Arta and Daniel are an international couple. She is Latvian, he is English, and both live in London, where they also raise their one-and-a-half-year-old son. When Daniel proposed to Arta last summer, she immediately knew that the wedding would be celebrated in Latvia, however, several questions immediately crystallized, which became a challenge throughout the wedding planning process. Since the groom's family is Jewish and speaks only English, while Arta's, on the other hand, only Latvian, the first question was how to successfully combine these two cultures and languages ​​at the wedding. The second question was how to enjoy the wedding when you have to take care of an unstoppable baby at the same time.

Wedding service providers already booked for August next year in October

When they started planning their wedding, the first thing they both agreed on was the wedding date - Arta and Daniels decided to hold the wedding on the Friday before the Riga city holiday, so that they wouldn't have to worry about entertaining foreign guests for the rest of the weekend.

"Since I had never even been to a Latvian wedding, I really had very little experience and knowledge about how to create a wedding scenario, which service providers to choose and, ultimately, what style and format of wedding to hold in general. In parallel to looking for various information and stories of other couples' experiences, I also started to approach the service providers I would like to work with, but I was very surprised that already in October, a large part of them were booked for next August for the wedding

Since it is a very popular month for weddings, I advise couples to start the planning process early. In our case, it was also complicated that we did not live in Latvia, so every time we visited Latvia, we scheduled a meeting with potential service providers," says Arta about the beginning of wedding planning.

The bride admits that they found the wedding venue quite by accident, but as a result, the horse stable Zirgzandales became the right place for the wedding celebration in the rustic style they had dreamed of. "We chose a beautiful barn building as our wedding venue, with a large area around where horses roamed, there was a forest around and a fantastic rural idyll reigned, and all this was on the outskirts of Riga.

For a long time after the wedding, we received compliments about how magical everything looked and how surreal the feeling was when the horses walked calmly around," said Arta.

Evening host – a necessity, not an unnecessary luxury

The couple admits that the biggest challenge was the wedding ceremony, namely how to make it so that all the guests could follow it. "We asked the husband's father to conduct the wedding ceremony. With his help, we had already prepared all the vows, readings and speeches ourselves, because we wanted to create a personal program that would describe us.

To make it easier for the guests and to keep track of the ceremony, we translated everything into both languages and created a ceremony booklet. On the other hand, the husband's father had prepared the main speech of the ceremony separately and asked someone to translate it, but the leader of the evening read it during the ceremony. In the end, my great anxiety was unfounded, and the ceremony turned out to be very cordial," recalls Arta.

The couple had thought about connecting the two cultures and traditions throughout the evening. First, by hiring a wedding director who was able to communicate with the guests in both languages. "I knew from the very beginning that we wouldn't be able to do without the leader of the evening. And I recommend it to other couples as well.

Our wedding manager Juris Mūrmanis coped perfectly with what he was entrusted with. As a result, he perfectly read the Latvian translation of the ceremony, translated the husband's father's words on the spot after the ceremony, as well as the speeches of other guests, and generally made sure that all the guests were involved and that no one was left without understanding something.  The host of the evening achieved what was most important to me - so that there was no feeling that the room was divided into two groups and everyone was sitting in their own room," says Arta.

Traditional Latvian michoshan and Jewish wedding dance

Thinking about how to connect the two different cultures even more successfully in her wedding, Arta came to the conclusion that a set of folklore is needed, which will show foreign guests a part of Latvian traditions.

Arta and Daniels chose to include the wedding in the scenario not at midnight, but a couple of hours before midnight, so the guests were not yet tired and were able to emotionally perceive and experience everything that was happening, and as the bride herself admits, the outcome was excellent.

“However, it is important to pay attention to the length of mixing. It was very important for us that everything happens in two languages, which accordingly made the whole process a bit too long. Although the time flew by without me noticing, it can be difficult for the guests, especially older ones, to keep their attention or they can get physically exhausted," Arta shares her experience.

Also, both involved a Jewish tradition in the wedding, namely, the traditional dance Horah, during which the newlyweds are not only waved around on chairs and laid on sheets, but also dance to the rhythm of fast music.

The best decision in the wedding planning process – a nanny for children

Since Arta and Daniel have a one-and-a-half-year-old son, they realized early on that they would need someone who would take care of both him and the guests' children. Arta admits that it was the best decision in the entire wedding planning process.

"I realized that I didn't want inflatable attractions or people in costumes, because most of the children are still very small, so we hired a warm-hearted babysitter who played with them during the evening. I also bought a coloring book, pencils, water and healthy snacks for each little guest and arranged them beautifully in their seats so that they would be entertained during dinner as well. We brought blankets and a basket of things from home, we spread them in the field and created a playground for them

“Our little rakaris participated in the ceremony and welcomed me with his dad, unfortunately during the ceremony we felt that something was wrong, we passed him on and after the ceremony we concluded that he had a very high temperature. The nanny helped us a lot, because she was with her until the night, which allowed us to enjoy the wedding day, knowing that someone is taking care of the little one," says Arta.

Photo: JURIS GRANTS