Surf’s up for summer weddings

 

 

It stands to reason that your favourite pastime is very likely to pop up as a theme at your wedding. Move over glam queens, we are hosting a real wedding, surfer-style, for the Surfer Dudes and Dudettes. It’s easy to spot them – it’s likely to be the sun-kissed couple with sand in their hair, sparkling smiles and tan lines. With Umthunzi Hotel being blessed with summer all year round, this fun surfing theme is ideal for relaxed weddings, even event organisers can steal some ideas for their year-end parties.

Be inspired

Our inspiration for this wedding blog comes from greenweddingshoes.com which recently featured a Boho-Chic Surfer Wedding Inspiration, and took place on a magical beach in Greece. The couple, Zenia and Dimitris are surfers who live in Santorini.

 

If your first thought is that a surfing-themed wedding can’t possibly be stylish, then this real-life wedding will knock you right off your surfboard. Tie the Knot Santorini worked with sandy beiges and pops of black to set the theme of the day. Pampas grass, plumes and rattan feature throughout the beach wedding, and compliment the surfboards as essential elements in the beach décor. It is natural, beautiful and makes us all just ugly–jealous. Now that we have you inspired, let’s start at the beginning of getting married, surfer-style.

Surfs up – engagement photos

If a couple wants to capture their love in one of their favourite environments, couple photos on the beach make wonderful engagement and ‘save the date’ photos. With GoPro and current technology, it is possible to take amazing photos while surfing.

 

Adventurer and storyteller Chris Brinlee Jr. shares some brilliant GoPro wedding tips on this link and it’s just too awesome not to share. It could also easily put wedding photographers out of work, but let’s not go there right now. Quoting directly from his article, he has fantastic advice on capturing real life, right there in the moment. This is of course ideal for beach and surf-type weddings, and transports you to the moment, on the waves, between the crashing waves, or on the beach:

According to Brinlee, it is imperative to find unique perspectives:

“There are a ton of different interactions and perspectives shared on the wedding day; each one is an opportunity to capture something meaningful and unique. Don’t know where to begin? Start by breaking the day down categorically.

Try mounting a GoPro on the makeup artist using the Headstrap to capture a unique perspective while the bride is getting ready. Use The Strap to mount a Session on a can of hairspray that’s being used. Or a champagne bottle that’s being passed around during the groomsmen’s limo ride to the ceremony.

 Is the bride or groom’s young brother or nephew bearing the rings? Stick a kid’s Chesty on him (worn underneath his shirt) to capture his perspective of the ceremony. Have a pet dog who’s as much a part of the family as anyone else? Mount Fetch on him to see the wedding through dog eyes. These are just a couple of examples to get you started.’’

If your first date was on the beach or perhaps even a surfing date, then a wake surfing photo session makes so much sense. The Knot Website uses the example of Stefani and Ken:

“Stefani and Ken first met through a dating app,” their wedding photographer Katie Childs tells The Knot. “They were both wake surfing in their profile photos, and their first date was wake surfing. Incorporating surfing into their wedding was important to them. I received an email from Stef where she described her idea of having a ‘first surf,’ and I was immediately on board.”

Surf anthems – your must-have playlist

Hearing the ocean’s roar may be music to your surfer’s soul, but there is no arguing that music creates the ‘’feels’’ of a function – be that a wedding or a year-end function. Surf music was ‘’born ‘’in the 1960s with the Beach Boys being ambassadors and their iconic music has carved a lasting niche in the surfing community.

Who doesn’t love the toe-tapping tunes of “Surf’s Up” and “Surfin’ Safari” – they are pretty much surf anthems. “California Dreamin” by the Mamas and Papas was a huge surf hit in 1965 and is still an all-time favourite – it tells the story of a man in winter, dreaming about the warm temperature of California –  something all surfers can relate to. It was later re-recorded by The Beach Boys.

 

With the introduction of Spotify, it is very easy to create your very own beach and surfing-inspired playlist for your wedding. Look up Beach Boy classics like “Barbara Ann” and “Good vibrations”. Are you humming the tune right now? Can’t blame you… Click here for The Beach Boys Greatest Hits Playlist.

 

Surf shack decor

Creating themed décor for weddings and events is more than half of the fun, and a surf theme leaves loads of scope for being creative. Surfboards are obviously the main focus and if you have a contact at a second-hand surf shop or know of a place where old surfboards go to die then you are on the right track.

 

Surfboards make wonderful alternative chairs, they can be used as a guest seating plan upon entering the venue or even a guest sign-in book with special messages. Your options are as many as the number of surfboards you can lay your hands on. If you come up empty at your local surf shop, Etsy may offer some solutions with their new wooden look surfboards and décor items:

 

For those who are serious about their craft and want to create something that with last a lifetime, Burnett Wood Surfboards at The Wood Shed in Scarborough, Cape Town, offers courses in handmade wooden surfboards. If you love the wooden look, reach out to Afristyle in Glenmore, Durban which offers retro, handcrafted wood veneered surfboards. Surfboard art warrants a whole new blog and the art produced by Jess Lambert based on the Gold Coast in Australia is phenomenal, but we will leave you with these beautiful images and hopefully a need to explore it further:

Have your Cake and eat it

Surf-themed wedding cakes can range from the ridiculous to the sublime, it’s all about your taste and budget. If the ocean is your favourite colour, then blue does not seem such a far-fetched idea for a wedding cake or dessert. We have to admit that we have a serious crush on the new trendy blue velvet cakes. Etsy has some super ‘’surfy’’ cake toppers which can be purchased online.

 

 

Getting dressed for the occasion. Or not.

It’s always a bride’s first thought and the groom’s last concern. Wedding guests seldom stress about this. I doubt any of us are brave enough to show up in swimwear, even if the wedding invite dress code says so. Unless you get married in your twenties and all your guests are super skinny models and surfer dudes, of course. But being a relaxed kind of wedding theme, showing up in board shorts and strappy summer dresses or floating kaftans seem like a great idea. We love the Boho chic look combined with beach wear:

 

Feeling inspired by GoPro photography, we see all kinds of previously uncaptured moments coming to life: document your mother baking the wedding cake, your bride getting dressed, and crashing onto the dance floor with your mates on Beach Boys tunes. You will watch it for years to come.

 

South African surfing legend Shaun Tomson is listed amongst the top 10 surfers of the century and was the 1977 World Surfing Champion in California. He leaves us with a final thought: “Surfing teaches patience. On land, surfers cannot will a swell to appear. They have to wait for nature to make the call. So surfers wait. They keep their eyes on the horizon and they wait.” He could have been advising a newly married couple because patience is a virtue, whether the Bible or Shaun Tomson says so.

She knows her Merlot from her Mojito, her hotel from her motel. From craft food to caviar, her innate curiosity about life and wanderlust provide inspiration for her blogs, articles and press releases about the travel, wedding and Spa industry. Over twenty years in the hotel marketing & PR arena with impressive hotel groups, from Dubai to Durbanville, has evolved into the pure enjoyment of freelance projects under the banner of About Branding.