A love story

May 23, 2026

The Bathroom, Guitar Lessons, and a Bottle of Wine in the Dunes — The Love Story of Bouke & Nathalie.

Some love stories begin with a candlelit dinner or a perfectly timed glance across a crowded room. Theirs began in a narrow hallway leading to the women's bathroom of a local café. Not exactly the setting of a romantic movie. Or maybe that was exactly why it was one after all.

It was there that Nathalie said the first romantic words to Bouke: "Shouldn't you put the toilet seat down... " And somehow, that was enough.

Numbers were exchanged under the guise of guitar lessons. Bouke had been using this move since his early teens. Nathalie, with a soft spot for mystery, was hooked.

What followed were a handful of magical dates — and then silence. And maybe that was exactly how it was supposed to go. Because sometimes the timing just isn't right yet. Sometimes you both need to grow into the person the other one deserves.

So that's what they did. Four years of living their own lives — Bouke playing rockstar in The Hague, Nathalie making her way through Hotel School in Amsterdam. Separate paths, separate chapters. The kind of distance that either kills something for good, or quietly keeps it alive until the moment is finally right.

For them, it was the latter.

May 16, 2017

A warm evening. A beach and the promise of a hotel room that turned out to be fully booked. In return they received an expensive bottle of wine as consolation — pulled from a postbox, drunk in the dunes. The next morning, someone noted there were footprints on the ceiling of the car....

It was on. Everyone around them knew it immediately. It felt natural, like it had always been this way — because in a way, it had been waiting for them all along.

Building a Life Together

Not long after, Nathalie moved in with Bouke and never really moved out again. Their home became the kind of place where life actually happened — live music, creative chaos, weekly furniture rearrangements, and the ever-growing fabric storage of what would become La N'atelier. They also adopted a cat named Drum, who went straight for the curtains.

Over the years they shaped each other. Bouke traded late nights and deep-freeze pizzas for green smoothies and a quieter, more grounded version of himself. Nathalie built a team, ran an atelier, and discovered just how strong and adaptable she really is.

They are, in many ways, opposites. Bouke tackles the practical first, sees every bear on the road. Nathalie feels her way through life, trusts that it will work out, and has announced the problem to the entire room before she even knows what it is herself. It works, because they keep each other sharp. They fill in the gaps the other leaves open.

The Evening

On the evening of may 16th, 2026, we celebrated them — in a garage-turned-photostudio that felt exactly right for two people who have always done things a little differently.

No catering staff, no formal seating plan, no endless receiving line. Just their closest people, a self-service bar, wishes written on beer coasters, and an analogue photographer quietly capturing all of it.

Because that's who they are. A little unconventional, deeply themselves, and completely right for each other.

Sometimes the path isn't straight. Sometimes you have to walk your own road first — and trust that if it's meant to be, the right person will still be there when you're ready.

For Nathalie and Bouke, they were.

Here's to the two of them. May the footprints always be on the ceiling.

May their love Live Forever

This blog is a reflection of our wedding evening, May 16th, 2026 and is based on the lines of our wedding officiant and dearest friend Bjarny van der Linden - We love you

Some Extra Shots ;)

Dinner from Robin Bach-Kolling, my brother in law. Never cooked for more then 10 people, never got so many compliments - @zure.jongens