Asked how this newlywed couple came to be, Bettina Cassar – one half of the talented duo, The New Victorians – jumps right in. “He’s younger than me, he dated my sister, and I’m his godmother,” she states. “We met at Junior College in 2009 and were acquainted by a mutual friend on the JC roundabout, and eventually both attended the youth group Y4J. Blaine dated my younger sister for a few months (she was 14!) and neither of us felt anything for one another at the time,” says 25-year old Bettina.
“We remained good friends for a few years, and when Blaine decided to get baptised into the Catholic Church when he was 18, he asked if I would be his godmother, and I accepted (YES! I’m his parrina). We still thought nothing more of each other at this point – Blaine became a part of the family and was a close friend of my older brother,” the songwriter, music producer and recording artist says.
It took a trip to London with friends for the couple to go on an accidental first date, where they ended up watching Shrek – The Musical alone, as no one else wanted to join, but it wasn’t until a little later that Blaine Muchmore, a 25-year old sales executive, asked Bettina out. “After trying time and again to make plans for us to spend time together alone, he eventually asked me out in a classic Ghajn Tuffieha love confession, the night Kurt Calleja sang This Is the Night. After the sun set, I insisted we went home to watch the Eurovision and announced to my family we were now dating. My mum asked him to take out the rubbish that night, and we had our first kiss outside my front door,” says Bettina. “As young as we were, we both had clear intentions to take our relationship seriously, and had discussed marriage early on and continued to do so throughout our relationship.”
Four years into their relationship, during which Bettina and Blaine went on voluntary work in Kenya together, worked at the same primary school and read for their postgraduate studies in London together, the couple took things to the next level. “On my 24th birthday in September 2016, a few days before we were to spend a year apart due to a job I had in London, Blaine proposed at Mt St Joseph – a place we often go for some quiet and reflection. A few months of planning later, and we were married.”
The couple set the date for 7th April 2018, with a morning ceremony at the Divine Mercy Church in San Pawl Tat-Targa, followed by an afternoon reception at Villa Mdina in Naxxar. Bettina says that while planning the wedding was quite a joint effort, she handled most of the research, and would then show the options to Blaine before choosing together. “We knew we wanted a small, chilled, friendly wedding that would reflect our personalities. We also wanted to include children, games (Blaine’s obsession) and lots of music (my obsession). Blaine was also dead set on having a fancy coloured suit. He succeeded!”
In keeping with Bettina’s love for the Boho style, they wanted their wedding to be bright, cheerful and creative, without adhering to a strict theme, but rather planning a wedding that’s representative of them as a couple. In fact, Bettina’s choice of dress suited her taste down to a T. “I went to most shops saying I wished for something with sleeves, with a nice back and nothing too elaborate (no sequins please). I was set on one dress at Kenjo Bridal when the shop assistant asked me to try on just one more. I agreed, unconvinced of it on the hanger, and to my surprise that was the one! Wide sleeves, a lovely unusual back and a warm cream colour with nothing too complicated going on.”
Despite the many ins and outs of planning a wedding, Bettina says “we always knew that this was about the ceremony and the lifelong promise we’d make to each other rather than about throwing an impressive party, which is why for us the mass was really special,” says Bettina. “We had people from our Y4J community and from my band, The New Victorians, leading the music, as well as a number of priests who’ve become friends as we’ve walked with them throughout the years. Blaine’s family is quite small compared to our traditional Maltese ones, so his side of the church was full of friends – it was lovely to have them all so close!”
Bettina and Blaine add that they had many overseas guests in attendance, and a number of flower girls too. At the reception, giant games were scattered throughout the garden at Villa Mdina, while friends, namely from the band Koii, also played music for the couple. “Blaine even had a song written about and sung for him, by yours truly, making fun of his most-used phrases like “uejja”, “bants” and “banana” (how could I resist?)!” says Bettina. “I guess wearing a maroon suit is considered somewhat ‘unusual’,” adds Blaine, “and was something I had to strongly convince my best men of; that we’d pull it off and go against the flow of predictability for a change.”
The colour of the groom’s suits was reflected in the couple’s choice of wedding invites, designed by their friend, graphic designer Michela Mifsud. “The invites were cream on the front and maroon on the back – we opted for simple, modern square invites with our names engraved. As for souvenirs, we gave out packs of playing cards, just because Blaine loves games so much. We wanted to spread joy and love and have the fun continue for everyone when they left the wedding.”
The couple’s special day went off without a hitch – or at least, Bettina says, the maid of honour, best man and grooms men did an amazing job of hiding any mishaps, if there were any! There was, however, one slight ‘mishap’ for Blaine. “I never intended on having a couple of drinks too many on an empty stomach, and having the first dance with my wife with one eye looking at her and the other one trying to find her; after a boss-eyed dance, I was onto the rounds of water.”
Asked to highlight their favourite parts of the day, Bettina says “I think for me, it was the fact that so many friends and loved ones came together from all over the world to celebrate this commitment we were making to one another. Getting to pray, eat, drink and dance with such amazing people and then to end the night leaving with the love of my life was just too good.”
“For me, same,” says Blaine. “Only joking. It’s hard to pinpoint one, so let’s name a few – the coming together of all our friends and family for a beautiful celebration of mass; dressing my best men up in maroon suits (much to their dislike); the wild transition from dancing slowly with my wife to ‘Turn Down For What’; the general banter that was had throughout the day; and ending with the overwhelming satisfaction of the whole day coming to a close and rest falling upon us.”
Shane P. Watts Photography