Self-organized wedding with miracle candles, love cocktails and gifts for animals instead of flowers

Baiba and Matīss organized their wedding themselves - created and wrote the wedding script, made invitations, booked service providers and personalized wedding rituals. Instead of flowers, they invited their guests to come with for donations to the animal shelter, and also the ring bearer at the wedding ceremony was an animal - the couple's dog Buga.

"We planned and organized the wedding ceremony ourselves. We didn't want to get married either in a church or in a registry office. Then well, we decided that we will create the ceremony we want. Ever since the first Kārlis Kazāk concert, which together visited, I had a dream that Karlis could sing at our wedding. Mathis surprised me by making my dream come true.

pasu-rikotas-kazas-ar-brinumsvecitem-milestibas-kokteiliem-un-davanam-dzivniekiem-ziedu-vieta — Photo: IEVA ANDRUPE

We decided that the ceremony will be in the open air and in a relaxed atmosphere

Koknese castle ruins were a perfect option, because half of our guests are from Riga and the other half from Jēkabpils. Ceremonies the main idea was to implement it as a sweet and fun story about our acquaintance and the 10 years we spent together, and at the same time - as a concert. We also wanted to involve our beloved dog, so she was entrusted with the big one the obligation to carry rings and to arrive with the inscription: "Attention - guarding the rings is has arrived". Then dad took me to the groom and the ceremony began.

As I have photographed weddings myself for three seasons, having been to many weddings, I had an idea of what I would like and what definitely not. Fortunately, my fiancé and I were on the same page and successfully complemented each other's ideas. We made the invitations ourselves, Photoshop we put together inspiration collages with the necessary rental items. Together with our mothers, we planted autumn flowers for decorations, we also made caramel table cards ourselves, which the guests left as a small gift from the wedding.

I really enjoyed this preparation process and we put a lot of love into every detail.

seems like the key is to start early

We made the main reservations - guest house, photographers, videographers, caterers, make-up artists and hairdressers immediately after engagement, a year before the wedding. But we also had our own problems. The first caterers we chose went bankrupt during covid , then we had to look for others who we were refused before the wedding. Fortunately, the third time was the best and we had excellent caterers - thank you very much For the Taste Gallery .

We also had to create a plan B in case the celebration with guests had to be canceled due to restrictions, but in the end the celebration happened as planned. Of course, there is a lot of stress when doing and planning everything yourself, but it is also really great satisfaction, and you won't have any disappointments or unexpected surprises on your wedding day. If you clearly know what you want and you have it enough skills, desire and experience, then you can also plan the wedding yourself. We didn't want to on the wedding day to worry about the planning and the script, so we hired a host for the evening, who stuck with us perfectly of the prepared scenario, he improvised coolly and added a joke. Thanks to Krist Neiland.

One of the things I've seen at so many weddings that I clearly didn't want in my own was the flower presentation in the ceremony. Those poor little flowers are piled into trunks and then pushed into a corner in a 3l jar in the guest house. We love animals, so we decided that instead of flowers, we would rather have guests make a donation to an animal for the shelter, or provide some treats for the four-legged friends at the wedding. If you want to implement this in yours as well at the wedding, we recommend that you warn the guests that the place for the dog and cat gifts is reserved for the guest house, otherwise you at the ceremony might be surprised by a distracted guest with a bag of food in hand.

As a beautiful end to the wedding day , we wanted a sweet and fun party that would not be emphasized on sharing responsibilities in the family or other similar tasks. The guests welcomed us in the miracle candles aisle (recommendation - buy the 90 cm long miracle candles at the pyrotechnics store). Since my hobby is dancing, our first task was to tease all the guests of the opposite sex until we got to the party. There, while the music was playing, we sat on our parents' laps and gave away our bridal and groom's ornaments. The wedding officiant asked our married guests to whisper one last time to us advice for married life. After the advice, we passed our jewelry to the next young couple and received our wedding jewelry. Me it was a pearl crown given to a girl at a bachelorette party, a personalized beer for Matis.

Next, the fun part of the party started, we prepared a love cocktail with the guests . On every little one a note with an inscription was stuck on the jars of ingredients: humor, love, trust, sex appeal, etc. Initially parents can be invited to the bole. They have to choose one of the ingredients that they think is necessary for happiness married life and must explain why exactly this. Once done, pour it into a container. And so, one after the other, until bole is full. Once all the ingredients are added, the new couple can mix this cocktail together. When a cocktail bag, carrier or someone else adds another magical element - dry ice. As a result, everything starts to smoke and looks absolutely beautiful. This cocktail is then poured into shots and drunk with the guests.

At the end of the party, we went to the bonfire, where each of the guests made a wish and threw amber into the fire powder. Really impressive and very emotional!”

What looks effective in wedding photos? Recommendations for other couples:

“Bubbles, magic candles, confetti, amber powder, dry ice. these things look effective though in life, both in pictures and videos. The guests welcomed us after the ceremony with a fabulous bubble aisle. To highlight the first dance, golden confetti stars were shot. In Michos, the guests welcomed us with miracle candles, making love we added dry ice to the cocktail, which made it look like a magic potion."