'Wow, it is very beautiful' - Everyone, to our faces
We arrived back in Debrecen around 10:30pm, a little shaken and pretty tired.
Leonard Bernstein, the great American composer once said:
"To achieve great things two things are needed; a plan, and not enough time"
Now apart from his repetition of the word 'things' I love this quote, and it is by no means a stretch of the imagination to set it as the theme of our wedding week.
Vanda was busy over the few months leading up to the wedding with DIY decorations and cost-reducing ideas for the Hungarian celebration because, in case you don't know, weddings are expensive. The average cost of weddings in the UK has risen to £27,000 this year with London's average sitting at a whopping £38,000. Our wedding and the celebrations to follow were and are, of course, much cheaper than this as we couldn't even dream of affording such a thing.
Vanda is a vastly creative individual and once an idea pops into her head it is impossible for her to think of anything else until she has achieved it. This is great news for me, as it means that all I have to do is bask in her brilliance. I am the Sam to her Frodo. So with this in mind, I'll do a quick run down of what she managed to create for the Hungarian celebration:
Flowers in Baked Bean Tins, napkins wrapped in string, clothes pegs and seeds. Looks better than it sounds, no?
The Flower Vases were spray-painted Baked Beans tins. We had to devour quite a lot of this food of the Gods in the UK as they don't sell Baked Beans in Hungary (Just another reason to leave the EU eh?). In the picture above you can also see an almost complete Floating Candle which I will explain how to make in another post. Vanda had an idea for having the Menu placed neatly on everyone's plate as we were having a Buffet table. This meant that everyone could sit down for a drink and chat first then head to the food with the confidence of someone who knows exactly what type of salad-y gloop they are going to choose. She looked up on Youtube how to fold napkins, and after many different style choices we settled on this lovely little fold pocket design. One can also use this design to hold cutlery as well, if one is so inclined. The final little gift to our guests is a seed of an 'easy grow' flower. As we were having a spring wedding we decided to give everyone a flower to plant (with instructions, starting soil and a bio-degradable pot included for added sex appeal). All of this was designed by Vanda either by hand or with the help of Photoshop and we are extremely happy with the results.
Cake Trays, 'Piggy' Bank and classy Wedding branding
The Cake Trays made a welcome appearance and were just about big enough for the unholy volume of cakes that adorned them during the celebration. All of the different wedding accessories followed the same format, and we had two big posters made for the walls to fit in with the theme. In the centre picture you can see a sort of 'Piggy' Bank. In Hungarian weddings it is customary to give money to the newly-wed couple on their wedding to set them off to a good start in their life together. Usually this involves a little ceremony where everyone 'pays' to dance with the bride. We (somewhat sadly) didn't have this at our wedding as my Hungarian isn't yet strong enough to go through the motions of a traditional ceremony, but that didn't stop us from collecting our 'look at us, being all happy' tax from the poor guests, and that requires a money box. We also had Bunting made to fit in with the theme and the tables were littered with Golden paper cranes made by Vanda, a little signature of hers.
Bloody Lovely
The final DIY addition to our little celebration was a 'Polaroid' frame that Vanda's dad kindly built for us. This, with the addition of some novelty hats and accessories, led to much drunken hilarity, as showcased below:
There was drinking, there was dancing, there was more drinking and in the end there was a good time had by everyone. The next two days were spent basically sleeping, and now that this little part of our adventure has reached its conclusion, we are moving towards the beginning of our year in relative isolation by the river (with lots of Motorcycle adventures to fill the spaces between!). With two celebrations down, we have two more official and (hopefully) a big pub trip for all the London friends to go before we can truly say "OK WE'RE MARRIED NOW, IS EVERYONE HAPPY!?" But until all of this, I will leave you with a picture that sums up how that week of my life feels every time I look back to it:
Dancing on Charles Bridge, as traumatic for Vanda as you can imagine
The weeks have passed, the dust has settled, and Rupert and Vanda are married. It has been quite an exhausting couple of weeks but we have made it here, into our pyjamas for the 4th day in a row (which is, I believe, the whole point of getting married in the first place) and I can now finally write about the whole experience.
