This Couple Styled Every Element of Their Canary Islands Elopement
The morning after a very late night cramming for exams, under the fluorescent lights of a university cafeteria, was not where Isabella Panet planned on meeting the love of her life. "We had never seen each other [before] but started talking—about how delicious our cappuccinos were, of course," Panet tells BAZAAR Bride. "That's where it all started. I don't know if I just liked the way he talked to me...or the way he looked at me...but those mornings became customary, and each coffee was more delicious than the last."
Panet first moved to Barcelona from San Juan, Puerto Rico to study graphic design. After meeting Malaw Fall, she never left. Fall was two years behind her in university and moved to Spain from Senegal when he was a teenager to study law. Their meet-cute in the cafeteria started it all; "Malaw told me on our first date that he would marry me," she remembers. "I almost died of laughter; but three weeks later, I couldn't start the morning without him by my side." A year and a half after dating, the two moved in together "in our first little house in the Gothic Quarter." Of their connection, their friends describe their relationship as "perfectly imperfect—which we take as a compliment," Panet says. "He's my better half and my best friend."
Three years after their first date, Malaw brought Isabella to a family dinner at his parents' home. When she walked in, she immediately noticed her parents—whom he had flown in from San Juan as a surprise. "Malaw convinced them to fly over, and I had no clue that they were coming, it was exciting and unforgettable."
But Isabella still hadn't put the pieces together; "I had no idea that we were going to get engaged that night and the adventure would begin," she says. During dessert, Malaw stood up to make a toast. "He clinked his glass and called everyone's attention...he was so handsome. He talked about me ('My Isabella,' he said), how we met, about us, and then he approached me and looked at me so truly and asked me to share my life with him." Not surprisingly, she said yes. "I cried, my parents cried, his family applauded and I said yes as confidently and as determined as ever," Isabella recalls.
Malaw didn't present Isabella with a ring, but a cappuccino instead. "We do not wear rings; we don't need them in our story," she says. "It's a great reminder that we will share as many mornings and breakfasts together as life allows us."
The night of their proposal, the two hardly slept. "We stayed up and talked about what our wedding would be like with friends and family," she says. "We wanted to do something very familiar and simple together and then another celebration with our friends." After traveling to the Canary Islands for a short getaway one winter, Malaw and Isabella knew that was where they would wed. "Neither of us knew Gran Canaria when we first visited, and that island in the middle of the Atlantic captivated us," the bride recalls. "Its beaches, its countryside, its people, its gastronomy...after several glasses of wine, we decided to get married there."
"We wanted at our wedding with our friends—the family you choose," says the groom. "We wanted to return to that island to celebrate life with them with that island sun." They decided on a super-small, intimate wedding; an elopement of sorts, with a guest list one could "count on the fingers of their hands."
Despite being small and sans family, "it had to be unforgettable," says Isabella. "I started looking at Instagram for wedding planners and designers in the Canary Islands and I came across Inés and Patricia from The Federicas; I fell in love with their work and decided to contact them to tell them about our madness. They understood it perfectly, got involved, and made it happen."
Making it happen involved finding the perfect location—"the place that combined our peculiar wish list," says the bride. "We wanted to dance barefoot, we wanted a picnic table among olive trees where the smell of the sea could reach, we wanted bonfires like the ones Malaw made as a child with his parents, fireworks so that the world would feel us on the other side of the ocean, a horse that would remind me of home...the list went on."
The couple booked a private villa in the south of Gran Canaria. They invited a small guest list from all over the world—from Africa, America, and Oceania. "The night before the big day, we didn't want to sleep; the idea was not to miss a second," Isabella says. "We talked, we sang, danced, and toasted. Many met for the first time, but it seemed like they knew each other forever." The next morning, the couple enjoyed breakfast (a sacred time for them as a couple) along with their friends and headed to the beach.
They said their vows at Finca de San Antonio in a pink barn full of straw hay bales. "Before starting to celebrate, we wanted [our friends] to be witnesses to our love and be a part of it," Isabella says. "It was not a typical wedding, the script was not rigid. It was us and our team. Everything was very authentic and electric."
The bride wore a red gown by Aurelia Gil, a designer based in Gran Canaria. "If we got married on the islands I knew I wanted a designer from [the Canary Islands] and not just a white dress. I fell in love with my dress; nobody usually marries in a [bold color] but I saw it on their Instagram and I knew it was what I was looking for," she says. As far as the color, "I wanted something that would represent our flame and energy," she says. And while most brides purchase their gowns as made-to-order pieces months in advance, Isabella purchased hers off-the-rack, directly from the brand. "The process was really easy; the dress was already there, we just needed to adjust it." And so they did, only a few weeks before the wedding.
The couple encouraged their friends to wear lots of color. "We set an elegant dress code; informal and comfortable but with personality and an African air. We encouraged each guest to put a personal touch on their look in their own way—and they were all beautiful." The couple's friends were styled to a tee, each donning bold looks, hair, makeup, and accessories. Don + Helen captured the ceremony, celebratory lunch, and late-night party along with videographer Sebastian Nandryka of Super Weddings. "We have been following them for a long time and we adore the way they see the world. Their light and the way they capture moments is magic. They made our wedding look like a fashion shoot." That concept was accented with the help of Dan Garcia, who helped style the guests in looks from local designers and stores like Beltho, Nok Universe, Toto & Co., Blü Papaya, and more.
After their ceremony, the couple invited their friends to a healthy lunch in an olive grove, "under the canopy of hundreds of olive trees," prepared by Bambina Catering. They walked together from the ceremony to the grove, "dancing along a path that reminded us of the Mediterranean." Says the bride of the afternoon: "It was magical and everything was delicious. I remember the clink of the glasses, the flavors, the stems that crawled through the branches, the smell—sometimes, I relive it all in slow motion."
The picnic banquet for ten, designed by The Federicas in collaboration with Hesteria Floristeria, took place at a table designed in shades of blue contrasted with mustards, pinks, and old clay crockery. The food and its plating played a fundamental role as a family-style centerpiece. The couple wanted "a table without excesses" that wouldn't steal the spotlight from the environment. Service was slow, pampered, effortless, and low-key.
Later, in the evening, they went to watch the sunset from the top of a hillside. "The views of the Atlantic and dozens of giant windmills took our breath away. There, I threw my bouquet when I did not even think to do it in advance. It was really fun," Isabella remembers.
The sun going down was the cue to kick off dancing and fireworks under the moon. And dance they did—until the wee hours—including an impromptu game of late-night limbo.
The next day was spent at the beach. "We were exhausted; an improvised picnic by the sea capped off an unforgettable weekend," Isabella says. Unforgettable indeed—as well as uniquely personalized, just like their relationship. "We are very similar but very different," she says. "I am very active, impulsive, and I adore tranquility. I am a perfectionist but I let myself go. Mawal is sensible, organized, and able to carry on three conversations at the same time. He is passionate and dedicated. We complement each other very well."
The dynamic duo continued to explore the Canary Islands for their honeymoon. After Gran Canaria, they visited Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, El Hierro, La Graciosa, and Tenerife before going back to their home in Barcelona.
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