Martine and Terje chose a forest setting in Norway for their Viking meets boho wedding and planned the day around what felt familiar to them. The plan was to keep it relaxed and personal. This even extended into what they wore. When the bride couldn’t find a dress she liked, she ended up making one herself! She also made a shirt for her groom and the flower girl dresses.

“We wanted the day to feel relaxed, natural and very personal”, Martine said, “with a bit of a Viking and rock-inspired boho vibe. The most important thing for us was that it felt like us and not like a traditional wedding we were trying to copy.”

The DIY didn’t stop at the outfits. She also designed the menus and place cards, built the cake stand, and made ceremony signs by burning text into slices of wood. Together, they also burned their names into a cowhide alongside the phrase ‘In Omnia Paratus’ (Ready For Everything). “It felt like a perfect symbol for the life we’re building together”, she explained.

Martine learned floristry with their friend Monica and worked on the bouquets and arrangements herself. Friends and family helped set up the space, turning preparation into part of the celebration. “Everyone pitched in and helped, which made it feel even more like a true celebration with the people we love.”

They they forged their own rings using gold from both of their families, then engraved them with their monogram.

Guests were part of the DIY process too. They took Polaroids for the guest book and signed a buffalo skull as their version of a guest book which now hangs in their home.

They started the day with a first look before the ceremony, and a quiet moment with their daughter. “It was important to us that she felt included, and doing it this way gave us more time to simply be present with the people we love”, they said.

The ceremony was humanist and focused on their life together. Martine walked in with her dad to Can’t Help Falling in Love by Haley Reinhart. “This is a song that our old dog Harley loved to howl along to whenever it played, and we often sang it to our daughter when she was a baby”, Martine said. “Before exchanging rings, they included a handfasting using a macramé cord Martine had made herself.

They spent the rest of the day barefoot in the grass, talking and laughing with their loved ones, drinks in hand. “The day ended up feeling completely how we wanted it to be”, the bride concluded. “Natural, relaxed, and full of love. Being able to create all these personal touches with the support of those around us made it even better.”