Wedding as a SURPRISE? Yes, it is possible. Not only is it possible, but it is also becoming more and more popular both in the world and in Latvia. When organizing such a wedding, young couples most often invite guests to larger birthday celebrations or other events, and only when they arrive at the venue do the guests realize that they have actually come to a wedding.

LĪGAVĀM tried to find out how easy or difficult it is to do and what should be taken into account when organizing such a concept wedding.

No wedding planning stress

Alise and Juris got married only a couple of weeks ago, and both chose a "secret wedding" as their wedding concept. When asked about the main motivation for such a decision, Alice admits that they both wanted the invited guests to enjoy their wedding without undue stress about gifts, dresses and hairstyles.

"We wanted the wedding gifts for the guests not to become a way to pay back the celebration, and we, on the other hand, don't stress about everything being perfect and according to the script. In this way, no one knows what is right and how it should be. It just is," admits Alice.

In the end, everything turned out even better than expected and the couple is sure that if they had to plan a wedding again, it would definitely have the same format. Mainly because the stress of planning a wedding is completely gone and it is possible to enjoy one of the most important days of your life with pleasant excitement.

From spontaneous decision to wedding in three months

Telling how the planning process itself took place, Alice admits that the beginning of everything was a spontaneous decision. "We knew we wanted to be together in joys and sorrows until death do us part.

If you feel that you have met the right person, then you don't have to plan, but you have to act, which is what we did. The idea that we could get married came exactly three months before the wedding itself.

I already knew if I ever have a wedding, it will definitely take place in Anna's garden . It is truly a place where flavors and people meet. The location was also particularly important, namely Riga, because since the guests were invited to the dinner, they had to be in a place where it was convenient and quick to access, especially considering the fact that the dinner was scheduled for Friday evening.

The only thing we wanted from our side was a lot of candles and the feeling of being in the forest, because that is the place where we spend most of our free time. The rest was the free improvisation of the decorator Iluta Piternik and her love for her work," says Alice. She also points out that wedding service providers were most often excited about such concept weddings. "As soon as we told a service provider about our wedding concept, they were excited.

Since this type of wedding format is not yet very popular in Latvia, it was easy for us to find cooperation partners," says Alice.

Only two guests - witnesses - knew about the wedding

But how did the guests themselves react in the end, who planned to come to the Friday dinner, but ended up at the wedding instead? "It is impossible to describe the feeling of seeing genuine surprise and joy in the eyes of your loved ones when you can share love without asking for anything in return.

There was a feeling that unconditional love was flowing through everything and that is what we wanted to experience on our wedding day.

We also knew that we wanted the guests to participate in the wedding ceremony even if the ceremony and registration were to be organized separately. But here too we were very lucky and it turned out that the ceremony was official. Since we needed two witnesses, two people had to tell the truth.

It was very easy to choose - for practical reasons, we chose my mother, who would have to stay with our daughter on the day before the wedding, and my husband's brother, who lives in the Netherlands, and who would need a more important reason to fly to Latvia," says Alice. When asked if she missed the missed pre-wedding party with her friends, as well as sharing the upcoming event with her loved ones, Alice admits that she did not. "I'm probably a little different in this matter, because I'm not one of those people who, for example, show their life on social networks. I only share with those really close to me, so sharing wasn't what I missed or missed. Instead, it was much more satisfying to see tears of joy and genuine surprise in the eyes of the guests. In the end, everything happened very harmoniously," says Alice.

Wedding service providers appreciate different wedding concepts

Alice and Jura's wedding was decorated by Iluta Piternika / MintDeco , which admits that being involved in creating a secret wedding is always interesting, because you know that something special is happening that the guests don't even know about. "Of course, there is no big difference when decorating a secret or an open wedding, because in the case of both weddings the decorator puts his heart and creativity. Here we can talk more about the emotional aspect - you feel privileged that you are informed and involved in such an event, which the relatives and friends of the new couple have no idea about.

Since I get to be in a lot of weddings, I always like different wedding concepts. With genuine and warm curiosity, I waited for news from the new couple after the wedding, how the guests perceived this surprise," admits Iluta.

PHOTO: ANDRIS SPROGIS, ELĪNA UPMANE , LIENE PETERSONE, LINDA LAUVA , LUCIJA ROŠANE