The Offbeat Bride: Tatica, Photographer
Her offbeat partner: Richzendy, Programmer
Date and location of wedding: Sendero Encantado, San Cristóbal, Táchira, Venezuela — July 27, 2013
Our offbeat wedding at a glance: Richzendy and I are long time open-source contributors and met through the internet. There was no love until the day we met AFK. We are both geeks, both PlayStation 3 and Wii gamers, both sci-fi fans, and long-term Linux contributors. Since day one we knew we were a perfect match. After seven years, he proposed to me at the top of the Mayan Ruins at Guatemala, the same place where the Yavin 4 location was filmed for Star Wars IV. As it says, “Great events happened here on Yavin 4.”
We had no time to plan the wedding, so I focused on the essentials: having a comfortable wedding dress, having a tasty wedding cake, and something cool with which to cut it. The rest was just maths.
We had our wedding on July 27, and our reception was at the coldest place in our country (we have no seasons, so 15C/59F was super cold for us). With friends and family, blue hair and lightsabers, we decided to spend the rest of our lives together.
I had the pleasure to have two of my best friends as photographers. I’m a photographer, so having someone I trust was my first priority. We had a really cheap wedding since food and other items were a gift, as was the live music. Our total was something near $2000 USD.
Tell us about the ceremony:
The wedding was quite normal, except for the fact that the priest kept confusing our names during the ceremony… so technically I’m the husband who married the wife!
Our biggest challenge:
At the time of the proposal we were living at Guatemala, so there was no chance at all to plan anything in advance since we planned to get married in Venezuela. My cousin and her fiancé (chef and somelier) solved my food issues by cooking everything. Richzendy’s cousins did all my makeup and hair, and the location was a “ready to party” place. Without all our family support, there wouldn’t have been a wedding at all.
My favorite moment:
I had a crew of crazy cousins doing my makeup while I kept a dog on my lap. But they didn’t let me see myself until I was done. I’m a geek that spends her time behind a computer and never wears makeup, heels, or dresses, so looking at myself was a big surprise.
When I entered the church, seeing everyone made me want to cry. Our families had never been together since they live about 12 hours apart. And the “Yes I do!” almost screamed from Richzendy was the best feeling in the world.
My funniest moment:
The most unexpected part was when I arrived to the cake table with my Darth Vader mask and my lightsaber ready to cut the cake! I hit it several times, but instead of cutting, I was just damaging it, so I had to change to a knife.
What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding?
There will always be sad and hard moments either during the wedding plan or after. I’m so glad I married someone who I not only love, but who will be there for me for the rest of my life. He has the ability to always make me laugh, and no matter what, we always find a way to solve our problems together.
Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?
- Photography: Carlos Maldonado and María J Z Rodríguez
Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!
