10th July 2013 Of course, normally we just hold ONE wedding in every country we visit (except those rather large diverse ones such as America, England, Canada etc) but Hungary was going to break the mould in more ways than one! Hungarian Weddings cover so many international weddings that they had SO much they wanted to show us. Timea is so hell bent on dominating the planet and having a couple from every corner of the Earth that she wanted to show us how beautiful and elegant a Hungarian wedding could be, how much FUN a Hungarian wedding could be and of course, how HUNGARIAN a Hungarian wedding could be…and of course, we couldn’t argue because it all sounded so blooming AMAZING! So the day after wedding 52 we were on the road to our next wedding destination! The TV2 crew had had such a wonderful day in Budapest that they decided to come along with us and filmed us on route to Balaton Lake for a styled shoot! Balaton Lake is a favourite tourist destination in the summer and also the largest fresh-water lake in Europe…meaning that landlocked Hungary lovingly name it the Hungarian Sea and flock there in their thousands at the sign of a sunny weekend! We collected Janet and Sue for their next adventure and set off on our way. Within minutes we had somehow lost the TV crew but we knew our way and schlepped through countless fields of huge sunflowers bobbing their heads to the sun that filled the sky with endless blue. The drive didn’t take too long and we arrived at our pre-arranged meeting point with Timea at a waterfront hotel. We grabbed some lunch and created a disaster with the make-up team but Timea diverted it with ease and once I had eaten (and downed a glass of wine) we left Alex and his family to it while I got my wedding face on at Sahara Beauty Saloon! The TV crew met us there, a little flustered at being left behind by a 26 year old camper, and I was laid down to have my make-up applied…which is a first but I cannot recommend it enough! I was SO relaxed and barely felt a thing as the MUA got to work. When I opened my eyes I was transformed into a 70’s style diva with bright red lips and eyelashes to die for! We jumped back in Timea’s car, collected a startled Alex and co and jumped into Peggy to get to the campsite…which is directly on the lake! When we arrived the camp was packed! We had arrived during a huge summer break and music festival and as we drove in we met again with the TV crew once more and another team of creatives. Our photographer Timea (I KNOW, another Timea), her daughter and Krista our videographer for the day. The whole plan was a surprise to me but I immediately loved everyone on the team and knew we were going to have a laugh. Timea snapped away with her camera as we got dressed and she explained to us that they were going to create a retro shoot at the Balaton Lake. The lake is a famous holiday spot for locals and has been since the 70’s when the swing and sunshine went hand in hand so it made perfect sense to have some fun and mix it up a little! Once we were ready (again drawing rather a crowd wondering what on earth was going on in the back of our van with all the cameras going on) we stepped out of Peggy just as a classic Hungarian car chugged its way over to us! We were going out for a drive in the famous Trabi! The Trabant was made in East Germany and was considered to be very modern and up to date with its plastic body (similar to fibreglass and called Duroplast). The first one was manufactured in 1957 and the last one was produced in 1991. It was originally intended to be an enclosed motorcycle so with its small engine and lightweight body it was an economic ride for all and Hungary still loves them! Go Trabi-Go has set up a whole company with a fleet of 25 Trabants and offer days out, wedding processions and rally days…you can even paint your own Trabi!! Such great fun! Anyway, so they had us an open top Trabi to drive around in for the day! We laughed and jumped in excited to hit the road in a classic (other than Peggy) and followed the team to our first location. We had such a great time with everyone, we took pictures in the sunflower fields, at the vintage funfair (where we went around on the swings until we could barely stand) and at sunset on the water. We sipped fizzy pop from glass bottles, ate 70’s sweets and Timea (planner) even bought us a nodding dog…that now has pride of place on the dash in Peggy and we affectionately call it Timea. It was so much fun and we loved driving around in the old car. Everyone waved and hooted their horns at us as we drove by and we really got into 70’s character! It was such a lovely day even though Lake Balaton itself is our idea of a nightmare. Away from the lake there is an area similar to Blackpool with lights, rides and an arcade where games whizz and ping and hand out glow in the dark rubber mallets and plush soft toys….however, that didn’t stop us having such a great experience!

We were done shooting by 9.30pm and we were worn out and starving. We picked up Janet and Suzie in our old school automobile and went out for some food and to relay the fun we had had with the team…all this the day before AND after a wedding! We really were on a roll!

 Planning – HungarianWeddings | Photography – Timea Pictures | Cinematography – La Memoire | Dress – Nagy Agota  | Transport – Go Trabi-Go | Make up – Sahara Beauty Saloon | Very Retro Flowers – Fleur&Balloon | Retro design – Kati Néveri | special thanks to István S. Nagy who personally gave us the permission to use the song of Viki Marót in the fusion film!