Afternoon folks! We’re back this afternoon with Nicole & Peter’s off-beat family wedding!  Part 2 brings us floral details, vintage china, fun & laughter!

If you missed Part 1 click here.

Here’s Nicole with the rest of their story ~

Because Peter is a wedding photographer, he knew exactly what he didn’t want! No suit (though my brothers coordinated their suits across 3 continents), no throwing of the bouquet, no first dance, no throwing of the garter, no priest completely detached from our reality, no best-men/bridesmaids, no prepared speeches.  We didn’t look at any bridal magazines, or blogs or anything else because they freaked me out. I’m a big pictures, broad brush strokes kind of girl and there’s way too much detail there for me.

We wanted our values to be present in our wedding, that meant love, simplicity, community, fun, magic and more love. It meant bringing 180 people down to 80, it meant having an intimate ceremony with immediate family and very close friends, then a garden tea party the following afternoon with live Jazz, the most delectable sweet treats, our friends and family.  It meant having a masseuse to make us all feel pampered, being able to spend quality time together, ping-pong in the garden, a stereo system for iPods, jumping into the pool with our clothes on, it meant having to see to the kids as part and parcel of our special day, succulents and wild flowers, sitting round a fire underneath a starry sky, uproarious laughter and heartfelt hugs. 

Red accidentally became our colour scheme because my girls had these gorgeous red dresses which were bought off-the-cuff the year before for my graduation. They were way too cute not to be worn again! My oldest refused to wear a dress though. She wanted a three piece suit (but when the groom is only wearing jeans, it just would not do for his daughter’s attire to outshine his). Thankfully my visiting niece jumped at the chance to wear her dress, so my daughter went for an old tap-dancing waistcoat her older cousin handed down. Along with Peter’s red hat and pants and my red shoes – this was the closest we got to a colour scheme.  We hired hanging gardens and my flower of choice was an orchid, along with flowers, fynbos and succulents, from neighbourhood gardens, mountains, roadsides and old tree-stumps were put into glass bottles / jars/ vases in whatever combinations worked

favourite moment

The entire weekend was so fabulous, the whole thing was just my best. But okay, if I have to choose a moment, it was dancing with a great friend to our friends’, Lisa & Max’s rendition of Jill Scott’s ‘Golden’. Everything about our weekend felt like pure gold. And this song, at that moment – encapsulated it all in a golden web of love, light and laughter. It was utterly delectable!

advice

If I had a wedding planner it would have taken all the spark out of it. But it would have been soooo much easier!  You need a really good foundation to pull off what we were able to pull off, and we had to search long and hard to find the right location. By the time the weekend arrived, we were able to really go with the flow.  So my advice is – it’s your wedding: you know yourselves – work with what feels right. And remember, this chance doesn’t come again – so make the most of it.

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Suppliers: Photographer: Jacki Bruniquel // Venue: Zensa Lodge // Hanging garden & Bride’s bouquet: Opus Studio // Brides Dress: Macy’s  // Brides shoes: Green Cross // Wedding Rings: Fire Petals // Marriage celebrant: Patrick Boucher // Cake: Louise // Catering: Free-Food // Tea / Coffee stand: Coffeeright // Wedding Décor: Theme Creations // Music: Lisa Bauer & Max Starcke // Crockery: Vintage Cherry // Masseuse: Linde Wilson