I love when a couple chooses an untraditional wedding, and today's couple Erin & Craig sure did that by surprising their guests at their own engagement party by saying 'I do', with bride Erin rocking a blue Karen Walker Dress. Today's mini shindig proves that thinking outside the box can not only save you money but also be loads of fun and a lot less stress. High five you two, and a big thank you to the awesome Nita Meyer Photography for sharing these cool pics with us.
Photographer Nita Meyer Photography | Flowers Essentials, Cambridge | Venue/CateringOnyx Restaurant and Bar, Cambridge | Hair & Makeup The Sample Room, Cambridge | Cake Girl on the Swing, Hamilton | Celebrant Abbie Hyde | Brides Dress & Belt Karen Walker | Shoes Isabella Anselmi | Grooms Suit & Accessories Barkers | Brides Engagement Ring & Groom's Wedding Band Goldsmiths | Brides Wedding Band Stewart Dawson
We met around 5 years ago at a wine tasting, and then again at a Christmas party not long after that. We were official a few months later.
In three words describe your wedding style... Spontaneous, Relaxed, Happy.
Our wedding was actually an engagement party, which was planned and organise about 3 months ahead of time, however, we decided 2 weeks before the date to make it a surprise wedding. To pull off the surprise, we had to keep in mind not to splurge too much as we didn't want people to get suspicious. We were very glad that we splurged a bit on getting a photographer as we ended up with great memories captured.
Keeping our wedding as a surprise was both the most difficult, as well as the most fun at the same time. We couldn't discuss our plans or bounce ideas off anyone, which made planning a bit more difficult, and unfortunately there were some special people who couldn't be there on the day. But keeping the secret between us made the day even more exciting. We were lucky, our photographer, celebrant and venue manager where all great to work with, even with such short notice, and made the process all the more enjoyable.
Not really, a few candles and flowers around the venue was about all the DIY we managed. We still wanted the venue to look like an engagement party when our guests arrived, so we kept things fairly simple.
We were not planning on having a first dance, it didn't even cross our minds when we were planning, but my sister encouraged us on the night .... and our first Dance song was " Big Jet Plane " by Angus & Julia Stone.
The whole event was short in comparisson to a standard wedding, so there was no sit down meal, and we were able to just provide platters, which worked out really well. We supplied champagne for the toast, but our guests payed for their own drinks. There was no need for being too extravagant with the venue, as people believed they were at an engagemnet party right up until the end of the speech, so we ended up spending a fraction of what we had originally planned to spend on a wedding.
We will plan a 'mini moon' in the new year, and we are still deciding between an island holiday, or a cruise for later on in the year.
CREDITS
Essentials, Cambridge Photographer Nita Meyer Photography
Flowers
Venue/CateringOnyx Restaurant and Bar, Cambridge
Hair & Makeup The Sample Room, Cambridge
Cake Girl on the Swing, Hamilton
Celebrant Abbie Hyde
Brides Dress & Belt Karen Walker
Shoes Isabella Anselmi
Grooms Suit & Accessories Barkers
Brides Engagement Ring & Groom's Wedding Band Goldsmiths
BridesWedding Band Stewart Dawson
Founder and editor of P&L. Self-proclaimed shoe guru and lover of bogan chic (wtf!) Wife of a butcher, mother of 7 dogs and a cat. Bonkers.
