Desert Springs Resort
Real Wedding

Annabel and Daniel had a spectacular wedding at Desert Springs Resort

Read all about their experiences below.





Annabel Grove previously of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire and her Italian fiancé Daniel Di Domenico who lives just outside Rome had enjoyed family holidays there in the past and they saw Desert Springs as the ideal place for a wedding reception, which turned into what Annabel's mother, Lone, describes as "a four-day party."

Lone's father, the Reverend Julian Dawes – a retired vicar – performed an evening wedding blessing ceremony in the open-air on the Observation Terrace at the Crocodile Club. The club is located at the heart of the Desert Springs resort in an authentic African longhouse thatched with reed from Africa.

"As the sun set, the blessing was lit by romantic candle-light," recalls Lone. "Then local Spanish dancers entertained us as we enjoyed poolside drinks in the warm evening air. The wedding supper inside the atmospheric longhouse was followed by dancing in the Rondavel at the Crocodile Club."

Annabel, who works with the UN's World Food Programme, and Daniel, who runs an antique business in Rome, agreed that, although Italy currently is considered one of the most desirable locations to host a wedding, the Almanzora region of Almeria was the perfect location for them. Says Annabel: "Desert Springs was able to cater for all our unusual requirements, helping us to create a romantic candlelit service in the open air conducted by my grandfather against a backdrop of mountains and a glorious sunset.

"Staff at Desert Springs were very accommodating, helping us to decide on wedding supper menus during a dinner party with friends earlier in the year. The chefs were open to all sorts of suggestions about food from different cultures.

Sixty wedding guests travelling from Italy and the UK were accommodated at Desert Springs. Daniel says: "Not only was Desert Springs able to take care of all of them in its Lodge accommodation – individual luxury villas and apartments on the resort – but the region's special year-round climate meant that the organisers were more or less able to guarantee warm dry weather. Although situated on the Spanish coast, the region is uniquely influenced by the North African desert conditions just across the Mediterranean.

"Those who attended the wedding really enjoyed the fact that they could make a mini-holiday of their weekend in a luxury resort. Friends have commented that, contrary to the typical one-day event, the weekend together meant everybody was involved in the wedding on a more personal basis."



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