Manne and Marieke did it all a little differently.
Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now. If I had to give a theme to this wedding, it would be this one. At several moments of the day, nothing could stop Manne and Marieke: when the ink in the printer ran out and the vows still had to be printed, and also when it started to rain and almost the entire wedding moved indoors. Together, in that cool barn where Manne played as a little boy, it even blasted from the speakers during the act with the Pop-Up Choir: Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now!
So much happened in the morning that it’s hard to list everything. Upstairs in their home in Zwolle, Marieke was preparing with chocolates, friends and her sister. If you already see a text in the bride’s preparation room with ‘Mooi eem. De haan is dood’ (Great, the rooster is dead) then you just already know a lot of fun things are going to happen. Downstairs, Manne and his man squad were deciding which shoes would better match his suit. He remembered that they had once thought of having a convertible as a wedding car. Their own little Volkswagen Lupo is, of course, somewhat off from this, but in no time Manne had found a rug that had a cloudy sky printed on it. He thought, “If I tape this to the inside of the car roof, it will look like we’re driving in a convertible. How fun for me to capture these interesting ideas on camera 😄! In the meantime, Marieke was writing off her vows like crazy when she found out there was no more ink in the printer. That in turn gave Manne extra time to fix his convertible look-a-like.
Jeg Elsker Deg. I love you. This sentence Marieke once uttered in not-so-smooth Norwegian to Manne, because he lived in Norway for a while. Nice that this phrase could be found as a flag line in the wedding barn. For me, a reason to incorporate this sentence into a photo in which their love was visible. In addition to all the sweet speeches, the humorous vows and parents giving Manne a musical entrance, the Pop-Up Choir popped into the afternoon with their musical songfest. Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now by Stardust was sung to the world in polyphony and with great energy. Perfect for throwing the atmosphere right in!
The rest of the day filled with more speeches and a few brilliant plays and music. Manne and Marieke had already prepared me for that, since there is a lot of musical talent in the family. Combine that with party hats (visually interesting!), disco and good dance moves and you have a blast. I too was sitting with glittery cheeks enjoying this group of people by the end of the evening.
This day was truly a perfect example of a personal wedding. Not doing everything by the book, but just being yourselves and celebrating your own love party the way you want to. Being in the moment. It couldn’t be more beautiful.
By Laurette