My dear readers/reader/no-one, I have been neglectful I am aware, but please understand that we didn't have pictures until now and felt that I couldn't share our blessed enshaklement and journey across Central Europe without them. I know that this could be interpreted as not caring or ignoring you all/you/literally no-one, but the truth is that my writing is arduous and long-winded without pretty photos to back it up and my sole purpose for writing about these adventures is to entertain the masses/that one guy/anybody, for the love of god. And so here I am now, your humble servant, explaining to you what went down on the 11th April 2017.
A beautiful sunrise over a poorly maintained highway
To start before the beginning, we needed a way to actually get to Prague, which turned out to be more difficult than we imagined.
The first idea was to ride the bike back up the continent. A romantic notion yes, but we also had all of our wedding stuff to bring, so that wasn't going to work. Next came flying, which we couldn't do for under £1000 apparently so there went that. The train would have taken two days so finally we decided that the only feasible way of getting there is by driving. This would be accomplished in a 1 Litre Toyota Yaris which added an element of 'CAN THIS GO ANY SLOWER FOR PETES SAKE' to our journey. As we had 500 miles to traverse we had to set out at midnight on the 9th. The roads were poor and long, the traffic inconsistent and at times terrifying, and the signposting left a lot to be desired, but we kept in high spirits by laughing and smiling and needing the toilet for almost the whole way up.
In keeping with the very un-Springy weather that this Spring has been gracing us with we were pleasantly surprised by the scorching hot weather. We met up with the wedding guests and went for a drink by the river at the Čertovka Restaurant which boasts pretty stunning views of Charles Bridge and is situated just behind the smallest street in the city (requiring a traffic light system for people to walk up and down, perfect for edgy instagram shots). Afterwards we decided to hunt for a dinner somewhere in the city. At this point Vanda and I were suddenly hit by the lack of sleep we'd had over the last 20 hours and decided that we needed to pass out swiftly and so we went to the flat and did just that.
Team prep
The sun rose, we awoke, fresh and ready-ish for one of the most important days of our lives. Vanda took the brave decision a few months ago to do her make-up and hair herself so she got to work as soon as she was up. The boys in the wedding party were tasked with collecting various important things, such as breakfast and flowers. My friends and male guests Jamie and Chris went for the breakfast, I went for the flowers. It had not crossed my mind but apparently there was a brief panic as they realised that they had left me alone and I had the chance to run to the nearest train station and high-tail it out of there. Thankfully for everyone else I didn't do this and we went back to get ourselves ready for the ceremony.
Bloody elegant flower selection if I do say so
We were all ready way too early. So instead of twiddleing our thumbs waiting, we decided to go to the tower where the ceremony would be held and have a glass of Whiskey in the Whiskey Bar there.
The tower is quite an amazing restoration. We were very kindly given a book about it by the manager of the building as a wedding present but sadly I have not had time to read it yet but if you would like to read more about it, you can here. Our photographers and most welcome guests Theo and Sophie figured this would be a good time to start the photography as Vanda and I looked ravashing while secretly feeling increasingly nervous. So the whiskeys were a wonderful and welcome little addition to the proceedings.
Hooray for Dutch courage and amazing photographers!
But soon it was time for the main event. With excitement in our hearts and a rye-based spirit damaging our kidneys we made our way to the top of the tower. This part of the day was a bit of a happy blur. As this was such a small event and our families would not be with us, we decided to be 'current' and live-stream the wedding on Facebook (an idea that I had witnessed previously on the wedding of an old friend who now lives in Hawaii, hi Jess!), this was a resounding success, and even though the quality wasn't great, it has now been watched nearly three thousand times and allowed everyone to witness our special moment, in a confusingly quiet array of Czech and English suddenly interrupted by violently loud bells to signal that we were married, playing the sweet chimes of a popular Enya song, because who wouldn't want an aggressively loud Celtic rhythm playing at their wedding.
