I’ve seen a lot of Day of the Dead themed weddings in my time, but hand on my heart, none have been as incredible as this one! From the bride’s black dress with hidden rainbow petticoat, to the extravagant and gorgeous DIY decorations and the holi powder war (!), this is a wedding I KNOW you’re all going to love.
“Between the two of us we share a few cultures – Indian, Afrikaans, Polish and good old everyday South African”, began Tash. “Mashing the cultures, and therefore the traditions that accompany the various cultures, with our own individual likes and dislikes, was inevitably the inspiration for our day.”
“A few eyebrows were raised when we shared our ideas with family and friends, but we stuck to our guns and created a day that reflected who we are as individuals. This to me was what made it ‘alternative’ (besides the black dress, unlimited vodka and skulls everywhere).”
The day was held at the Mckenzie farm in Lions River, South Africa. The ceremony was in the nearby woods and the reception was in the barn. “The thinking behind our wedding theme was that we got engaged in India, we both love colour and we both love to dress up”, she continued. “I love skulls and Neil dislikes anything fancy and elegant. I also love DIY and power tools! From that process evolved our theme: laid back, unpolished, colour explosion, Day of the Dead dress up barn party!”
The bride designed her own dress with help from Neil’s aunt who made it for her. Her influence was a witches dress! “Our entire day was either made, sourced and bought or collected by us”, she said. “We became well known at the hardware store and car boot sale. Our friends and family were asked to collect everything from colourful egg boxes, to detergent bottles, to medicine bottles to tequila bottles. Colourful pom-pom garlands, piñatas, lucky packets for each guest, skull cookies, skeleton cake toppers, signage, cutlery pockets are amongst some of the things that we created ourselves. We are all about handmade and homemade!”
Although this wedding looks like it must have cost a bomb, the couple spent just R70,000 (around £4000!) They didn’t have many flowers (which can quickly add up!) and forgot about having stationery or a traditional wedding cake. However they did splash out on one thing – great photography. “Photography was the most important thing to both of us”, Tash explained. “At the end of the day that is what you will be left with years from now. Runner up to photography was lighting. The entire scene came to life when the candles were lit and the coloured lights came on. In line with lighting I would say making sure you both feel like a million bucks.”
