As travel is heavily restricted right now, we can’t help but dream of far away places and draw inspiration from them. Luckily, last year, the luxury floral and event design team at Myrtle et Olive, planner Natalie Palmer of Paper Diamonds, and Katie Grant Photography set out to create a styled wedding shoot in Jakarta, as part of their The Cakrawala II retreat, that plays on the extension of beauty organically. And its intimate scale is perfect for future micro-weddings and elopements.

The entire inspiration came from the magnificent spiral staircase at The Gunawarman, which reminded Myrtle et Olive artistic director and lead florist, Heather, of a royal headpiece. The floral decoration around the steps was created to mimic the glorious details of a Sumatran Wedding Crown. Local tuberose, gladiolus, spider mums, and pom pom chrysanthemums were sourced from Floweretti to fill the space, and 300 feet of hand-made jasmine garlands adorned the stairs. The spider chrysanthemum’s texture even complemented the feather gown worn by the model perfectly too.

And because the design concept was based around embracing your culture and story, the group was honored to work with top talents of Indonesia, such as fashion designer Yefta Gunawan, Veronica Halim Calligraphy, and accessories designer Rinaldy Yunardi. Linen and chiffon for the tablescape were also locally made in Indonesia and were accompanied by local fruits in silver Javanese urns.

“Setting up such a grand installation in the heat of Jakarta was definitely challenging,” Heather says. “However, the final product, accomplished by all of our retreat attendees, attracted so many hotel guests over to view and to take photos, which really made our day!” It goes to show that micro-weddings can be authentic show stoppers too.