The Ceremony and drinks
After the ceremony we went for Lunch (still in the tower) at Restaurant Zvonice. Which was a truly hilarious treat. Even with the short notice I gave them about our arrival, they had a candle-lit table on a floor just for us, as well as some interesting Czech wedding customs to share with us. Such as the newly-weds having to spoon soup into each others mouths from one bowl with one napkin, which I'm still not convinced is a real thing.
Dignity utterly vanquished
I cannot recommend this restaurant enough as the food was delicious, the service was phenomenal and the restaurant itself was stunning. And so we left full of food and still jittery from the ceremony to go and shoot some photos across the city.
If you ever want to know what it feels like to be a celebrity, wear a wedding dress and walk across Charles Bridge in the mid-afternoon. Me and Vanda were met with all sorts of responses, from cheering, clapping and oral blessings to groups of men wearing the same T-shirt drunkenly yelling at us that we've made a terrible mistake (this happened so often that I was wondering if it was a part of some pub crawl itinerary) and I am now convinced that we will be featuring on holiday albums around the world for overly keen Aunts to show their wholly uninterested nieces and nephews. But we persisted on, stopping at a lovely little café for a couple of beers before heading back to get ready for the evening.
Yes of course we gave him another little rub, we are young and in love we need all the luck we can get!
The evening was another pleasant surprise. As we ended up at Blues Skelp, a cosy local music venue with big beers and ridiculous vibes, a little early we decided to eat at the restaurant just above the venue. Now sadly I can't seem to find it on a map but it is the most understated and charming eatery we could have hoped for. They had had a rush during lunch and had all of nothing left to feed us, but the soup, which we all had in abundance. They were kind, friendly and gave us a hand-sketched picture as a wedding gift. If you can find this little gem please tell us what it is called, as we would love to give them the praise they deserve. After that we went downstairs and watched a band that was so drunk they kept forgetting which solo they were supposed to be playing at any one point, resulting in Jazz that was so experimental that even the musicians had to guess where they would end up. It was an experience unto itself. After this performance staggered to an end we went home with a couple more drinks and danced the last few hours away to various nostalgic tunes until we could stand on our own two feet no more.
It was perfect. Not in the sense that nothing went wrong, or that it couldn't have been improved with anything, but in the way that everything just stuck together into a perfect little gift just for us.
Happy as Larry...and Larrina.
We spent the next day relaxing and exploring and yet again eating at Vanda's favourite restaurant in Prague (again I cannot find a link to it but it is opposite Mosaic House on Myslíkova Street, it is a tiny Czech pub with the most amazing duck in the city and a seriously modest price) before we slept for the last time in our dream-like experience in this ancient city. The next morning we set off back to Debrecen to get ourselves ready for the next wedding celebration (the day after). The drive was much less pleasant on the way down as it was apparently Easter weekend and everyone had gone crazy. It took 12 bloody hours but when we got back we were still happy, laughing and ready to kick the second receptions' arse.
I would like to thank our guests Jamie, Chris and Freya for coming to the Czech Republic and celebrating this intimate wedding with us, you guys made it what it was and we couldn't have asked for better company. I would also like to thank the photographers Theo and Sophie, who were just as much guests as shutterbugs and documented the day so honestly. They are quite fantastic at what they do and they photograph some pretty rad stuff so check them out! I would also like to thank Ladka of Wedding in Prague and Leo for introducing us and helping make this whole trip possible (I still owe you drinks Leo, I know!). Finally I would like to thank everyone who watched the live stream or just sent us messages of congratulations. I still cannot fully believe that we have managed this and we are so thankful for everyone's support and love. So to leave you, here is a short video of the day (again, by Theo and Sophie) You lucky things.
Oh and thank you Vanda for marrying me and now being my wife, may we spend the rest of our lives living out a great adventure.
Right, now that this is done I can return to Netflix and tea before the next phase of our journey begins. Thank you for reading, idiots/idiot/me, checking for spelling mistakes.
So as it turns out it is not too easy to keep a travel blog when the movement starts picking up as the days go by. As of now I am sitting in Debrecen, Hungary organising the final parts of the first two wedding celebrations and for the first time since my last post I have the time and energy to write this post. You are all welcome, drones.
