takes place in spring and then the place is so beautiful with the lovely spring sunshine. Every time we are impressed by the look of the castle. To me it really is fairy-tale like there. It was immediately clear to us that we wanted to get married at Castle de Haar,' Liz adds.

Getting married in the fall is highly recommended!

'We first wanted to get married in the summer because of the atmosphere and the nice weather. But, because we might then get in the way of our friends getting married too, we chose November. Preferably on a Saturday, so it became the ^30th. In retrospect, it's a good thing we got married then. If we had chosen the summer of 2020, we would be a little less relaxed now," says Gijsbert.

It was very convenient for the brand-new couple to get married in the fall. "We wanted to make it a chic wedding, where the dress code was semi-formal. And that is much more doable in November in terms of temperature, Gijsbert emphasizes. The colors of the trees were beautiful and the sun was shining. We were really lucky and would recommend it to anyone!

The preparations went very smoothly

Gijsbert and Liz knew right away that they wanted to get married at Castle de Haar. Right after Gijsbert proposed, they called the Location Rental department, which handles weddings, corporate rentals and events. Shortly thereafter, the on-site introduction followed. It all went very quickly. 'At Castle de Haar you have a lot of choice when it comes to wedding venues and caterers. Once we were from here, all the details followed naturally. We are both project managers by profession and therefore have some experience when it comes to organizing. In addition, Sandra and Timothy of Location Rental thought along very well about small details to make our day even more special. They were quick to respond if we had any questions. In total we only spent about a month on all the preparations.

'Stand there a little actively, not your hands in your pockets...'

And then it was November 30. The bride and groom began with a photo shoot in the gardens of Castle de Haar, because it lends itself perfectly to that as well. This was followed by a lunch with the family in Het Koetshuis. 'Perfect of course, because at Kasteel de Haar you find everything you need on the same premises. Gijsbert received the other guests and I left for a small room in the Chapel. When all seventy guests were inside, Gijsbert walked with the group to the Chapel. With a small detour through the fantastic gardens, of course. I waited until the Chapel was filled and then could walk nicely through the outside to the front door for my entrance. According to Gijsbert, Liz's entrance was surely the most beautiful moment of the day. 'Liz was beaming at her father's hand and the sun was shining in through the stained glass windows. The number of chairs in the Chapel was adjusted to the number of people who were there. That made it intimate. We didn't get married in church, but the location was extra special for our faithful family. It was beautiful.

Gijsbert touched on the tip from wedding expert Timothy. 'He said to me: stand there a little bit actively, not with your hands in your pockets... I thought it was super that he thought along like that!'

An overwhelming but intimate Main Hall

This was followed by the reception in the Coach House and dinner in the castle's Main Hall. 'Entering the castle for dinner was really overwhelming for our guests. It is very large in the Main Hall, yet it felt intimate and cozy with the beautiful round tables. We got a lot of great tips, such as the catering from Maison van den Boer. The caterer managed to give the already beautiful hall an enchanting atmosphere with details. The caterer has been coming to Castle de Haar for years, so knows the ins and outs. Maison van den Boer also arranged the tables beautifully. The guests were completely overwhelmed by this venue. We wanted to dine a little longer because we had many courses and wines. As a result, dinner ran a little late, but fortunately that was not a problem for the party at Het Koetshuis," says Gijsbert.

The opening dance

Everything was completely satisfactory, even for the hundred guests present. The atmosphere was very relaxed. Only the opening dance didn't go quite super. We did the Viennese waltz, but due to circumstances we hadn't been able to practice very much. While we were doing it we thought 'this is going to go completely wrong', but fortunately the guests didn't notice. Probably the expectations were also very low, jokes Gijsbert. We spent a good minute trying to spin around and then we thought: it's okay. As a final pose, I threw Liz over my knee.'

A true fairy tale wedding

'Castle de Haar really made our dream come true. We were well guided throughout the day and everything was thought of. In addition, having everything at one location is a big plus. This takes a lot of the stress away. Should the Italy Event be able to go ahead in September, we would still have to skip it. We wanted to get married first and then have children. That worked out! We are expecting a baby daughter at the end of August. Next year we definitely plan to go again!