Josh and Shandre weren’t afraid of being a little kitsch and over-the-top with their wedding theme. They wanted to tie together a movie theme, with Halloween, while keeping a very home-y atmosphere. They asked their family and friends to dress up as their favourite movie or Halloween character so it felt less like a traditional wedding and more like a house party celebration, which is exactly what they achieved!
Held at the Tuscana Conference Centre in Midrand, South Africa in October 2018, the couple had a $3.5k budget to bring their big day to life. They undertook a lot of DIY and concentrated on the things that mattered! Their biggest expense was the food, from their favourite Indian restaurant, and they didn’t spend ages concentrating on getting ‘perfect’ photos, instead just stopping for a few formal portraits before being fulled immersed in being present in their day.
Unusually, it was Josh instead of Shandre that took the lead for all the planning; “He took what we wanted as a whole and voiced it to all involved in the planning process,” said Shandre. “I just wasn’t that kind of bride who wanted to be 100% involved in all of the planning, so I was really lucky to have such an energetic groom.”
Together they put together props like their Halloween ‘kissing booth’ photo booth, Josh designed the invites and stationery and friends helped put together a Trick or Treat table and hand-carved pumpkins. Shandre baked six bundt cakes with a friend the day before the wedding, enjoying decorating them with cute Halloween decor.
In lieu of flowers, they tried to keep things eco-friendly and opted for reusable centrepiece decoartions. “I enjoy candy more than flowers,” said Shandre, “so I walked down the aisle with a candy bouquet made by Josh. He also wrote sweet messages on the back of the bouquet for me to read on the day.”
For outfits, Shandre dressed as her own modern-day version of Juliet from the Baz Luhrman version of Romeo and Juliet. Eschewing a conventional dress for a 2-piece outfit bought for under $30 and home-dyed with tea. She paired it with Steven Madden platforms and angel wings from a party shop. Josh dressed as Neo from The Matrix, with a custom-made coat from Solsken Clothing. Their bridesmaids were dressed as Tinkerbell and Takanashi Rikka.
They had their ceremony in a 3D garden chapel surrounded by their family and friends. In a secular ceremony, the officiant, and also best man, was asked to read ‘On Love’ from The Prophet. Josh’s vows were inspired by The Matrix blue or red pill scene – jelly beans were used and Shandre chose to ‘continue the adventure’ with Josh choosing the red pill. Her vows were inspired by the last scene of Romeo and Juliet turning tragedy into everlasting love and life – only if the groom choose to drink a shot of Jaggermeister. They included the breaking of the glass to end their ceremony to honour Josh’s routes.
After dinner, the couple decided to entertain their guests with two dances. The first was the iconic Pulp Fiction dance scene and the second was the “Do You Love Me?” dance scene from Dirty Dancing, before partying the night away to a DJ who chose songs of the couples choice – everything from the 60s to local jams.
