Huge flowers and a surprise Smarties cake at Angela & Jean-Paul’s Aussie wedding

The Offbeat Bride: Angela, Education Sales

Her offbeat partner: Jean-Paul, Arborist

Date and location of wedding: Parents' backyard, Sydney, Australia — February 21, 2015

Our offbeat wedding at a glance:

When we decided to go ahead and have a wedding rather than elope/register, it was because we believe that we are a social couple and receive so much support and strength from our families and community that it only makes sense to share the celebration of our love with them.

Tell us about the ceremony:

I wanted the ceremony to be as quick and painless as possible. I'm not religious and JP has not been practicing for years, so we felt no need to have any religious elements. Our celebrant was one of our best friend's mum and she made the whole thing as simple as possible. We left the vows as the legal wording and changed up the ring exchange only slightly.

The best aspect of the ceremony was that Velda, our celebrant, made it easy fun and casual. We all made errors at some stage and forgot wording, but I feel like that made it feel more real. For us it was never a performance, it was something to be fun.

Our biggest challenge:

My biggest challenge was taking on people's opinions. I said from the beginning that I wasn't fused about details and that if people had something they thought was important I would include it (within reason). I started to take on most details that people suggested and would find that it would be the same person a few weeks later asking why I had included/changed the detail they had suggested. I also found that people are more than happy to offer help but not as many willing to actually deliver what they had offered, which resulted in a few last-minute fixes.

My favorite moment:

We asked JP's aunty to make our cake for us. When she asked what we wanted I suggested a surprise. I LOVE surprises. She made us a pretty, simple white icing cake with a lion and kangaroo. When we cut the cake open, a whole lot of Smarties fell out. It was a great surprise and it was really nice seeing how much effort she put in to surprise us. The cake also tasted awesome.

My funniest moment:

The funniest moment was my father in law's speech. He had a few drinks throughout the day as he had amazingly catered for the whole thing. His speech was lovely and heartfelt, but he got to the end and started again, the whole family laughed and tried to figure if this was on purpose on not.

What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding?

All the fighting and arguing, tears, and sleepless nights were worth it for us. None of the details of the day mattered as long as I still got to wake up with my partner for the rest of my life. Since we have been married, we have been happier than ever.

Vendors

• Photographer: Tiffany J Photography
• Makeup: Lisa Callus Makeup Artistry
• Hairdresser: Wedding Mobile Hair and Makeup

About the Author: Offbeat Weditors

@offbeatbride @offbeatwed

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