Samantha & Shukran’s Wildlife Wedding ⋆ Unconventional Wedding

We have a wonderful, unique real wedding to share with you today. Samantha and Shukran incorporated their love of zoology into their big day by including Samantha’s reptilian pets in the celebrations. Keep reading for wildlife wedding inspiration – including a tortoise ring bearer and a gorgeous ombre wedding dress!

Photos by Cherryville Photography

How To Rock A Wildlife Wedding

All about the animals!

Include your furry (or scaled!) friends in the celebrations. They could attend physically or you could represent them in your decor. Animal welfare comes first!

A Killer Colour Scheme

This sunset colour scheme came from Samantha's love of The Amazon. Use nature as your inspiration.

The little touches

From table settings to wedding favours, find little ways to include your passions and share that love with your guests.

Wildlife Wedding - A Zoologist's Big Day

Here’s what Samantha told us about her wildlife wedding day:

“I wanted our wedding to be fun and memorable for both us and our guests. I am a zoologist with a passion for herpetology (the study of reptiles and amphibians). Since I was a little girl, I have known that animals would be a part of my wedding. My husband, Shukran, is from Uganda and has patiently embraced my passion. My giant Sulcata tortoise, Tripod, is 25 years old and he was our ring bearer. Our cake toppers were alligators dressed as a bride and groom and we even had a wildlife show performed by my former employer. He brought a scorpion, red-tailed boa constrictor, pacific musk turtle, and dumpy tree frog. Our guests loved it and they had the opportunity to interact with the animals and take pictures. My python, Bruce, was safely displayed below the card box so guests could say hello to him before placing their gifts.”

A Dip-Dye Wedding Dress

This wildlife wedding not only featured epic animals, there was also some incredible wedding wear! Here’s what Samantha told us about the inspiration behind her wedding flowers and dress:

“I have traveled all over the world’s jungles researching animals but I have spent the most time in the Amazon Rainforest – I fell in love with all of the flowers there. I wanted my flowers to emulate this so we went with bird of paradise, tropical ginger flowers, and palm leaves.

I wanted my dress to be unique and match the vibrant warm colors of the bird of paradise flowers. Felicity Westmacott made my dreams come true with my custom dip-dyed wedding dress! She made my formal ceremony dress from scratch and she even dip-dyed my less formal reception dress to match. My guests could not believe that it was a different dress altogether because it matched so well.

Shukran rocked a white suit for the ceremony, before changing into a black patterned suit for the evening.”

Check out our Ultimate Guide To Coloured Wedding Dresses for more unique ideas.

Wedding Campervan Loveliness

Every wedding needs an awesome backdrop for photos! A friend of the couple, Art Across Borders, set up this vintage VW, creating this beautiful setting for both couple and group photos.