At first glance, you might think this is a mirror image – photoshop maybe? Well you’d be wrong. This is an image of two ladies who share such a strong bond, that they decided to share their wedding day. Sisters, Michelle and Nicky, got engaged within a few weeks of each other. Living in a small town meant that the two couples share many of the same friends. It wasn’t long before the community were joking about the sisters having a joint wedding. At first they just laughed, but the more the couples thought about it, the better the idea sounded. Their decision to share a wedding was not based on finances, the sisters tell us, but on the fact that they would get to share such a special day with one another.
The cute little duo (they really are cute and little!) from The Shank Tank were there to capture the day in both still and moving picture. Stacey says this about shooting a double wedding:
“At first we were a little nervous shooting a double wedding… 2 brides and 2 grooms was quite daunting. Luckily we had already done an engagement shoot with the 2 couples so we got a sense of how they would be in front of the camera. Even though we felt prepared for the wedding, we were both still quite nervous the night before. We discussed things like; what if the one bride thinks we are giving the other too much attention… and how are we going to manage the first kiss?
But after spending a few minutes with this awesome foursome on the wedding day, we realized why a double wedding was the only thing that made sense to them. They honestly couldn’t have been more relaxed and easy to shoot. It was such a pleasure meeting and getting to know Andrew, Michelle, Jarred and Nicky. The love and friendship between these two sisters is so very special. There was one moment that will always stand out in our minds… The girls were just finished putting their dresses on, Michelle looked over at her little sister Nicky, and with such love and selflessness she said ‘oh my gosh, you look so beautiful.’ They hugged each other and it was just such a real, moving moment. Shooting a double wedding was an amazing experience for Wes and I and we will never ever forget this day!”
HOORAY: Your wedding dresses are pretty similar. Do you share the same style or did you go shopping together?
NICKY&MICHELLE: When we first went shopping each of us had a pretty strong idea of what we wanted, Michelle wanted full lace and I wanted the bling. We both ended up choosing a type of dress that we had never even considered we would wear. Although we shopped together we actually didn’t realize how similar the dresses were until the day of the wedding when some of our guest pointed it out to us. I guess we both have fabulous taste.
HOORAY: How did your grooms feel about sharing a wedding day?
NICKY&MICHELLE: Do they even have a say? No kidding!! Jarred and Andrew are very easy going and they thought it was pretty awesome too!
JARRED: I liked the idea of it right away, for me it meant our wedding could be an even bigger celebration for the family and all of our friends could experience all four of our special days together with us. I think it was also extra special and unique for Nix and Mich to share such an important day in a lady’s life with their sister! The day played out so perfectly, thanks in large part to the girls’ massive efforts. It was magical for all four of us I think.
ANDREW: First I laughed about it and then when I saw Mich was serious I gave it some thought and was like why not? Celebrating this day with Nicky and Jarred would be awesome!!! Together with all our family and friends! One BIG PARTY!!!
HOORAY:How did family members react when they heard about your plan? I am sure your family must have loved it, but there must have been a couple of surprised family members on the boys sides?
NICKY&MICHELLE: We are very lucky to have amazing family on all three sides. There was some apprehension and questions raised as some thought it may take away from our special day, but once we explained what it meant to us they thought it was a wonderful idea – it meant a great big family reunion. My parents loved it from the get go, they were happy that we could spend this amazing day together and treasure it forever. My parents have always been very fair and one of their biggest concerns was ensuring they gave each of us a wedding equal in value, size and wow factor. When we first told them this was what we wanted they were absolutely delighted as it meant that they could give us the gift of a beautiful wedding which was certainly everything we’d dreamed of and yet equal in every way. My dad has the softest heart and he was very emotional about giving both his girls away on one day. My mom was very excited to start planning with us both and was extremely proud.
HOORAY: How did you combine your styles so that you both got the day of your dreams
NICKY&MICHELLE: Before we made the final decision to have a double wedding we made sure we both had the same vision for our perfect day and that we both wanted the same things. From the beginning we liked very similar styles and yes you do give and take here and there but it was exactly what we both wanted for our wedding.