To begin this where we left off. We came to a realisation in Maastricht that we were fast running out of time on our tour across Central Europe due to unfinished wedding preparations before the big day/days. So we had to re-organise the rest of the trip to get down to Debrecen in five or six days. Not an easy task as this didn't just involve cutting out days in places and destinations (sadly only got one day in Cologne and we had to miss out on Vienna which I was devastated about) but also spending much longer days in the saddle as we had over a thousand miles to cover. Motorcycling is a fantastic hobby and gives you a large amount of emotional freedom, but it is not without its downsides as will be explained in this post.
Two little dogs enjoying the sun with a third even smaller dog close to the camera.
Up until now we had been riding for 3-4 hours a day, stopping at various points of interest along the way, but now we had to cover too much ground and also fit into good weather days as riding in the cold and rain can range from a tad uncomfortable to downright impossible. So to start off easy, we took the quick trip between Maastricht and Cologne. Although the transition between countries in Europe is no more than a blue road sign these days, it has to be said that there is always a subtle change of scenery as the landscape unfolds in-front of you. I can't say that we saw a lot of the real Germany, even if we crossed everything except Bavaria, but there were two things of note:
1.) Germany is a giant forest of Conifers, a little like that sad part of Lord of the Rings when Sean Bean gets pin cushioned.
and 2.) The Autobahn is the most convenient and yet boring road ever.
Honestly this cathedral is bigger than Kanye, and only slightly more religious.
But anyway, Cologne is a pretty amazing place. Our host, a friend of ours who we met in London, was a local through and through and showed us some of the amazing things this Rhineland city has to offer. FYI: It has a bloody massive cathedral that you can see from pretty much everywhere, along with a bridge with so many love locks it makes Paris look as romantic as Staines. But the greatest feature of Köln is its breweries, which will keep supplying you with fresh glasses of beer until you physically stop the waiter by either placing a beer mat on the glass or wrestling them to submission.
We kind of had to didn't we?
We had a few technical problems with the bike in Cologne which delayed our departure (wouldn't complain after that hearty German Breakfast mind you!) but finally took the first long ride across the country to it's capital. It was gruelling and didn't get easier at any of the re-fuel stops but finally we made it on a beautifully warm evening to Berlin. We were kindly put up in Berlin by an artist friend of mine who is doing exciting things with reclaimed bones, if you would like to see her extraordinary work you can find it Here. Now we didn't get to experience Berlin to its full extent.
Motorcycling is a deeply personal experience. You must both fight and embrace the road simultaneously while navigating across landscapes and your own perceptions. You find that there is a lot of time for thinking sitting in the bucket that is your helmet, and between the two of us we thought both great and terrible things. But I digress, it was thanks to Vanda's patience that we found what was lost and moved on from the stunning but small town of Brno, which we didn't see enough of to write meaningfully about so here are some pictures:
Brno in its melancholy twilight.
We decided to stop off in Budapest to split the last journey in two and make it more bearable, like every other night we had been blessed with on this trip, it was a hot evening and we had a beer with a Hungarian friend of ours at the Akvarium bar. It was a cathartic experience having come so far to know there was only two hours left and we enjoyed the night with understated revelry.
Budapest of the bright lights.
The final ride was the worst, we were nearly run down by at least two impatient drivers and literally no-one was indicating or giving us any idea what they were doing, paired with strong winds it was a ride I would rather soon forget. But finally, we came into Debrecen with laughter and smiles having traversed Europe on a big bastard of a motorcycle, carrying way too many things over a route that was way too long and having all the ups and downs of a real adventure. Our first one. All in all we enjoyed the experience and are looking forward to our next 'Grand Tour'. But first we have to survive the greatest adventure of our lives, our wedding...in three days...god help us.
What pretty, exhausted mugs we own.
I shall leave you with the route map and hope that you can find it as impressive as we do, we are very impressed with ourselves.
