An Intimate Elopement in Mallorca With Just 7 Guests

In November 2021, Chari and Matt found themselves among a small group of guests closing down a friend’s 40th birthday party late in the evening. “What started as a big celebration ended up as an intimate group on the rooftop at Petit Ermitage, chatting and listening to music,” says Chari. “He happened to be sitting behind me when I overheard our friend’s wife singing his praises, saying what a great guy he was and how she wanted to set him up with all her friends. Something—still don’t know what!—came over me, and I turned around and asked, ‘Are you dateable?’” Her boldness paid off: Matt laughed, and the two exchanged numbers before the end of the night. “The next evening, we met at Barney’s Beanery for drinks, and, well…that was it,” she says. “We were in.”

Chari—the founder of jewelry line BYCHARI—and Matt, a tech executive, dated for two years before Matt snuck an engagement ring under the couple’s Christmas tree in December 2023. The pair, running late for dinner with their family, were on their way out the door when Matt told Chari to look under the tree for one final present. “She gave me this puzzled look—she’d already packed up everything to take with us,” says Matt. “She knelt, lifted the box, and when she realized what it was, her whole face lit up with the biggest smile. Right then, without hesitation, I asked her to be my wife. She said yes, and we just held each other, laughing and crying at the same time.” When he finally reminded her to open the ring box, he could tell from her expression that he had found the perfect ring. “It’s not easy making a ring for a jewelry designer, but seeing her reaction, I knew I’d done something right,” he says.

The couple began planning a wedding for 2025, leaving themselves plenty of time to design and execute a traditional ceremony and reception. But in June, while looking for rentals in Spain for an upcoming trip, Chari “half-joked” to Matt that one of the villas would make an ideal wedding location. “He just looked at me and said, ‘Why don’t we?’” she says. “We looked at each other, and almost at the same time, asked, ‘Should we elope?’”

The couple booked the villa—in Mallorca, Spain—for a week in August, and immediately began pulling together the details of their August 21, 2024, ceremony. They invited seven members of their immediate families—Matt’s mother and stepfather, and Chari’s mother, stepfather, sisters, and brother-in-law. Chari planned every detail with, she says, “lots of spreadsheets and a final day-of timeline;” her photographer, Maria Hibbs, suggested local vendors who could provide everything from flowers to food. “Thanks to her advice, I was able to secure most of the services on short notice,” says Chari. “We chose to get married on a Wednesday, which definitely helped with everyone’s availability.”

Chari and Matt chose an organic green-and-white color palette that blended seamlessly into the natural landscapes and materials of the villa. “We were thrilled to find the villa looked exactly like the photos—no surprises there! With only two months to plan, we hadn’t seen the venue in person, so arriving to find it just as we’d imagined was a relief and a joy,” she says. “The space was perfect: open, airy rooms framed by warm, lime-washed walls, and a landscape dotted with olive trees and wildflowers. It was everything we’d hoped for—effortlessly beautiful and intimate.”

Chari and Matt put their own stamp on each part of the day, tweaking some traditions to suit their personalities—she helped him get dressed before their first look—and honoring their family members throughout the event. Their guests played key roles in the ceremony, and even those who couldn’t be there in person played a part: “Our first dance was to a remix of ‘For Sentimental Reasons’ by Ella Fitzgerald, with audio of my grandma’s voice from a video I had saved before she passed,” says Chari.

They ended their wedding day with a simple family dinner that went late into the night—much like the birthday party where the couple first met, and like their welcome dinner held two nights before the wedding. “This group truly loves nothing more than sharing stories and having a good laugh,” says Chari. “There’s something special about being surrounded by loved ones, swapping memories and making new ones, with laughter filling every corner.”

The women invited to the celebration included Chari’s sisters, her mother, and Matt’s mother—all of whom donned matching floral lounge sets in the couple’s green and white color palette on the morning of the wedding. Hair and makeup artist Rebecca Spendlove created a “classic and elegant glam” look for the bride. “I wanted to feel like myself,” says Chari. “I wanted to feel effortlessly beautiful with big bouncy waves.”

Chari ordered her strapless silk crepe Katherine Tash wedding dress, constructed with an interior corset and a flowing train, while planning for a 2025 event—so the decision to move the wedding up caused a bit of a scramble. “When we decided to elope, I had to find out if I could get my dream dress in time. Luckily, by the grace of God—and the goddess that Katherine Tash is—the dress could be rushed in six weeks,” she says. “I had enough time for only one fitting and alterations before it had to be overnighted to me, arriving just three days before we left for Spain. Whatever cosmic alignment made that possible, thank you, universe. I married the love of my life in the perfect dress.”

