If you dream of something a little different for your wedding, then let Tracy-Jane and Charl's Circus Bash inspire you

By

There's nothing we love more than featuring an amazing real wedding, and what amazes and excites more than the circus? Tracy-Jane and Charl are a pair of world travellers (seriously, they actually spend their lives travelling the world) so been everywhere and done everything, they wanted their wedding to be really unique and fun. So they chose a very special place in South Africa - the super cool Old Mac Daddy Luxury Trailer Park put on their circus wedding extravaganza. Our friend Ian Mitchinson had a lot of fun catching guests and performers having a whale of time...

Back at the beginning, Tracy-Jane was in search of a new career where she could see the world, while Charl found just what he was searching for in a very unexpected place... "I was taking a break from working as a chef, and while I was searching for work on board luxury yachts, so that I could travel the world, I took a job to keep me going, as a bar lady. While I was working in this bar, Charl did his diving course at the dive school across the street. He walked in and saw me and just knew I was the one for him! He came to the bar every night after his course to see me and the rest is history. We both work aboard now and meet up around exotic locations, Charl is a commercial diver and I am a chef on luxury yachts!

Charl and Tracy-Jane had both decided that they didn't want to get married, so when Charl proposed it came as quite a shock... We came back home after having a braai at friends and while lying in bed Charl turned to me and said “I want to be with you for the rest of my life” I said, “Yes I would like to be with you forever too…”. Then Charl said “You do not understand I want to be with you forever, will you marry me?” I was gobbed smacked. First I thought he was joking, but he wasn't and I was delighted!

So with that wealth of world experience on board (geddit?) having a standard wedding was going to never going to be on the cards... instead they chose Old Mac Daddy as Tracy explained... "truly a unique venue, not your usual hotel, guest house or wine farm, but a venue with fun quirky trailers each with a different theme. The views over looking the fruit orchards, wine farms and mountains is breathtaking. My main aim was to choose a place that would be unique and where my photographer can be creative and take amazing pictures, as we will always look back at them to remind us of our special day.

The location was perfect for creating the fantasy land they had in mind for their shindig. "The wedding theme was 1920s Vintage Circus and the fact that 99% of our guests dressed up was just so cool. It all just blended in so nicely with the whole theme, the vibe and feeling I wanted to create. It was also very special to me that my mom walked me down the 'aisle' to see Charl for the first time."

Such a cool theme to have, and one that requires dedication, but this fun couple definitely rose to the challenge, they even had a ring master to entertain the guests while they were waiting for the ceremony to start - now that's my kind of entertainment!

With Tracy-Jane and Charl officially husband and wife the party could really begin. Just wait till you see how they took over their venue to create a colourtastic circus celebration...

For starters Tracy-Jane and Charl had circus performers dotted around the venue entertaining their guest with magic tricks and jokes! The pair also hired a kissing booth and pop corn stations for guest to nibble on during the drinks reception.

I don’t attend lots of weddings as I am always away on my travels, but if I have to say so myself my wedding was so much fun, and that is exactly what I am about, I love to smile and I love seeing other people smile. Life is too short to be too serious not to enjoy yourself. We were only getting married once, so I wanted to go all out to make it the most fun and memorable day for myself and Charl, my family and friends!

With the sun shining, cocktails and lots of laughter this party kicked off

Bringing the theme inside to the main dining area, the pair decorated with red and white bunting, adding red and purple lampshades as ceiling decor, plus fairy lights! The lampshades are a great idea which we saw before in Aoife and Mark's rustic celebration, easily purchased in ikea and put together in minutes! And of course, being a chef, Tracy was intent of having really fab food not to mention how the circus theme dessert table - check out those cupcakes and the colourful rosettes!

Tracy-Jane had some words of wisdom for brides and grooms in the planning process...Have fun planning your big day, looking back now, I kinda miss all the e-mails that were flooding my inbox from suppliers. Your big day goes so fast, cherish every moment.

Anyone up for heading to the big top with me? That certainly brightened up my day (especially with the rotten weather we've been having!) Congrats Tracy -Jane and Charl! A huge thanks to our pal Ian Mitchinson for sharing his work with us at one Fab Day! To see more of Ian's work pop over to www.ianmitchinson.com.

The Wedding Details