Well folks, here it is, the post you've all been waiting for! Maybe! Maybe you didn't care but also didn't have anything better to do today! Either way THIS post I'm posting is here!
And we're off!
So last Saturday Vanda and I said our final goodbyes to our flatmate and my family, packed up the last few bags of our life, realised we had packed too much and had to unpack a few things, repacked and THEN finally got on our still yet to be named Triumph Bonneville T120 and set off. We have been planning ("planning") this trip for a couple of months with a relatively open route between London, UK and Debrecen, Hungary.
"But Rupert, how has the trip gone so far?"
A little Sausage and a big bike.
I'm glad you asked hypothetical avid reader, it started in a relatively scary fashion with the coastal winds of the English Channel blowing us every which way but loose on our trip to Folkstone. We took the Eurotunnel at around 2:30pm, and managed to get our own compartment (probably because our bike looks miraculously unstable). If you are considering a trip to mainland Europe at any point soon I would highly recommend using the Eurotunnel train, before we knew it we were already in the subjectively beautiful Hauts-de-France. The wind decided it wasn't done with us and threw us from lane to lane for the rest of the day until we hit Bruges, which was our stop for the night. We had a wonderful Belgian meal and beer in the main square to celebrate our first successful day on the road and headed to bed, excited to see the city the next day.
"Maybe that's what hell is, the entire rest of eternity spent in F*@king Bruges"
Bruges is an interesting place, there is no doubt. But it is interesting in the way a toddlers first word is interesting. At first it is a little miracle, an exquisite experience that changes your perception of life's very meaning. But soon the novelty fades and you realise this word is all you'll hear for a little longer than you anticipated. Basically go see Bruges for a day or so. Any longer and you may go crazy.
Our next destination was Amsterdam. But on the way we decided to stop at the bizarre town of Baarle-Nassau/Baarle Hertog, a small Belgian enclave in The Netherlands. The town is split by such odd borders that they have had to draw dotted lines across the entire town. This has caused a number of funny situations, such as a house having two addresses, a shop having to have two separate tills and house numbers reverting half way down the street. At one point me and Vanda were in different countries 5 times in a minute, a new record for distance in our relationship.
The logistical nightmare of Baarle Nassau
So after a spot of lunch and a coffee on the Belgian side of the border (before paying in The Netherlands) we moved onto the Dutch Capital. We decided to stay at a location named Campsterdam on the north side of the river Amstel where we rented a vintage camper that opened onto the river. This was a beautiful location and in high summer I would definitely recommend a stay here, unfortunately for us the weather didn't hold at night (along with the power) and we ended up freezing on our first night there. Amsterdam is a mixed bag. I have been many times before but this was a first for Vanda. Surprisingly she was a little disappointed. I think we all build up ideas of places before we experience them, or even after we experience them, and we both felt a little let down by the Amsterdam we saw. It is a beautiful and vibrant city sadly let down by its in-your-face tourist trapping and brightly lit debauchery. That being said we also met up with some Italian friends of ours from London and had a great time relaxing by the canal with them, so I believe it is the city you make it to be, definitely a place you have to see.
Vintage campers allow for instagram like goldmines
After Amsterdam, we decided to visit an old friend of Vanda's in a town in north Holland named 'Lelystad', interestingly this town didn't exist before 1967, when it was built on land reclaimed from the North Sea. Even more interestingly we decided to take a northern route there, which required crossing the North Sea to get there. Anyone who finds themselves in Holland on a Motorcycle absolutely has to drive the Houtribdijk road. Pictures can't do justice to how magnificent the open road is with the sea on both sides.
Chilling in the sea...kind of.
After Lelystad we stopped off at Utrecht before the longest journey so far down to Maastricht to stay with a friend of ours. Maastricht is another town that you have to see if you can, a small student town with mixed German/Dutch architecture and an all-round friendly feel. Our next trip today sees us leaving The Netherlands for Germany and the start of our great European crossing. As soon as I get a chance again I will update you all on where we have ended up. But for now, ta-ra!
Sitting in a London flat with the windows open is one of my 'very English' little delights.
