At the risk of sounding overly romantic (and slightly creepy), one of our hobbies at Guru includes keeping track of outside-the-box wedding ideas from across the country.
This Valentine's Day, we've decided to play wedding planner by sharing those ideas. This list could serve as inspiration for the soon-to-be married looking to make their special day even more memorable, a source of warm, fuzzy feelings for romantic hopefuls, or a source of entertainment for the eternally cynical. Happy Valentine's Day!
The artsy approach
It's your day, so why not make your own rules? Jacopo Gianninoto, a Bangkok-based music composer and classical musician, and Nasha Mekraksavanich, a fashion accessory designer, wanted to do something fun and creative for their wedding that also reflected their personalities. They gleaned inspiration from their shared passion for visual art and decided to use surrealism and the famous Rothschild 1972 party as a reference.
They picked the Neilson Hays Library as the venue for their January nuptials, because it was built around the time the Surrealism movement was emerging in Europe. The eccentric eyes used to adorn the venue were inspired by surrealist artist Rene Magritte. Jacopo presented the ring to Nasha to the tune of an accordion playing the soundtrack from The Godfather. He said, in Vito Corleone's voice, "I'm gonna make you a proposal you cannot refuse." Instead of cutting cake, the couple instead opted to cut pizza.
After the serene Thai-style wedding, the couple and their guests turned the library into a dance floor equipped with lasers, spotlights and a DJ. Jacopo, dandy in long-tailed suit and top hat, and Nasha, ethereally gorgeous in a fringy white dress with a crescent moon to frame her face, opened the dance floor. Friends and family showed up in creative and eccentric costumes, adding to the collaborative effort.
If you want to walk the aisle like Jacopo and Nasha, you'll have to do your homework, researching history and popular culture, but we're sure the memories will last you a lifetime.
The eco-friendly approach
When declaring your eternal love for one another, why not show some love to the Earth, too? The eco-friendly wedding of Pipat "Top" Apiruktanakorn and Siraphun "Noon" Wattanajinda in August of last year was a fine (and green) showcase of the idea.
The celeb couple made environmentally conscious choices regarding their nuptials. Their invitation cards were made of recycled paper. The Landmark Hotel was chosen as the venue, as it's close to their homes and easily accessible by BTS for the guests. The photo-taking backdrop was made entirely of potted plants and trees, which guests could take home. They opted out cutting a wedding cake to planting a tree together instead. Noon wore a pre-loved (but gorgeous) wedding dress and gave out bags of flower seeds instead of throwing a bouquet.
Creative invitations
Admit it: most wedding invitations you receive end up in the bin as soon as you've marked the date and time on your smartphone. Since you're actually spending a lot of time and money on those cards, it's best to ensure your guests remember to save both the date and the invitation itself. Take a cue from actor couple Natthawut "Poh" Skidjai and Pornthip "Ae" Wongkijanon, who were married on May 18, 2012. Their invitation was a was a mock-up of a newspaper, headlined "To surely wed on May 18". Pictured were a few cute photos and information about the event.
We've seen wedding invitations in forms of a bank book with details and a schedule inside, a package of "love-flavoured" instant porridge, a credit card (our favourite, because you can carry it in your wallet) and a lottery ticket.
The sky is the limit here. A GIF invitation card, anyone?
Ditching sabre for sword
All eyes are on the couple when they cut their multitiered cake with a sabre, so why not make it even more of a spectacle? Singer Aphiwat "Stamp" Ueathawonsuk and his bride Jerisuda "New" Sriwat made eyes pop when they cut their cake with a life-sized replica of the two-handed Fusion Swords wielded by Cloud Strife in the popular Final Fantasy VII video game. The groom, a big gamer, also made sure a Super Nintendo and other game consoles were on hand, so guests could play Street Fighter at his wedding reception in December last year.
Couple hashtags
Much like naming your future children, coming up with a hashtag to go with your wedding is crucial these days. It will come in handy whenever you want to track pictures friends and family took at your wedding on social media. Having a designated hashtag is advised, partly to avoid potential disasters resulting from unfortunate name combos (we've seen #BowJob). The easiest way is to just combine your names. For example, #bennifer (Ben and Jennifer), #framati (Franz and Sumati) or #yusak" (Yuwaporn and Somsak).
Oh, wait, the last one isn't a good example.
Super-groomsmen
A procession consisting of the groom and his friends and family, called kabuan khan mak, is an integral part of a Thai-style wedding. In March 2015, a groom named Supawat decided to put a superhero twist on the tradition. He turned his wedding at a hotel in Sara Buri into a mini comic-con, allowing his friends to attend dressed as superheroes.
Among the all-star attendees were Spider-Man, Green Lantern, Captain America and Iron Man. He and his bride, Porn-uma, even cut their wedding cake with a lightsaber. Of course, all of this should come to no surprise to people who know Supawat — he is, after all, the director of the Thai-toku Cosplay Club.
From home to viral video
If you're going to do a video presentation at your wedding, make sure it is viral-worthy. Prinya "Way" Intachai of hip hop group Thaitanium and Rybena "Nana" Tanwimol did just that. The couple, of course, are the stars of the wedding video, but their celeb friends are also part of the cast. We don't want to spoil it for you but, suffice to say the video is funny, action-filled and has a great twist. (And Paula Taylor played a fruit hawker for some reason.)
If you don't have the financial resources, think about asking your wedding organiser to candidly interview your friends on camera and let them share funny stories about you. That will ensure some laughs and touching moments. Or, for a cute presentation that doesn't require you to lift a finger, contact Sucre Studio (http://fb.com/sucre.wedding), which specialises in turning couple's stories into cute comics.
Thai country-style
Sirithorn "Ant" Hongloi shared her wedding story on a Pantip forum in January 2015, detailing how she and her soon-to-be husband, Watcharapol "Kwan" Deangsubha, translated their mutual passion for organic farming and conservation into their wedding.
The invitations were hidden inside bamboo stalks, and the event itself had a "no suit" dress code. The groom wore a simple, naturally dyed shirt and pants while the bride opted for a colourful dress made of pha kao ma (loincloth). The wedding was held at the Thai Army Club, where one corner was dedicated to an exhibition on organic farming and GMOs. For a photo backdrop, they used a hut, complete with haystacks, shovels, and hen cages, constructed inside the venue. Wedding souvenirs were potted plants with auspicious meanings.
Kwan performed a fire poi for his guests and Ant sang a luk thung song. Both threw bouquets of garlic for guests to catch. "Garlic is hidden in many dishes and you can taste it. It's like love, you don't see it but it's always there," Ant explained.
Modern Pagan
An atheist groom and a pagan bride decided on an intimate wedding, during which they would united through handfasting, a Wiccan wedding ritual. Atiwan "Wine" Kongsorn, a practicing pagan and co-founder of witch-themed café Ace of Cups, officiated the ceremony.
Beautiful meaning was imbued in every detail. Wedding souvenirs, for example, took the form of small sacks, each containing a bottle filled with rose petals and honey, a rock of salt and lavender petals, respectively symbolising love, abundance and happiness.
After Wine gave a short speech declaring the couple's love, he lit two candles representing the bride and the groom serving as guidance and warmth for one another. Wine then presented the couple with a beautiful ribbon, wrapping it around their clasped hands to symbolically unite them as husband and wife in front of friends and family.
