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Eloquent wedding venues

Brenda Phiri Lifestyle Reporter
The wedding season is indeed upon us and it being summer, the time is ripe to embrace all things bright and beautiful! For some of us, it is a time to see the trends that have been cooking throughout the year.

People are getting more creative as the days of throwing haphazard parties at the public hall are clearly over.

Adequate thought is put into weddings these days as the day is supposed to leave a lasting impression.

Theme

Any organised person who has gone through the joyous but stressing process of wedding planning knows that once the decision to have a wedding has been made the very first step is to choose a theme.

The trend involves selecting a style on which the wedding is centred upon. It might be a sports theme, vintage, traditional or whatever one fancies.

The theme, according to Tapiwa Chikuwa, a wedding planner and professional caterer, creates an ambience of a wedding. It does not only promote the romance of the occasion but also adds interest to the event. Who doesn’t want something to talk about afterwards?

Everything else; colours, invites, dress code, decorations, music then reflects the chosen theme.

Chikuwa said elements like the deco add weight when tying the wedding theme together.

“The theme can only be properly executed with the use of the perfect decorations. Fundamental items like furniture, lighting and table-top décor – flowers, base plates and glassware – can’t be overlooked,” she said.

While it turned out to a not so happy ever after for sungura kingpin’s daughter Sharon Macheso, the bride had an interesting modern couture theme although some aspects were clearly too wacky for most tastes, the basic idea was superb.

Colours

It is the norm for a bride or couple to have their favourite colours as the wedding colours.

But it seems colours should not just be chosen for their pretty faces as they are symbolic, according to fashion designer Edy Chagy.

A bridal wear specialist, he had this to say about colours:

“Gold, champagne and bronze add warmth, keeping the look rich. Bright colours on the other hand depict a playful and carefree environment. The colours also have significant meanings, for example purple signifies royalty, white – perfection, red – energy, infatuation, strong emotions, excitement, energy and strength while blue – calmness,” he said.

He said while some don’t believe in the colour “coding”, some of these pleasant colours could be a subconscious reflection of one’s personality traits or an indication of how the future will be.

Creepy right, especially when applied to all that red at the Munetsi/Macheso union in light of the post wedding developments?

Venue

When it comes to the setting, gardens remain at the top. Zimbabweans are taking advantage of the bigger spaces for more reasons than one.

“Scenic venues are perfect for brilliant bridal pictures. They give a pleasant outdoor feel that is relaxed and less formal,” said Darlington Chabeluka, a wedding photographer.

Maybe another aspect is that guests need not be in each other’s face and can take strolls around the venue.

Dress code

Growing up in Kwekwe, I remember how it was the norm to draw the “Sunday bests” when there was need to dress up for a wedding.

But now any old rag is no longer suitable as guests strive to meet prescribed dress codes.

Many people constantly find themselves shopping for clothes to be worn for these occasions.

One Tafadzwa Mtengwa shared his views on the buzz.

“People want to know that you made an effort and actually dressed up for their wedding with at least one of their wedding colours. Because of the growing numbers of outdoor garden venues people are opting for more relaxed looks,” he said

He said women are opting for comfortable dresses and shoes for manoeuvring on the uneven ground.

Outrageous high heels can sink in the grass or might just get spoiled on the rocky ground.

Evening weddings

Not all weddings take place during the day as more people are becoming daring enough to celebrate at night. The romantic date-like wedding usually goes for fewer hours.

“Evening weddings depict a romantic set up where it feels like one big romantic dinner. Children are usually not allowed as the environment is not ideal.

No invite no access

In the spirit of controlling the number of guests to be hosted, weddings are becoming “strictly access with invite”. It does not matter how close you are to the brides and grooms.