Like having Barbecues on people's roofs, it represents the warm breeze of spring replacing the sharp snap of winter. It conjures images of experienced ocean men gliding across the Thames after an age at sea. You can hear the sirens of the metropolitan police service, singing their crescendo in the distance, probably on the way to save the good people of London from peril, more likely on their way to profile innocent people based on their differences.
Oh London, how you will be missed.
In contrast to the wonderfully warm weather we are now experiencing in the big smoke, Prague was somewhat colder than we could have anticipated, but nevertheless more beautiful than we could have imagined.
Instax photos are a great way to show that you have been places and found novelty pissing statues.
Now although if one can one shouldn't need a reason to travel to the city of a hundred spires, we did have a reason. Glorious bureaucracy. Paperwork is the basis of all civilisation and however much we would like to romanticise the great achievements of Men and Women, without stacks of dotted lines and scribbled signatures it would all have been for nought.
After Vanda and I decided on Prague as our preferred city for the wedding, I got in contact with a very old friend from my school days, who just so happened to have lived in the ancient Bohemian capital at one point AND got married there himself. He was unbelievably helpful with explaining how the process went for him and what to expect. Social media, in ways that might seem obvious to some, has a way of painting people's lives in bright colours, illuminating the desirable aspects and masking the hard or delicate realities of life. So even though Prague still holds all the romance and intrigue a city of such rich history, it was always going to require work.
I am not entirely sure how other countries operate their marriage laws and am well aware that we have the advantage of both being EU citizens (for now at least), but I will give you a quick run through of what was required:
This friend who had lived in Prague, gave us the details of a Czech wedding coordinator, named Ladka, who specialises in organising English language weddings in the Czech Republic. After contacting Ladka and confirming the personal details and finances that would entail, we had to collect a number of documents for the Czech authorities. The most important of which was both of our Birth Certificates and Certificates of No Impediment. The first is obvious I suppose, after all Czechia would hardly be expected to find the details of a British and Hungarian citizen that don't live in the country and they obviously need to make sure that they aren't signing off on a sham wedding for any reasons beyond their borders. A Certificate of No Impediment however is a little more confusing; it is a statement of declaration from your government confirming that you are not in fact already married.
Various Kafkaesque imagery to set the tone of the next paragraph.
So here is where the fun begins: For Vanda to get said document, she had to collect it from Hungary, as from this year, no embassy can issue the document on the governments behalf. This was a large part of the reason we were in Hungary last month. For me, it was a little bit trickier. The British Government, this time played by my local registry office, needed a months notice to produce the document for me, OK fine you understand this surely? and a month isn't too much of a pain. BUT the British document expires three months from the date of issue. So the earliest I could have had this document was February 11th, I was in Hungary for February so decided to order it on the 1st February to pick it up on the 2nd March when I was back in London. But two problems that I was previously unaware of arose:
1.) British Documents require what is known as an Apostille Stamp for documents to be legal outside the UK, this requires the document to be sent to the UK and Commonwealth legislation office for the stamp. This can take anywhere up to ten days before they even send it back to you.
2.) The document had to be in the hands of the Czech authorities on an office working day at least one month before the wedding, in this case 8th March.
As you might have deduced, this posed a problem. So after a mild panic about whether the wedding can even happen, I found out that companies that are registered in the UK can do a same day Apostille stamp service. If you Google Apostille stamp, you will find a lot of different companies and law firms who will stamp your documents for you with this service for a price of around £170*. I decided to use Edward Young Notary Public London (www.notarypublicinlondon.com) and highly recommend their services. In the end, by no small miracle, the day after we returned to London I managed to collect the document, get it stamped and have it in hand by 1:30pm. After all of this we were hardly going to trust our documents to a courier service, so decided there was nothing for it but to travel to Prague and deliver the documents ourselves.
Vanda doing Prague things, including the gentle rubbing of a Bishop.
