When Esther Huy and Noel Cuschieri set the date, they knew that they wanted a different wedding from the usual, with the focus being on bringing close friends and family together in an eco-friendly celebration. The bride remembers the day.

Noel Cuschieri and Esther Huy on their way to the wedding ceremony. Photos Marco Borg and Simon Caruana

Our main idea was to create a small, informal eco-friendly wedding between close friends and family. To achieve this, we felt that we had to keep as far away as possible from the capitalist wedding industry in order to enjoy a wedding that was very personal and reflected our values.

“We also decided to keep within the budget of €5,000 by doing much of the work ourselves, together with our friends and family. We had people close to us doing the catering, the cakes, setting up the music, doing a live performance, taking care of photography, setting up the place itself, creating the bridal and groom attire... we even had a wedding website.

“This approach tied in with our wish to involve every single person who is dear to us, making them part of our wedding experience, rather than just being a guest.

“We decided to hold both ceremony and reception in the same place – The Gaia Foundation in Għajn Tuffieħa – not just for practicality, but also for environmental reasons. I myself often volunteered there and I knew the venue well.

“The venue comes with a beautiful, raw, natural setting, but it was not just about that. We strongly believe in the Gaia Foundation’s mission statement, and were glad to contribute to a worthwhile cause. Our wedding was the first wedding to be held at the centre, so it required quite a bit of TLC and paperwork; however it was great to see the foundation’s enthusiasm and support.

“Moreover, since we only invited about 90 people, we knew that the usual wedding venues were out of the question. So we certainly needed to be more creative in our venue options.

“Becaue the theme centred around an eco-friendly, creative and personal celebration, we used many recycled and natural materials to set up the venue. We also borrowed a number of decor items from friends and family. Due to the natural beauty of the location, we didn’t really need a lot of additional decor.

“We also wanted to pour our creative spirit into it, so instead of fresh flowers, we folded origami flowers and I made the bridal bouquets myself from felt. Yet, what was most dear to me was designing and sewing the wedding dress together with my mother. It took us a good couple of weeks, but spending that time with her was very special.

“Our wedding celebration started around 5pm and began with a civil ceremony held on a cliffside overlooking the sea. The ceremony itself was completely personalised, including our own written vows, favourite readings, along with a song sung by a friend.

“This was followed by a tree planting ceremony, where we led our guests through part of the foundation’s reserve, to plant an olive tree to commemorate our special day.

“The reception itself was divided into five parts: once our guests returned to the centre, they were greeted with music and food. Each guest was also given a personalised, labelled cup for their drinks in order to reduce waste. Guest were also informed that instead of souvenirs, a clump of trees would be planted in their honour and to offset our combined carbon footprint. After taking some family photos, we greeted each guest personally.

“The second part of the reception involved a slideshow of photos featuring each guest present at the wedding, which was combined into a comical sketch about our alter-egos. The sketch was written by a friend and then theatrically performed by another friend.

The seating plan. Right: Guests on their way to the ceremony overlooking Golden Bay.

“The third part featured the cake and champagne. Usually the cake is cut at the end of a wedding, however we felt that this celebratory ritual would blend well in the middle, and it did.

“The fourth part was the performance by the band. Noel is part of a band, Xtruppaw, and many of our friends are musicians. We couldn’t pass on the chance of getting them all together on stage to jam. We had chosen some of the songs for the set list and they diligently rehearsed each one. At this point we had our first dance to Depeche Mode’s Free Love.

“After the band finished performing, our friend played an amazing set of tunes that kept people up and dancing deep into the night.

Each guest was given a personalised, labelled cup for their drinks in order to reduce waste

“Unlike many other weddings, it only took us about five months to put the whole affair together. This included the invitations, rings and attire. Because we cut out a lot of the ‘usual’ things, such as a traditional wedding gown, conventional wedding venues, churches, fresh flowers, catering, etc... we were very free to enjoy the planning and the organising.

“Since we had everything clearly planned out in our heads (and on paper) it was not as challenging as I had initially anticipated. I did some research and found some very good websites with tips and planners and so forth. Moreover, we put together a design wedding board and we each made a list of the things we deemed essential.

“I think communication was key here, apart from not taking everything too seriously. Whenever we asked for help, we received it, and whenever there was a decision to be made, we discussed it. We wanted to enjoy our day and not get hung up on the little details.

“I would say that during the planning stages, locking down a venue was our biggest challenge. This was both due to our small guest list and also due to the requirements imposed by the marriage registry in order for them to conduct the ceremony on site.

“Nonetheless, all of this became of little importance when my mother-in-law passed away two weeks before our wedding day. We decided to go ahead despite our loss and planted a tree in her honour on the day.

“Even though there was concern that the wedding may take on a sombre tone, quite the opposite happened. Everyone enjoyed the day to the fullest and, even nearly three years later, people still talk about what a fantastic time they had.

“The most memorable aspect of the wedding was the sense of unity, closeness and love that was shared between everyone that day. I still hold immense gratitude for my good fortune to have such great friends and family.

“How close did I come to achieving my dream wedding? It surpassed all my hopes and expectations. Need I say more?”