HOORAY: Lets be honest, siblings have been known to fight…what was your biggest argument about?
NICKY: To be honest we hardly fought! But if I have to choose something it would probably have to be about the amount of people Michelle wanted to invite – if it was up to her we would have invited over 300 guests
MICHELLE: To be honest we did not have any really big arguments, just small bickering now and then. Mostly about the amount of people I wanted to invite…
HOORAY: If you could do it all over again, is there anything you would have done differently?
NICKY: Not a thing!!! Our day was perfect!! I often look at our pictures and video and wish we could do it all over again! What a fun and special time!
MICHELLE: Absolutely NOTHING
HOORAY: We can only imagine with the two of you being so close, you may want to raise your kids at the same age. Is there a combined pregnancy in the works?
NICKY&MICHELLE: Hahahaha now that is a question we get all the time! We are working on that! Still in the honeymoon phase.
HOORAY: Having a joint wedding is very unusual and it is very clear that you share an incredible bond. Please can you each share with us what it is that you love and admire about your sister.
NICKY: We do share a special bond indeed! Reading this question and thinking of what to say makes me emotional! My sister is my best friend and confidant; she will go out of her way to make others happy. She has a heart of gold and an infectious smile – she is such a people’s person and it’s easy to see why everyone loves her
MICHELLE: Nicky is a rock in my life she’s very loyal and caring she has strong values with a kind heart & amazing sense of humour! Our bond is something you find hard to put into words. Nicky is hard working and organised which were indispensable values while organizing our wedding.
HOORAY: Were you ever worried about what people might think of your decision to have a combined wedding?
NICKY&MICHELLE: In the beginning yes we were a little worried about what people would think (which is normal) but then we all agreed that this is our special day and this is how we want to share it and some people might think it’s crazy and some might love it! In the end everybody absolutely loved the double wedding idea and they also said that it would be the first and very likely last opportunity they would ever have to attend a double wedding. Our guests could not stop talking about it after our wedding. In the end the decision to have a combined wedding was not based on what people’s opinions would be but on what we wanted for our special day.
HOORAY: Tell us your favorite thing about sharing a wedding day with your sister.
NICKY: Shew, where to start! It has to be sharing and experiencing one of the best days of my life with my best friend, my sister! Your wedding day is always special, but mine would not have been complete without my sister sharing it with me and allowing me the pleasure of sharing her special day with her as well to.
MICHELLE: Sharing the BEST day of your life with your sister is just amazing. Loved being able to work together towards something so magical and sharing ideas with Nicky.
HOORAY: Having your wedding together meant that you could pool your finances, did this mean double the budget or were you keen on saving as many costs as possible?
NICKY&MICHELLE: Well lucky for us my parents paid for our dream wedding. We never really had a set budget, but we tried to work according to some guidelines. Nothing was ever too big of an ask for my parents, they were willing to spend whatever we needed to make our day special and make sure we were happy. Having a double wedding did not mean our costs were less, it meant that we could have the wedding we both really wanted
HOORAY: were there any secrets/surprises you kept from each other?
NICKY: No it is difficult to do when you’re planning so close together, plus Michelle is very nosy she would have found out
MICHELLE: Nope, Nothing. If Nicky tried to hide anything I would have found out, I’m very good at doing that. hahaha
Supporting Cast:
Venue: Lythwood Lodge, Midlands
Dresses: Both dresses were bough at Jasmines Bridal
Photography & Video: The Shank Tank – Stacey and Wes are amazing
Make Up and Hair: Kendyl from Nixon Make up
Décor: We hired from Settings, and set it up with our bridesmaids
Marquee Love sign: Our dad made it for us – very special
Flower: Cecile Lindeque – our friends mother – it was beautiful and perfect in everyway
DJ: Colin
Cake: Kouklas
Stationary and elemets design: Kyle Griffin / 084 444 0355
Groom’s Suits: Suit up Westville
Minister: Micheal & Paula Strydom
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