Meagan & Nigel's formal vintage diy wedding (with a veggie menu!)
Real Weddings: Global
By
on July 21, 2008
14
The offbeat bride: Meagan, artist
Her offbeat partner: Nigel, logistics analyst
Location & date of wedding: The Plantation, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. May 10, 2008.
What made our wedding offbeat: The first thing offbeat about us is that we are a mixed couple in South Africa. Thankfully, this is slowly becoming more accepted here. We first chose a theme of "black and red/joker" using a deck of cards as our inspiration, then planned our wedding around that. I made everything thing that I could such as the invites, menus, table runners, even my veil and the vintage head-pieces for the bridesmaids.
I also accidentally put the wrong time on the invitations so it was a very late afternoon affair. It turned out for the best because we decided to take the photos before the ceremony rather than rush through it later on. It was great because we had fun and seeing my groom before hand really calmed me down. (Not everyone was so thrilled with the idea of seeing the bride before the ceremony).
I wore a rather traditional dress with a black vintage choker and a cameo from Brazil (a gift from my mother) and a black birdcage veil. Under the dress was a pair of sexy fishnets and black boots. Groomy wore a traditional tailcoat suit but changed into a pair of all-stars for the reception. He also wore an "Emily the Strange" badge in my honour.
During the ceremony we had a water ceremony instead of a unity candle. Red coloured water represting me, the feminine, Love, Passion & Determination. Blue coloured water representing Nigel, the masculine, Stability, Loyalty & Trust. When mixed together it makes purple which is symbolic of Abundance and Success!
The menu was 100% vegetarian and I also took the opportunity to share my passionate views on this subject and gave each guest a very morbid and shocking article as well as quotes by famous vegetarians. Everyone was impressed, also with the food (many were disappointed when they found out there would be no meat and had no tact in sharing this with me, but all were pleasantly surprised). It was a formal and smart wedding but it was relaxed and funny, just like us.
Our biggest challenge: The guest list. It seemed cruel and unnatural deciding who makes the cut, who is 'more important'. It was unfortunately an unavoidable task as we had a limited budget as well as venue space. Also trying not to get oversensitive when people dont agree with, or understand, your offbeat choices. Trust your own judgment because in the end they will all appreciate how "you' it was.
My favorite moment: For our first kiss we high fived ... and kissed. Nigel's favourite moment was running into the reception hall to 'Jerk it Out' by the Caesars.
My offbeat advice: Working around a theme, albeit just the colour scheme, makes planning easier. Get a great photographer, someone you feel comfortable with. If you can do it yourself, anything from the invitations to the cake, then do it! You will have a great sense of pride when it all comes together on your special day.
Decide on the morning of your wedding, before you get out of bed, not to let anything that may possibly go wrong ruin your day. Its a once in a lifetime day and it will go by so fast!
Enough talk — show me the wedding porn: The high-5 kiss is just the beginning of the fun in these 200 photos!
Read more posts about: converse, couples of color, diy wedding, short hair, south african, vegetarian wedding« Previous post
About Ariel Meadow Stallings
Author of Offbeat Bride: Creative Alternatives for Independent Brides, Ariel acts as the publisher of all the Offbeat Empire websites. She lives, loves, and dorks out hard in Seattle, WA.
Tsarmina said
Fabulous! The water ceremony is just so full of meaning, I really love it. Bravo to the B&G for sticking to their guns on what they wanted for their wedding.
Kai said
Everything is so gorgeous =] Your wedding is my favorite amongst all the OBBT members.
Sabrina said
Love it! The whole event looks fantastic. I am so happy that you could celebrate your love.
Lane said
Must know more about that dress! I love the whole theme, but that dress is the kicker for me…all the little black buttons!
Designer name?
melissa said
such a gorgeous couple and i love to see a bride in boots…. i've got a pair of red knee-high stillettos for mine, so well done, you both look amazing…
wanton_ringlets said
I love the pictures with the kitty! So many brides would say, "Ew, get off my dress." But not Meagan.
It's all lovely!
Kit said
KITTY!
Meagan said
the designer is a lady called "Lorette". i dont think she has email and a website…
Patricia said
Ah, it's so nice to see someone else from SA here!
Tamara Klos said
Your wedding looks SO AMAZING..and magical!!! Really happy for you. Took a look at all your photos on FLICKR..you looked so beautiful!
Congrats
Luv Tam
WP said
Great wedding. One can tell a lot of thought and planning went into this. Great job!
Liz said
Beautiful wedding, but I have a problem as a vegetarian with you foisting your ideals on people on this beautiful day. I believe very strongly in living a vegetarian lifestyle, but I find that forcing my ideas down people's throats makes them very angry/confrontational.
Kristen said
Your black birdcage veil and lace gloves sent me into sqees of delight. And the cameo as well. Love it all!
Butterbean said
"Trust your own judgment because in the end they will all appreciate how “you’ it was."
- Amen!