For Cristina and Alan Grixti, it wasn’t exactly love at first sight, more like love at first meet-up. Nonetheless it was the moment they didn’t look back. The now 24-year-old student Notary knew that she’ll be marrying her now 27-year-old software developer and hubby back in 2015 when they met.
“We are the definition of opposites attract,” Cristina and Alan tell us. “We are so different and that is something we valued from the very beginning. It’s nice to be able to have two different perspectives and we make sure that we embrace our differences. Even though we are quite different, we have a lot of things in common especially values, the love for food and humor.”
Alan pulled off a beautiful proposal, even though there was a slight hiccup. “It happened on my 22nd lucky birthday,” Cristina tells us. “He knew this was a very special day for me but until the very last moment he wasn’t sure if he was actually going to propose. He prepared everything just in case and wanted to decide on the spot. The reason was because the ring he ordered hadn’t arrived yet. He ended up proposing with a second ring he bought just in case. We had been going out for almost three years.”
After the proposal, they began wedding planning and Cristina shared that it was a pretty easy-going process in their case. “We both didn’t want to make a fuss about the material things and most of the things were taken care of by my dad who is a wedding organizer. In the past I had also helped him with his work so when it came to organising my wedding, I knew basically what was required.”
Their wedding date set for 22nd December 2019, their big day naturally took on a Christmas theme, but they still tried to keep it as minimal and simplistic as possible. “We wanted it to feel authentic and real. And we had so much fun, so I think we managed to obtain what we had in mind.”
While Cristina and Alan had a near-traditional Maltese wedding being married in a church (Bahar ic-Caghaq Parish) and celebrating with a reception at Excelsior Hotel right after, they did include some unusual things in the mix to make their day truly theirs. “One of the unusual things was that we did not want our bridesmaids to have a lot of work to do on the day. So, my dad built an iron table where guests could deposit their gift there and take a souvenir. Unlike many couples we chose not to greet each and every person during the first part of the reception, instead we chose to freely go around and eat and drink with everyone.”
“When it came to the cake cutting, we chose to drink tea in mugs instead of champagne, the hotel manager told us that she had never heard of such a thing before,” Cristina shares. “But we both really love tea (we’ve dubbed ourselves as the ‘grixteas’) so it was something else which made our wedding day authentic to who we are.”
Cristina personally took a leap of faith and pulled off a surprise like no other. “I cut my hair quite a substantial amount the day before to surprise everyone. Half of the guests did not even notice, and the other half couldn’t believe that I had the courage to do it.”
The couple had traditional invites which they ordered online, but Alan also created a website for their big day. “Basically, people could learn more about the wedding, the dress code, he also made sure to include the directions to the church and hotel, and finally they could also rsvp and write about food allergies.”
When it came to choosing the dress, Cristina was open to trying any style. After trying different dresses, she walked into a particular store and simply knew she was going back home with a dress. “I tried on 10 dresses and fell in love with the first two. I spent the weekend thinking about both of them and I actually went to the church where we eventually got married in and I tried to imagine myself with the dress. They were completely different dresses; one was so elegant and plain and the other had a lot of detail in its different patterns and an added shade of pewter. I ended up choosing the latter because I felt the youngest and ‘fun’ in it. The dress is really unique, it has different layers of fabric with the top fabric having embroideries of flowers and sort of birds. I liked the fact that the pattern was not symmetrical.”
Cristina and Alan’s big day including 300 guests went off without a hitch, even though they were prepared for some mishaps. “I still cannot believe how perfect the day was. We weren’t hoping for a perfect wedding day, we just wanted to really enjoy the day, but I think that’s what we got.”
While it was the best day of their lives, Cristina and Alan admit they did have some favourite parts. “It was absolutely amazing that we got to celebrate the day with our extended family from the very beginning.” Cristina’s family even had a cool ride to church. “I wanted them to come at my house and to leave to Church together. So, we had a vintage bus and my whole family joined the party. In fact, we started the party before I arrived at the Church. This experience made me realise how lucky I am to have them even more.”
“Another favourite part is entering the Church and just focusing on the fact that I was about to marry my best friend,” Cristina shares. “That was the only moment that I couldn’t control my rollercoaster of emotions. I didn’t even notice who was at the church. I just looked at him and felt so blessed. Alan’s favourite part is the dancing part, and I have to agree as well on that.”
Vincienne Bezzina Photography