My International Wedding
Hi, this year I am 3 years married. Crazy to say (or type it out loud).
Soon after getting married I quit my full time job to pursue my masters degree in law; and of course that was same year when we got to be stuck in pandemic. What a time to pursue your dreams 😉 With this going on, I never got to writing a blog about my wedding, our vendors, and some tips on throwing an International wedding.
Without further due – a long overdue post!
Our wedding day
Photos by a maestro from Nextshot Photography!
Police stopped us and gave us a teddy bear!
Husband had to perform some challenges before he could marry me
Q & A
❤️Was your wedding bilingual?
You can say so! We had guests from all over the world, my family from Russia and Belarus, my friends from Germany, UK, Sweden, even Cambodia, and family from The Netherlands. Main ceremony was in Dutch, and our master of ceremony translated into Russian. Guests who spoke only English were unfortunately left out there, but I guess they knew what was going on:)
Master of ceremony got parents speeches in advance, and she translated from Dutch to Russian during the main event too! She was a lifesaver, and apart from me, the only person there who knew all three languages (Dutch, Russian, English);) Brides of The Netherlands, hit me up if I can help one of you? 😍
❤️Which traditions were there?
we had some Eastern European traditions: Husband-to-be had to perform some challenges before he could marry me. “Vykup” is traditionally done by friends of the bride, and in case groom cannot do the tasks, he has to pay up :). we also had “karavai” – the first bread that couple bites in, offered to them by the parents. The person who takes a bigger bite is said to have “pants of the house”
Dutch traditions were: arriving to the location together as bride and groom, at a dutch bike “Bakfiets”; and eating cake before dinner! we served cake right after we started reception, not waiting till the night
we also had nice Eastern Europen flower crowns and klompen laying around 🙂
❤️Silly games?
In my region (Belarus), weddings almost always have a type of entertainer type of person, who has games for people, helps with traditions, etc (tamada – кто знает, тот поймет 😉 We had no such person at our wedding.
There were no games at our wedding. My mom surprised us with a dance battle – girlsVS boys had to dance to various music; but other than that, we chatted, dance, and I feel still had no time for talking to everyone!
we also had a photobooth, and I customised the backgrounds for photo strips (with sayings in dutch and Russian and our wedding date). we ordered our photobooth via kruu.com: I found them via an ad on Facebook, and oh boy, for once ads did not let me down! You get this Photo Booth shipped to you, and you ship it back after wedding. Highly recommend!
Any advice for the dress-shopping experience?
I knew which dress I wanted!! I wanted a princess dress, and I knew my budget. I found a wedding boutique, and asked for a dress like that! My big inspiration was Jane the Virgin during her wedding to Michael; and Kate Middleton. I wanted a dress with lace and sleeves, and no amount of persuasion could stop me! I know it is a common advice to “try something that you did not plan to wear”: this advice was not for me. in 2019, sleek Meghan Markle dresses were trending, and puffy lace was considered to be “last season”, hey, but what is fashion to weddings? My advice would be – if you are like me, and you have a vision and a budget – go for it!
Did the Bridesmaids all wear the same dress and color?
We had a colours scheme for wedding guests – green yellow, and we send the colours to all the guests together with the wedding invite! I am happy guests managed to found something in these colours!
Do you recommend a wedding planner?
YES! Especially for a bilingual wedding, our master of ceremony, who spoke English, Dutch, and Russian, was a lifesaver! we found our master of ceremony via Best Day Ever. They also helped us with some wedding planning.
Best advice given to you before the wedding?
Let it go at your wedding day. I spent planning a lot before our wedding, really wanting to make sure international guests love it. On my day, I loved every second of it, and did not care at all if something is off.
We also did everything our way, doing only the traditions we liked.
VENDORS
Ceremony, reception, party. It is an official wedding location, so municipality representative arrived here to marry us: Mispelhoef, Eindhoven
Wedding planner and master of ceremony: Best Day Ever
Florist: Bloemmarie Eindhoven
Hair and Makeup: Natalie Hehekamp, Eindhoven I really trusted her, and was not worried about what she did to my hair. I knew she will do great!
Wedding cake: A rustic cake with flowers, ordered from a local expat!
Video: The best of times films
Photobooth via kruu.com:
Photo: Nextshot Photography
Wedding dress: Ladianto Wedding Dresses, I bought it in Moscow at this wedding dress boutique: https://domvesta.ru Surprised this dress survived a crammed lagguage trip, but hey, gotta save when I could save;)
