Fire

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How utterly beautiful is today’s real wedding? This is the kind of wedding that makes my heart sing – no fuss, no details, no over-the-top-bridezilla-stresses – just the most important thing…love.

The bride, Daniela, told me all about their special day. “There were only the two of us at the ceremony, the lady who married us, the lady who owned the land and our photographer. The ceremony itself lasted about 1.5 hrs and consisted of several parts: lighting the fire, being cleansed with special leaves and incense, hearing the 20 nahuales of the Mayan Calendar being read out, telling each other our love and exchanging our rings, being wrapped in a green shawl which represented Gaia. We began and ended the ceremony with chocolate, a block of which was also burned in the fire. Chocolate is sacred in Mayan culture.”

“We chose to get married in Guatemala as we got engaged there last year and it’s our favourite country. Neither of us knew much about Mayan beliefs, but after doing some research we decided to tie the knot in a Mayan fire ceremony because we felt like we should honour the traditions of our chosen wedding location. Organising everything was extremely easy – we found our photographer via Tripadvisor and our shaman, the amazing Aum Rak , via a quick Google search. She then got us in touch with Terri, the owner of a local hotel in Lake Atitlan who offered us to get married on her land.”

“I knew that I wanted to wear a vintage (or vintage-looking) dress and briefly considered one by BHLDN, but it would have been almost criminal to shove such an expensive dress into my backpack for 3 weeks (we were travelling through Mexico and other locations in Guatemala before the wedding). So I chose a Gunne Sax dress instead, which I could just roll up and carry around with me without it getting creased. As for shoes, they had to be Swedish clogs!”

“Some might think we’re bonkers for getting married in this way,” she concluded, “but our parents fully understood, and for us it couldn’t have been more perfect or more emotional and meaningful (I was crying so much throughout the ceremony!). We had such a relaxed, blissful day as we didn’t have to worry about anything. No guests, no reception, no cake, no make-up or hair appointments… It was completely stress-free! Afterwards we had our honeymoon in the middle of the jungle in Honduras!”

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As soon as I saw bride Reenie in that incredible floppy hat I knew I had to feature her wedding. I love seeing brides that make really unique styling choices and I don’t know about you but I can remember ever seeing a bride in a hat like this before. With her fabulous head wear she wore a 1970s style dress, which was the very first thing she bought, from Nataya for just $199!

The October wedding was held at Hampton Hall Farm, Jefferson City, TN and their laid back hippy vibe makes me wish I was there. I love how homely and cosy it all looks and that the whole family got involved. The photos of them all having a pre-ceremony sing-along on the porch are just the best!

“I couldn’t come up with ‘wedding colors’ or a particular ‘theme’,” Reenie told me. “I didn’t want to be one of those brides that stuck my girls in my favorite colors knowing that not all of them can pull of chartreusse. One day I noticed these really cute retro aprons in the window of Bliss, and it all kind of fell into place. My wedding colors were ‘quilt.’ I picked out about 20 fabric patterns and had them pick the three they wanted incorporated into their dresses.”

“I wanted everything to be comfortable, inviting, and informal. When folks arrived, there was wine on the tables and little plates of goodies to tide them over. The party started when you arrived. In fact we were all so laid back I forgot to carry by bouquet to our ceremony! I only noticed it was missing on the way back up the aisle!”

“The ‘quilt’ idea continued into our ceremony. Edwin and I stood one that my sister had made for my Father after our Mom passed away. It was made from all of Mom’s pajamas. Since both my Mom and Dad have passed, it was a way of having them there, under our feet.”

The couple wanted an ‘outdoor/indoor’ feel and so set up little outdoor rooms for people to congregate comfortably and naturally. They had hay bales covered in fabric and a makeshift bar and lounge area in the barn.

“I like kids at weddings”, the bride concluded. “When I was a kid, we always went to our huge clan’s Cathloic weddings. The receptions always tended to be informal garden parties. Us kids ran around and had a ball. My friends, Chris and Candice, who own Hampton Hall Farm, have a 5-year-old by named Will (he was my ring bearer). So there was lots of play-stuff around for the kids. Lots of trees to climb, places to hide. I have fun watching kids having fun.”

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I am friend’s with a lesbian couple who hope to get married one day (you should check out their cool video blog Niche Girls by the way!) so whenever I get sent beautiful same-sex weddings I always send them over to them to inspire them…and to make them cry! Kelly & Dani’s beautiful Californian wedding certainly hit the spot on the tears stakes by the way…there were floods I’m telling ya! Anyway I digress.

Kelly & Dani were married at Highland Ranch in Philo in a beautiful and intimate ceremony followed by a DIY reception at the same venue. Both brides wore Siri dresses and Fluevog shoes. The venue provided all the food but the cake was made by friends. For décor the couple chose wild flowers. “What makes Kelly & Dani Rock n Roll is that they’re both very beautiful ladies who are not afraid to profess their love to each other,” explained photographer Caroline. “They included their closest family and their dog, Trout in their celebration. They also had fire lanterns and Kelly’s sister fire danced as well as officiated the ceremony! They had a hand fasting ceremony and I personally love their coordinating dresses!”

Much love indeed. Hold back the tears everyone…

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Architects Sybil & Jon planned an outdoors, Robin Hood style wedding – complete with campfire, archery and tents – at the bride’s parent’s house, for July 30th this year. Jon explained that they wanted the ‘feel’ of the wedding to be similar to the scene in the woods from the original film of Robin Hood.  They wanted everything to be relaxed and very informal and so had tractors as their transport, a folk band and a rustic, natural style of flowers. “Sibyl was very keen to use English flowers and wanted them to look like they had been picked from the garden.” their wedding planner, Kate told me. “ Anne Bell sourced the flowers from a walled garden in Hertfordshireand created beautiful colourful arrangements in jars on each of the tables along withbouquets for Sibyl and her bridesmaids.  The church was decorated witha stunning candle stick display and pew end arrangements tied with raffia.  As an added touch the couple also quickly decorated the tractor!”

Sybil wore a dress that had originally belonged to her Grandmother and that her Mother had actually worn for her wedding as well. It was a ‘day dress’ which was made from embroidered linen that she brought in Jamaica when she lived there in 1948. The bride’s mother then altered the dress into a top and skirt and wore it on her wedding day in 1973. The bride’s mother then altered the dress again with a slightly different mid-drift section for Sibyl to wear. Sybil teamed this very special gown with a Jenny Packham headpiece and sandals by Charlotte Olympia, in Lois leopard print. She also wore an antique watch which her Mother had given her as a gift as which had also belonged to her Grandmother.

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My last wedding from Bob Miller (for now! – if you missed them here’s one and two) is the gorgeous relaxed but energetic wedding of Beverly & Neil.

Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham AL (apparently one of the most haunted places in the US!) was suggested to the pair by their friend and eventual wedding coordinator, Sarah Crawford.  After visiting Sloss, they both agreed this location would provide the unique, relaxed, and energetic atmosphere they wanted.  Working within a very limited budget, they felt that choosing an unconventional location would allow them to bypass some of the traditional wedding etiquette.  “The location also said a lot about our interests” the groom told me. ” I’m an Architect (student) and Beverly is a Graphic Designer.  The soaring smokestacks and steel columns and beams (all decades old) provided an amazing setting.  In addition, much of Sloss consists of beautiful greenery sprouting out of the old steel in various spots.” 

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