Béatrice & Danny intimate french, vintage, diy wedding

Remember when Ariel counted the ways she loved that one photo? Well Béatrice of the pink hair and fabulous wedding photo has been nice enough to give us the whole scoop on her amazing wedding in Germany.

The offbeat bride: Béatrice, graphic designer

Her offbeat partner: Danny, salesman

Location & date of wedding: A small castle in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany — July 25th, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: Many people think we were made for each other because we share this special first love thing together. And so no one was surprised when we got married on our eleventh anniversary but us. Neither of us had ever even been to a wedding before nor had we given any thoughts to it. Everything went differently than expected. I got the most awesome kick-ass proposal ever and so we got married after all.

We created and designed the whole wedding ourselves, from the invitations to the decorations and give-aways, even the dress, which was sewn by a local designer! I had so much fun putting all the lovely details together. The pretty white and pink pastel vintage stuff with all the sparkles, cupcakes, birdies, wild roses and baroque glamour originated a unique ambiance.

We wanted our ceremony to be really intimate. So we invited just our closest friends and family.

He wore a black italian suit with a pink shirt, a black vest and a black skinny tie, white sneakers by Marc Ecko and a bling bling crown buckle on his belt. My wedding dress was made from thirty metres of pink tussah silk, silk tulle and fine tulle with an embroidery of tiny pearls and bling bling exactly matching to my vintage jewelry. Like everyone else I wore sneakers: pink Converse (I wish the summer had been hot enough to go barefoot) and I had a white handkerchief with crocheted lace with me a dear friend from Vienna made for me.

We had this cool historical car called a Wartburg 312 that we love a lot because these cars were made in the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany), where we both grew up.

We didn't stick to any of the old traditions and customs: no veil, no rice, no butterflies, no white doves, nothing old, nothing new, nothing borrowed, nothing blue, no games and I didn't throw my beautiful bouquet to anyone. We just shared the bridal cup for the simple reason that it's a pretty charming legend.

Although we were the only vegans at our party we had a delicious vegan buffet.

After the party we sat together until sunrise.

Our biggest challenge: The biggest challenge for me was dealing with the really girly stuff, wearing a dress, being the centre of attention. It took some time to feel comfortable with that.

Another big challenge was to bring our very different guests of all ages (my grandpa is eighty-eight) and all types under one roof. Most of them didn't know each other, even our parents hadn't ever met the whole time we'd been together!!! But they all clicked with each other. Some of them realized that they went to the same school, some are like best friends now, some fell in love.

My favorite moment: I changed my dresses in a lovely little romantic closet under the roof of the castle. When I was ready I took stock of myself and I realized what was really going on.

Then my dad walked me into the ceremony although he almost wasn't there to begin with. He had chemotherapy and a big surgery before the wedding. Luckily, the doctors allowed him to leave the medical center for two days. I'd never seen him so weak before, yet so strong at the same time. I was overwhelmed he took on all these risky efforts for us.

When the huge folding doors were opened the pianist played some French, drop-dead gorgeous but melancholic music. The sun was shining through the big French windows and lit up the golden baroque ballroom. Everything was sparkling and there was this surreal aura around everyone. This was the most magical moment in my life.

We wrote the vows ourselves. When Danny started talking I noticed I was getting teary-eyed. Oh no! So I braced myself and was okay again. But when I expressed my partly melancholic words the tough guys started to cry, too. I thought I could never express how I feel about what we share, what we experienced, what we have lost and how we grew with those challenges. But I did it and I will never forget that.

My funniest moment: When our car lost its lovely decoration of cans and nearly knocked out the guests behind us. Bad, but so funny!

Another really amusing moment was when our master of ceremonies told some funny stories about our sometimes rebellious youth that no one else had heard before. For example, we used to have this code when Danny wanted to visit me secretly (I was sixteen years old) and my mom was still at home. I would hang this huge skull banner out of my window so that he knew that he had to wait a bit longer until the coast was clear. I think my mom was a bit shocked, but we all couldn't stop laughing at it! The whole ceremony was a charming retrospect of our life together.

My advice for offbeat brides: Find your way to stay true to yourself and don't bend to anyone's expectations!

In my experience the things I did by myself went best. But on your wedding day you should rely on some close friends to take care of all the little things around you.

About the Author: Offbeat Weditors

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