Family and friends arrived at Tarryn & Brad’s wedding in 2015, and left in 2016 with champagne on their lips and confetti in their hair.
The venue in the KZN Midlands, Crystal Barn, was the perfect setting for their theme of 1920s Great Gatsby mixed with Exotic Marigold. Every detail carefully planned by fashion savvy bride and her equally stylish mother Lee.
HOORAY: We would love to know a bit about you. Tell us how you met and how you got engaged.
TARRYN: I am an Online Social Media Editor at Mr Price. Brad is a Senior Graphic Designer at Mr Price too. We started our jobs at Mr Price only a month apart, that’s how we met. He was so shy, he never said a word at work until he almost choked to death one day. I went straight into survival mode and hit him senseless until he could breathe again!
We were in hysterics over the incident and became really good friends. It took about a year for us to both realise that this was more than just friendship. According to him, I was the hardest person to propose to! He tried for months and I kept messing up his plans in some way so he had to get really sneaky. He proposed in February last year on a Tuesday evening. A Tuesday!! I came home to find our outside courtyard transformed into a white wonderland. Flowers everywhere, lanterns, candles and a table set for 2 under the stars. We sat all night drinking champagne. It was perfect because it was in this courtyard that we fell in love, eating pizza and drinking wine together, talking about life and everything else.
HOORAY: Let’s talk about venue and décor. We love Crystal Barn. What attracted you to this particular venue? What décor items were supplied and what did you bring in yourselves? What was your inspiration in terms of colour and theme?
TARRYN: I fell in love with Crystal Barn from the start. It wasn’t even build yet but the incredible lawns and Indian-style reception venue had us obsessed. Our wedding was a mix of 1920’s Great Gatsby meets Exotic Marigold Hotel. We loved mixing the glam of the 1920’s with the eclectic beauty of the venue. The venue provided the long banqueting tables, the exquisite chandeliers and beautiful chairs, everything else we put together. It helped a huge amount that my mom does weddings so we used a lot of her décor and we made a lot of our own décor to try save money. We made a swing for the tree, the champagne bar, a full size moon which acted as a Photo Booth etc. We used half the furniture from our homes- from couches and pillows, to book shelves and drinks trolleys. Although it was a lot more tedious, it was amazing to look around the room and know that so many people had put so much effort into making our day perfect.
HOORAY: Having your wedding over New Year’s Eve is a bold move. We would have been worried that friends and family might have other plans. Was this a concern for you?
TARRYN: We had discussed wanting to do something different for our wedding. I have always liked the idea of getting married at dusk- it’s my favourite time of day. A lot of our friends and family are overseas so we wanted to find a time close to Christmas when most of them would be home. We settled on New Years because we thought that having everyone you love in one room seeing in a new marriage and a New Year year together would be the most fun. We sent out our save the date almost right away to give our guests up to a year to plan, this definitely helped.
HOORAY: T, your dress is spectacular. Please tell us who designed and made it, and share any stories you have about the process of having your dress created.
TARRYN: Aaaaaah thank you so much! Casey Jeanne Atelier made it. There are no words for this women. She is literally a couture goddess! I always knew I wanted a custom-made dress. I went to Casey with specific ideas. I knew I wanted long sleeves, a 1920’s influence, a long back and a romantic feel. She took all my ideas and inspiration and turned them into something magical. Her attention to detail is unparalleled, even down to the 1920’s art deco beading. The dress is a masterpiece made with so much love.
HOORAY: And onto the bridesmaids dresses. Looks like you pulled those girls off the runway. Please tell us about those dresses. Who chose them, who made them, what was your inspiration?
TARRYN: I am fashion obsessed and even more than that- crazy about couture! I wanted each bride maid to wear something unique in a metallic tone which was our wedding colours. It was so important to me that they each wore a style that they loved, suited their body, their colouring etc. My mom Lee, made each and every dress. We sat together and designed their dresses and then spent months sourcing fabrics from all kinds of places! Vintage shops, online, Minty’s- until we had the exact fabric to create each look. Each look had a 1920’s Great Gatsby influence with an added glam factor of lots of statement jewellery. She is unbelievably talented at making dreams come true- she is super women!
HOORAY: So the dress code was black tie. Which is not very common for a farm wedding. How did you bring formal elements to the outdoors?
TARRYN: Both myself and Brad fell in love with the idea of it being a black tie event, especially with our wedding being on New Years Eve. We wanted to do things differently during the ceremony and not have formal outdoor seating. So what we did was have our guests arrive 45 mins earlier to pre-drinks on the grass. My mom Lee Murch is a wedding specialist and planner so she literally turned the outside area into a 1920’s garden. We created low lounge areas with drinks trollies, a champagne bar, lanterns and lots of candlelight. We used antique elements like perfume bottles and velvet cushions to make it more formal.
Our guests enjoyed their drinks while we got married in the middle of them. It made our ceremony feel incredibly intimate and relaxed.
HOORAY: Can you tell us about who walked you down the aisle?
TARRYN: Both my dad and stepdad walked me down the aisle. It meant the world to have them both beside me during that moment.
HOORAY: Lad and Lass are such great photographers. What did you enjoy most about having them shoot your day? Or what do you love most about your photos?
TARRYN: These two are something out of this world. They were so professional and passionate on the day it made the whole experience such a fun one! The only thing we wanted from our pics was that they were natural and mostly ‘caught’ moments. They did exactly that and more. We had only 35 minutes to do our bridal shoot because of lighting and we had the best time during this half hour. They made us feel comfortable, we laughed throughout the day and we hardly felt like we were being snapped which I think made our pics so much better. We will cherish our photos for life!
HOORAY: Highlight of your day?
TARRYN: The time alone with Brad drinking champagne and watching our guests on the grass. They all looked incredible. Brad’s speech was out of this world, it was so personal. He’s a super star.
BRAD: Seeing T walk down the aisle, being serenaded by an acoustic guitar player while walking back from our photos and seeing in the New Year with all of our friends and family.
HOORAY: Any regrets?
TARRYN: We had a power failure during pre-drinks that forced us to cut them short. We would have loved to stay under the stars forever.
HOORAY: Best spent money was on….
TARRYN: Our photographers – Lad & Lass, our videographers – The Shank Tank, our DJ – David Yapp and the food – Food Matters. Having top class vendors whom we trusted to deliver made all the difference in the world.
HOORAY: I’m most excited about….
TARRYN&BRAD: We both said the same thing at the same time. Ha ha. We are so excited to celebrate our anniversary each New Years. It’s going to always remind us to make the most of the year, to look forward to the future and to leave old regrets behind. What more could you want?
Watch their wedding video here
Brad & Tarryn | Feature Film from The Shank Tank on Vimeo.
Supporting Cast:
Wedding Dress: Casey Jeanne
Bridesmaids Dresses: Lee Murch
Wedding Cake: Kim Dunbar
Wedding Décor and flowers: Lee Murch of Weddings by Lee
Photographers: Lad & Lass Photography
Videographers: The Shank Tank
Food: Jacqui Rey of Food Matters
DJ: David Yapp
Wedding Co-ordinator: Alexis Yapp of Surreal Eventing
Hair: Co and Marco of SanMarco
Make-up: Kezia Myatt of Nixon Make-Up and Angela Watson of Make Up Your Mind
The post Real Wedding | An Exotic Marigold New Year’s Eve Wedding appeared first on Hooray Weddings.