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The offbeat partners: Sanne & Dirk
Date and location of wedding: Jan Cunen Museum, The Netherlands, NB Oss — October 26, 2012
Our offbeat wedding at a glance: Because we love Halloween, the venue was decorated with pumpkins that we carved with our bridesmaids and groomsmen a few days earlier. We also carved some pumpkins and filled them with pansy flowers to decorate the tables.
We tried to do many things ourselves to save us some money: we made our own gifts and bought our own champagne. My cousin is a florist and we created the spider wedding bouquet and boutonnieres together. We also designed the wedding invitations with a friend of ours who is a graphic designer.
Tell us about the ceremony: Our ceremony was held at the Jan Cunen Museum in Oss. We wanted to keep it light and funny, and our officiant did all that and more.
In the Netherlands, it isn't custom to read your own vows, so the officiant visited us a few days before the wedding to talk about how we met and why wanted to get married. During the ceremony he made a summary of our lives and made some inside jokes that made us all laugh.
Our biggest challenge: One of our challenges was our choice of music. We asked a local band called Duck & Cover Band to play at our wedding (they cover Metallica, Slayer, Motörhead, etc.). We love going to concerts and listening to metal. Not everyone shares our taste in music, so we already prepared some of our guests with the fact that we had asked this band to play at our wedding. To keep everyone satisfied, we asked the band to play for an hour, and after that the DJ would play all sorts of music. We bought lots of earplugs and distributed them at the entrance of the venue.
My favorite moment: The look on Dirk's face when he saw me opening the door was amazing. It was as if we met for the first time again, and it was love at first sight.
Dirk started rehearsing with his former band called Insaint a few weeks before the wedding, although I didn't expect it to be for the wedding itself! He wrote me a song and played it. When they we're finished, Dirk's other band called Ayranoch entered the stage and started playing some of their songs. It meant a lot to me to see our friends putting in all this effort and really making our day special. We had lots of help from our family and friends in general, and it makes us very proud to have them in our lives.
My funniest moment: During the ceremony, before Dirk could say “Yes, I do,” I asked him “are you sure?” because Dirk always asks me things twice, even if I give him my final answer. So I decided it was time for some payback! Luckily for me, his answer was that he was sure about it, and we all had a laugh.
What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding? Write down your first ideas and wishes for the wedding, and stick with your priorities. I really struggled with what gets offered in the wedding industry, and it really made me doubt my choices. It is very tempting to adjust yourself to the choices they give you.
Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?
- Photography: Dario Endara
- Dress: Agora
- Suit: Jansen and Jansen
- Bride's ring: Pompeii3
- Necklace: Kreepsville 666
- Tights: Pamela Mann
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Wow. What a beautiful wedding. I love those stockings and the dress!
I love the music compromise as well. We’ve been looking for a way to blend our own musical wants and that’s a great idea.
You are both so adorable, I envy your hair, and I lovveee all the black & pink. Congratulations!
Love, love, love your wedding! Crazy beautiful. We got married on the same day and also had a pumpkin-filled Halloween wedding (it was featured on OBB yesterday). I love seeing the similarities and differences at the weddings of my fellow Halloween couples. I find it absolutely incredible how people can be so unique, yet at times so similar, oceans and countries apart. Freaking cool! Also, your dress is so amazing.
So gorgeous! Your dress is amazing-especially that fantastic neckline and corset.
The ear plugs sound like a great idea. I love loud music, but I also want to be able to still hear it when I’m 60:)
Oh my god, LOOK at them! Everything about this wedding is just crazy beautiful.
The “Je t’aime” tights are so cute! I want to buy some for myself. I love your dress as well. I have a weakness for full, poofy ball gowns.
In Europe you can buy them here.
Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!
OMG your dress!!!! GORGEOUS.
This dress! Ugh so beautiful!
What a lovely, lovely wedding!
Love the dress! I also love that you can see the couple’s personalities in all the little touches. To me that is what a wedding should be, about the couple more than anything!
So much to love about that whole wedding! The dress, the bouquet, the arrival car, and most of all, the love and adoration you can see beaming from the eyes of the bride and groom.
That first look picture is one of the most adorable things I’ve ever seen. Congratulations!
And now I want to listen to Metallica, but my Chewtoy is already asleep. :/
So much to love in this wedding! But I have to say my favorite detail was the “je t’aime” tights.
Wow. That dress.. your bouquet.. the decor.. There wasn’t a single photo that I didn’t like. Everything looks incredible! Ha, and your groom looks like he’s a riot! 🙂 Wishing all the best!!
The handbag has the large crystal and skull as clasps?? Or do you have a “hand ring that crosses several fingers?? Interested to know. Thanks very much. Debbie
Hi Debbie,
Im sorry for my late answer but the the handbag has brass knuckles as clasps, with the large crystal and skull on top of the brass knuckle. I believe it was first designed by Alexander mcQueen but now you can buy them from different kinds of brands. I bought mine at a local warehouse.
I hope my answer was helpful!
Love this! She looks absolutely elegant! I have been worrying about having black in my dress (Halloween 2014 wedding) because so often, in my opinion, it looks cheesy but she proves it can be done and look amazing!
WOW! SO beautiful and drool worthy! Def. my kinda wedding. I love it! Thanks so much for sharing!!!
Where did you get that Clutch?!?
I got this clutch in a local warehouse, I think you can find it online if you search for ‘knuckle-duster clutch’.
I love everything about this!! That DRESS.
Wow that dress. Where and how did you get it?