Merily & Oliver | A Real Estonian Western Wedding
Our wedding celebration took place on July 24, 2026, at Tõrvahavva Farm in Kõo village, Võru County, Estonia. When choosing our wedding venue, we had one very specific wish: we wanted to celebrate somewhere no one had ever held a wedding before, and where no one would in the future. That’s why we decided to host the celebration at our own home.
“We wanted to celebrate our wedding somewhere no one had ever held a wedding before, and where no one ever would again.”
We had only moved to the farm that spring, and the preparations began immediately. The barn and stables were full of things, the buildings and grounds needed a lot of work, and we didn't yet have the facilities needed for a large celebration. In just a few months, we built the barn floor, a stage, a dance floor, a bar, horse hitching posts, and animal enclosures. The bar and wedding arch were only finished the evening before the wedding!
Wedding photographer: Valdur Rosenvald | Rosenvald Photography
Second photographer: Riina Sitsmann
Host: Ingar Dubolazov
Place: Kodutalu Võrumaal
Catering: Zahver catering
Wedding band: kantrirokibänd Mari-Leen ja Sass
DJ: Janek Tennosaar
Since we're developing the property into a tourism farm, offering horseback riding tours and other horse-related activities, everything we built will continue to be part of our everyday life. We organized the entire wedding ourselves, but our family and friends were an incredible help. At one point, there were as many as 15 people working around the farm at the same time! The preparations turned into a shared project that lasted several months and gave us countless wonderful memories.
A Western theme was our choice from the very beginning. Horses and farm life are an inseparable part of our everyday lives, and instead of a traditional wedding, we dreamed of creating one big Western festival. And that's exactly what our backyard became for a day as we celebrated our marriage with around a hundred guests.
We arrived at the ceremony on horseback to John Denver's “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” Oliver rode in first, followed by Merily and four girls. Our arrival on six horses was a complete surprise to the guests.
The ceremony was led by our wedding host, Ingar. What our guests didn't know was that we had actually gotten married a year earlier. We only casually mentioned it at the end of the ceremony, and most of our guests didn't even realize what we'd just told them! Our wedding rings were brought to us by two sheep, Lumi and Mägironija, accompanied by Merily's brother Arbo.
“Our guests had no idea that we had actually gotten married a year earlier.”
One of the unexpected stars of the wedding was our sheep Lumi, who seemed determined to steal the spotlight. Judging by the photos, you might even think she was the third main character of our wedding!
Even the wedding duties were inspired by farm life. Our guests took care of the lambs, chickens, and horses, and one duck even got a name that night – Edgar.
The evening entertainment was provided by Mari-Leen and the Sass Country Band. Their performance was absolutely amazing, and the atmosphere was exactly what we had dreamed of. What made us especially happy was seeing how wholeheartedly our guests embraced the theme and enjoyed the celebration.
The weather on our wedding day was almost perfect, although we had a brief shower in the evening. After the rain, mist settled over everything, and that was exactly when we headed out for our photo session. It became one of the most memorable moments of the entire day.
Of course, even the photo session came with a little adventure. The horse Merily was supposed to ride had decided to have a proper roll in the mud. There literally wasn't a single clean spot on its body! The girls had to scrub it down with kitchen cloths before we could head out for photos.
“The horse Merily was supposed to ride had decided to have a proper roll in the mud. There literally wasn’t a single clean spot on its body!”
But most importantly, we enjoyed the entire journey from beginning to end. We didn't feel particularly stressed during the preparations or on the wedding day itself, and we didn't let it bother us when things didn't go exactly according to plan. The time spent preparing everything together gave us just as many wonderful memories as the wedding day itself.
Our wedding was a true reflection of who we are. We didn't follow traditions or do things simply because that's how weddings are usually done. We did everything exactly the way we wanted, and looking back, we wouldn't change a thing.
“We didn’t follow traditions. We did everything exactly the way we wanted, and looking back, we wouldn’t change a thing.”
If there's one piece of advice we'd give other couples, it's that there are no right or wrong choices when planning a wedding. What matters most is that your wedding reflects who you truly are, and that you remember to enjoy not only the wedding day itself, but the entire journey leading up to it.
Ave ja Andrease maalähedane ja romantiline pulm toimus Cantervilla tallisaalis ja laulatus Otepää palveränduri kirikus. Pulma jäädvustas auhinnatud pulmafotograaf Valdur Rosenvald.