Nuri & Victor's Lovecraftian destination wedding in Cyprus

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The Offbeat Bride: Nuri, PhD Student (and Offbeat Bride Tribe member)

Her offbeat partner: Victor, Translator

Date and location of wedding: The Ethnographic Museum of Paphos and Paradisos Hills Hotel, Lysos, Cyprus - April 24, 2015

Our offbeat wedding at a glance:

I called our wedding theme "Falling in Lovecraft." I'm a big Lovecraft fan and wanted that to influence my aesthetic without being too obvious. I like the idea that everything looks like a normal wedding on the surface until you looked a little deeper - like my tentacle gold bracelet, the Cthulhu-headed cufflinks and paisley tie, and even the use for moss and willow for the centerpieces were inspired by the creatures of Lovecraft. When it came to the sweets table however, I told our baker, "The hell with subtle... go nuts!" and I couldn't have been happier.

Along with that, we were having a destination wedding in Cyprus, with guests coming from Israel, Poland, Equatorial Guinea, and Switzerland. My husband and I both live in Israel but were both born in other countries, so we needed to embrace the global nature of our family and friends. One way we did this while staying in our theme was by framing it as a Miskatonic University Expedition to Cyprus in our weekend itinerary and welcome bags.

Tell us about the ceremony:

We had our ceremony at the Cyprus Ethnographical Museum in Paphos. It's this great little eccentric museum run by two charming women. We got married by the ancient tomb in the courtyard because I loved the idea of layers of history all existing together in one space. The men of the bridal party wore kilts, and we had an amazing piper play us in. I originally planned to have this grand solo entrance down the stairs in my big gray dress, but eight months before the wedding I was injured in an accident and had to have surgery on my leg. As a result, my husband had to walk with me to steady me on the stairs.

We had a fairly quick civil ceremony. We planned on having our own vows in addition, but it just felt too personal to say in front of everyone so we chickened out. We did tell each other our vows in private later and both bawled like babies. I believe my first words as a married woman were, "Right - let's all get pissed!"

After the ceremony, we had a Quaich cup ceremony. A quaich is a Scotch-Irish ceremonial drinking cup that is often used in weddings to symbolize the sharing of your life together or to celebrate your first drink as a married couple. My Man of Honor, Doron, gave us a lovely blessing during the ceremony and even read his notes out of a Necronomicon he brought with him. My favorite moment of the time in the museum was how Victor kept whispering silly things and I'm cracking up in most of the photos.

Tell us about your reception:

We had a very chill reception. There were cocktails, canapés, and cigars on the deck of the hotel overlooking the hills and the sea. Dinner was seven courses because I feel you cannot go to the wedding of a chubby lady and not eat well. Our hosts prepared all of my favorite dishes including octopus in red wine, rabbit, and pickled quail eggs.

I feel you cannot go to the wedding of a chubby lady and not eat well. -Nuri

I have two favorite moments of the reception. The first was the Best Man Arthur's really lovely and touching toast which ended with a big smooch on Vic's check. Second was when Vic's mom got up and had him translate her explanation of a Russian wedding custom similar to glass tapping, but instead the guests shout "Gorka" (bitterness), meaning the couple needs to sweeten life with a kiss. It was a happy organic moment. There was also dancing for those so inclined.

The upside of recovering from broken legs is that you are exempt from dancing, which isn't my jam. There were lots of Lovecraft-themed board games on hand, as well as Cads About Matrimony. I might have overstuffed the guests because once cake cutting time came around - their faces were a mix of lust and grim determination. The Shoggoth chocolate pudding, Elder Ones lemon tarts, and edible googly eye cookies were more amazing than I could have imagined. What we didn't eat that night we snacked on over the weekend. In total, we had a pretty long wedding (nine hours) but kept the party going the next day with a private sail around the island and a trip to the spa the day after.

What was your most important lesson learned?

If you are hosting a wedding weekend, my advice would be to set up photography for the whole weekend, whether it's professional or friends. My one regret is that I didn't arrange pictures for the remaining two days. We had a blast on the boat (I wore my Offbeat Bride Bridethulu t-shirt and everything!), but there are maybe four pictures of the 48 hours after.

At a certain point you need to stop wedding planning and start wedding doing. Research is great. Planning will help you have a smoother day. As some point however you have just got to step away and let it be. A few weeks before the wedding, I made a point to avoid wedding media because it wasn't doing me any good to compare myself to others. On the day of, I had to have faith in my vendors, family, and friends to come through. Whatever happened, happened.