Rave Review designer Josephine Bergqvist’s Stockholm wedding was a mix of old and new

There was never any doubt that fashion designer Josephine Bergqvist and filmmaker Jens Löfgren’s summer wedding in the Stockholm archipelago would feature “something old". That’s because Bergqvist is a cofounder of Rave Review, a Swedish brand focused on using existing materials.

“When I started thinking about the dress, I obviously wanted something upcycled and something very significant for Rave Review…. One of my first ideas was to have a corset dress in lace,” Bergqvist said on a call. She turned to Old Touch, a trusted source for vintage in Stockholm and an early collaborator, where she found old laces, some a hundred years old that easily fell apart, which meant that repairs had to be made after each fitting. What another bride might have found discouraging, Bergqvist saw as an opportunity.

“When the lace broke, I patched it with some other lace materials,” says Bergqvist. “So there are a lot of patches and also these embroideries where you can see J + J, which are our initials. Our interns helped with the embroideries, [adding] ‘love’ and hearts and stuff—and there’s a blue heart that is hidden on the dress.” This kind of tattooing technique on top of a typically romantic material suited the “little bit sexy” vibe Bergqvist was after. Also contributing to that effect was the side slit, an idea pulled from a tartan dress in Rave Review’s last collection.

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The dress was revealed before the ceremony as the couple and their wedding party traveled the two hours from Stockholm city to the island of Grinda on a 150-year-old steamboat with wooden interiors. The guests disembarked first and then the couple walked down a pier to join them, while a band played their favorite love song, “Yours to Keep” by the Teddybears. “Everyone was looking at us and then we started crying. I think I lost it there, so some of the images are just like me crying, or both of us, Jens was actually worse,” remembers Bergqvist.

As the ceremony was right on the water—and because she wanted one—the designer wore a magnificent, trailing robe-style wedding coat made from two second-hand duvets featuring faded florals with “an almost sun-bleached” effect. “There was just enough [material] to make the sleeves out of the things that I cut away from the actual coat,” Bergqvist says. The patterned robe complemented Löfgren’s custom Rave Review suit, which was created from retro curtains.

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The lovebirds met eight years ago, when they were both studying at Beckmans School of Design in the Swedish capital, and dated for a year before going steady. “I think I fell in love with his [Skånish] accent, actually,” says Bergqvist, who explains that she has family in the South of Sweden and has a predilection for the dialect. “When we first met at this party in school, that’s what I liked at first.”

The “something old” in weddings must be accompanied by something new, and that came in the form of the proposal. It was Bergqvist who popped the question. “I never really dreamt about getting married or having a big wedding because it feels too traditional,” she explains. “But then I realized it feels very natural to get married to him and also it felt super natural for me to propose to him because I’m taking a lot of initiatives in general, and it felt so much fun to do it just because it’s so boring to live without celebrating things. Also, when I’m working so much, it feels like life just goes on without celebrating and appreciating family life.”

She started planning the proposal a few years ago and landed on the idea of doing so in Chernobyl, a city the couple had once visited, thinking that it was “so absurd to propose to someone in Chernobyl [which] is not a romantic place at all.” Travel arrangements were made and friends were informed of the impending event, but on arrival Bergqvist realized the setting didn’t suit her purposes. In the end, home is where the heart is, and Bergqvist proposed in a restaurant over dinner. “I was so nervous before, and started crying when I asked him,” she remembers. “He was super surprised; he actually thought I was joking because I don’t think he expected it at all since I’m not that kind of tradition-driven person, but then he was totally up for it and so happy.”

As a symbol, Bergqvist presented Löfgren with a heart-shaped ring she had made in the studio out of recycled plastic, that he now wears as a pendant. The couple’s wedding bands are from jeweler Cornelia Webb.

While the tradition has been for a woman to take her husband’s name after marriage, nowadays in Sweden, says Bergqvist, “it’s more like the one who has the nicest surname you take.” This wasn’t the path the couple wanted, and Bergqvist has suggested they take a new name entirely. “I’m never going to take his name, and he’s not going to take mine. So I have a few ideas that I pitched, one was Raves because I thought it was funny; all fashion houses are named after the founder, but to take the name after your brand instead, that is interesting to me.”

The proposal was in September, and the wedding took place in June. Drinks were served on the boat ride over. “I think that was also the reason why everyone was crying so much, because they were a little bit tipsy,” notes Bergqvist. A grilled buffet followed the ceremony, but the focus, says the bride was less on food than the party. Alexandria, a friend’s boyfriend’s band, played only covers all night long, and everyone stayed on the island overnight.

“I was surprised how I felt in a bubble; it was almost blurry,” says Bergqvist of looking back at the wedding. “I think what I really remember the most is the ceremony, walking towards all our friends. Everyone was there to celebrate you, and that is the strongest memory I have ever had.”