This sun-soaked Danish-Mauritian wedding is the perfect solution to a grey week

Their love story is a series of imperfectly perfect, unconventional moments, punctuated by surprises and rearranged plans – and all the things you’d expect when you’re loved-up and trying to wed during a pandemic. But the best-laid plans and all that.

Betina Ask, founder and commercial director of Copenhagen agency Load Creatives recalls her groom, Mark Appadoo’s proposal coming at “the worst possible timing” – they were sick with Covid and in the middle of a house move, which had to be postponed, but sometimes bad timing turns out to be exactly what the doctor ordered (or, at the very least, you have a good story out of it).

“We were supposed to move into our (then) new apartment on the day we tested positive,” says Ask. “This meant we had to postpone moving by a couple of weeks in order to stay and isolate in our old apartment. This would have been fine except for the fact that we had of course sold and packed down almost all of our belongings for the move. We isolated with little to no furniture, worked from home while sitting on the floor using moving boxes as desks, and ate, watched TV, and slept on the same little air mattress for two weeks, but we had each other for company.”

Ask’s Danish-Mauritian screenwriter and model groom proposed in their new kitchen on moving day. “I wore old sweats, my hair tied in a sloppy bun, no makeup and my nails were not in any way ready for what was to come. Mark said just one thing ‘Mine forever?’ and I started crying and of course said yes,” she says.

“I’m a bit of a control freak, which makes it hard to surprise me, so the fact that he pulled this off without me having a single clue was so amazing. It was so much more raw, authentic and meaningful, and the fact that I hadn’t seen it coming – which I may have had if we were sitting at an otherwise perfect fancy restaurant on our anniversary with my nails done – made my reaction so much more pure, and unfiltered, which I know also meant a lot to him.”

The bride was looking forward to the “full experience” of dress shopping with friends and family but was having a hard time finding the perfect dress. “I wanted something that didn’t make me feel too ‘romantic and classic’. The only dress I truly really loved wearing and that made me feel special, was the very first one I found,” she says. Ask opted for a full lace off-the-shoulder gown (with a hint of vintage) paired with long flared sleeves with a detailed corset. “In the design process I made quite a lot of alterations to the original dress, removed several details, rearranged the fabric, so the final dress ended up being much more unique,” she says.

Ask’s grandmother was also with her when she tried on this dress for the first time which became even more special to her because she sadly passed away a couple of months later. “I was even more certain that I wanted to wear this dress as it meant she had then at least gotten to see what I was going to look like as a bride.”

Ask paired her dress with elegant white strappy heels from Stuart Weitzman, Sophie Bille Brahe pearl earrings she borrowed from a best friend, and a long veil with lace trim for the ceremony. For the evening party she swapped it for a shorter veil borrowed from her sister.

Appadoo says he was preparing to visit store after store and was never 100 per cent sure what he wanted except “I definitely knew that it should stand out,” he says.

“As I was searching for ideas online, I stumbled across Suit Supply. I knew they made great-looking suits because I had noticed their store in Copenhagen,” he says. “I found some suits that I liked and booked an appointment with Ira, and he had a photo of himself [on the site], and I just felt that his looks and energy was relatable because of his long hairstyle and his mixed look. We met, and my gut was right: we bonded over our mixed heritage, and I told him what I was looking for.”

Appadoo wore a custom-made beige, summer suit with a special personal touch added: ‘Island Boy’ was embroidered on the inside of the collar. “It cannot be seen unless you fold the collar up; it's my little secret.”

The couple decided early on to have a destination wedding in Mauritius, a nod to Appadoo’s Mauritian heritage. Le Meridien was chosen for its “views overlooking the Indian Ocean, a beautiful white beach, amazing atmosphere, beautiful surroundings and is just everything we could have asked for. Almost all of our guests stayed at the hotel during our wedding week, and we have so many memories created there now, that it feels like home,” says Ask.

The wedding ceremony was held in an open wedding pavilion overlooking the ocean. To cope with the tropical heat, guests were served juice and had a bespoke fan to keep them cool.

“During the ceremony, I forgot all about our guests and felt that I was in a room alone with Betina,” says Appadoo. “I know that we had friends, family, a photo and video team, some hotel staff and the officiator, but I remember only being with her. We walked out and I felt great, I realised what had happened. And I was so proud to be able to call her my wife."

The wedding dinner, a mix of seafood and beef mains, was held on the beach under a Bedouin tent, accompanied by a playlist of old funk, RnB, jazz, and reggae. For the wedding party, the couple had a DJ until 4am.

“Our first dance was very traditional,” says Ask. “In Denmark the bride and groom always dance a waltz to Brudevalsen as their first dance, while all guests clap and move closer as the song continues. It ends with the groom getting lifted in the air by his friends, while they cut off the tip of his sock with scissors. It’s an old tradition meaning that the groom will then have to stay faithful to his wife, as he won’t be able to find another woman with a hole in his sock!

“Two other fun, Danish wedding traditions that were in the wedding: during dinner, guests will tap their glasses with spoons to alert the couple that they have to stand on their chairs and kiss. After, they stomp their feet on the ground and the couple must then go under the table and kiss. The other tradition is every time the groom leaves the table, all the male guests will get in line and kiss the bride on her cheek, and vice versa if the bride leaves.”

Like so many couples, the couple loved their guests’ speeches, and it made their wedding night even more memorable: heartfelt, emotional, and funny.

“I’ll especially never forget when Mark proposed to me again in his speech, making fun of himself for only saying ‘mine forever?’ at the time, when actually he was just too nervous to say what he had really planned.”

Appadoo may have been nervous when he proposed in their new kitchen years earlier, but on his wedding day on a hot day in November, he only felt relaxed. “How can you not be on the day you're marrying the person you love the most?”