The designer also provided a full-length veil; Chari carried her grandfather’s handkerchief and put a sixpence on the bottom of her Jimmy Choo Rosie sandals (“a tradition from my mom,” she says).

As she waited for gown to arrive, Chari held off on designing her jewelry. “Even with as little time as I had, I waited until my final fitting to see how I felt about the jewelry,” she says. “The moment I put on the dress, I knew I wanted something delicate—an almost ethereal necklace with a single diamond that seemed to float above the dress’s wavelike neckline. I paired it with a matching cuff bracelet, also adorned with a diamond, and finished the look with classic diamond studs. True to my style, these pieces were simple, elegant, and timeless.” The bride also designed a chic gold handle to secure her calla lily bouquet from florist Otro Cantar.

Though they didn’t have an official wedding party, Chari and Matt asked their mothers and sisters to wear “coastal sunset hues,” and requested the men in attendance wear tan suits. Chari’s mother added a sentimental touch: “My mom wore my grandma’s dress that she had slightly reworked,” says Chari. In place of bouquets, each woman wore a calla-lily-and-pearl wrist corsage designed by Chari.

With his custom tan suit from Michel’s Bespoke, Matt wore Gucci loafers and a Rolex watch Chari had given him for his 40th birthday. The bride made custom jewelry for Matt, too: “We wanted to incorporate our birthstones—mine is a pearl, and Matt’s is a diamond—so instead of a traditional boutonnière, I created a custom pearl lapel pin and matching cufflinks,” she says.

The villa’s courtyard provided a serene, natural backdrop where the couple exchanged vows privately before the ceremony. “It was a beautiful pause—a chance to ground ourselves in each other’s love before stepping forward, together, to begin this next chapter surrounded by family,” says Chari. “We wrote from the heart and it was truly special. It was an intimate moment that was solely ours.”

After their private vow exchange, the couple joined the rest of the party by a tranquil water feature framed with clusters of hydrangeas, calla lilies, Casablanca lilies, greenery, and moss. “We envisioned an intimate ceremony surrounded by our family, with every detail thoughtfully curated, even though we’d chosen to elope,” says Chari. “I drew inspiration from the local landscape, incorporating clusters of white flowers and lush foliage to create a setting that felt organic and elegant.”

Matt and Chari made an intentional effort to include their families in their marriage rites. “We wrote our ceremony for everyone to play a role in joining us as a couple, with our moms reciting the declaration of intent,” says Chari. Their post-ceremony portrait session was filled with newlywed joy, leaving the couple with some of their favorite memories of the day. “We were now husband and wife, and we just had just a good time,” says the couple.

The bride designed complementary gold wedding rings, adding bespoke elements to Matt’s. “When Matt and I decided to elope, I knew I wanted every detail to be deeply personal, meaningful, and a true reflection of us,” she says. “I was determined to craft his wedding band by hand, inscribing it with my own handwriting to make it even more special.”

Chari and Matt had a clear vision for their reception. “We wanted an intimate, candlelit dinner with draped table linens, organic ceramic dinnerware, and clusters of lilies and fruit,” she says. “Once Matthew and I landed on the details, I created an inspo board and sent it to my décor coordinator, Magali at Otro Cantar. She sent me a 21-page PDF with details, diagrams, and layouts.”

Personalized menus edged with green trim detailed the couple’s dinner from Natural Chef Mallorca, which included tomato and nectarine gazpacho with burrata, wild lubina, slow-braised beef cheek, and berry panna cotta. The couple added other personal touches to the meal, serving wine from a local winemaker they met the week before their event and creating custom monogrammed napkins as mementos of the day.

Chari and Matt cut a simple, elegant lemon-filled white sponge cake, decorated by the bride with fresh fruit. Taper candles and small trios of calla lily blooms added a natural, minimalist backdrop to the presentation.

Chari and Matt curated a playlist for each part of the day, creating a backdrop for the atmosphere of warmth and love they envisioned for their ceremony and al fresco family dinner. “Our dinner was amazing—we all sat at the table listening to music until the early morning.  I love a long, fun dinner and that is exactly what we got,” she says. “From beginning to end, our wedding was us. We kept some traditions, but we did it our way.”