We saw the wedding venue (it is going to be pretty special, will explain in another post), sampled the local food and of course beer, explored the hills and endless streets and squares with their Gothic towers and Baroque facades, and last but certainly not least, had the famous Trdelník. Now I will probably go on about this surgery explosion to the senses in other posts under another name, Kürtőskalács, as they are in fact Hungarian in origin and I am well versed in their digestion. However the Czechs have decided to stuff them with ice cream and Nutella...So I just had to give it a bash. FYI It is delicious and will make you feel like Adam after biting that apple that one time.
I borrowed a Trdlník picture from imgur but the melting Hot Chocolate is definitely us, to my shame.
All in all the trip was fantastic. It was 0 °C and it rained in the evenings so it was hard to spend too much time outside, and I would suggest having a plan for the day before you leave your hotel as there are many tourist traps throughout the city, but if you are keen on exploring a place without maps, we managed to find a couple of amazing cafes off the beaten track. Finally the Kafka Museum is a must for any fans, as it is genuinely one of the best curated Museums we have ever visited and really brings the feeling of his writing to life.
Prague Prague Prague
Maybe Kafka put it best when he said 'Prague never lets you go… this dear little mother has sharp claws' and although one shouldn't need a reason, we certainly have one to come back!
If you are interested in a Prague wedding, you can find Ladka and her company here: www.weddinginprague.eu She really is great!
The Sauce has been frantically busy with designing and organising our second wedding out of a proposed four.
Let me explain. Our plan to have a small actual wedding and then celebrate in our respective countries morphed beautifully and monstrously into actually organising multiple weddings so that everyone can experience the joy of our special day(s). So for better or for worse we are getting married a few times. And to make matters even better, the Second wedding, the Hungarian one, is two days after our actual wedding.
You may be interested to know that Hungarians take weddings particularly seriously, even more so then us Brits. And Vanda, bless her crazy little mind, decided to hand-make the decorations, in order to keep our costs down and also add a personal touch to the second most wonderful day of our lives. And I, Puffer, decided to watch and photograph (amateurishly) her ideas and share them with the world. Lucky you, world.
So first up: Cake Stands!
Cake Stands...oohhhh ahhhhh!
These delightful cake stands are super easy to make and add a really nice vintage, retro and other blogging keyword feel to your reception.
THINGS YOU WILL NEED:
Fruit boxes/ Display Crates
White Acrylic Paint
White Glossy Spray Paint
Jute Ribbon
Glue Gun
Extra: Twine for added decoration to the legs.
You can find these boxes just about anywhere that there is a market or fruit/vegetables are sold, here is an example of some on our road (we would suggest getting them from shops rather than the street, for hygiene's sake!).
Look for Boxes like this, only with a bit less London road all over them.
After cleaning off the debris and splinters (would suggest some soft sandpaper for a really nice surface finish), Vanda painted the box with a simple white acrylic paint. After the first coat she waited ten minutes before going over it again.
The first coat, and magical appearing Yorkie.
Once it dried, the wood was still a little dull in colour. So Vanda took the box outside and coated it in a layer of shiny white spray paint to give it a glossy look.
Consider spray painting outside, so as to not paint any inquisitive Yorkies.
At this point the box was looking pretty wedding-y but needed some finishing touches. We managed to find and pick up something I would later find out is called Jute Ribbon which adds a lovely countryside feel to anything you wrap in it.
Pay no heed to the terrible lighting of these shots, the Jute Ribbon is what matters!
For the finishing touch, Vanda made a bow out of the jute ribbon to mask the area that glued the ribbon together and 'wrap it up nicely' so to speak. Once the bow was ready, she used a glue gun to stick the ribbon together, and attach the bow to it.
Make a bow, stick a bow, have a beautiful cake tray. Sorted.
Et Voilà! You have a very simple and stylish cake stand for all the sugary treats you will feed to your ravenous guests. If you'd like a little bit of extra decoration, you can wrap some twine around the legs of your box.
Twiney Winey Leggys
But there you go. Simple eh? And not just for weddings either, I imagine they would fit nicely at a summer barbecue or a summer barbecue themed Bar Mitzvah. More easy decorations coming right up, but for now, Hope you're all having a grand weekend!
