We originally met about five years ago through mutual friends one evening in Langebaan but the closest contact we had for three years after that was being Facebook friends. Three years later we bumped into one another when I was on my way home after going out with friends. A little 'Hey how are you? Do you remember me?' turned into a two hour conversation, and a few weeks later he asked me to his Stellenbosch Residence's formal. I simply could not stop thinking about him and was absolutely thrilled when he asked me on our first official date shortly after. Needless to say, that is where our journey began…
We had been dating just over a year and six months when Charl asked me to marry him.
Charl is fun-loving and will make you laugh 24 -7. He is also extremely determined and goal orientated, whereas I am more happy-go-lucky and soft natured.
Charl popped the question about two and a half months ago on a picturesque lookout point on the top of Table Mountain. Initially he told me that we were going to the Jazz Festival in Cape Town and took a bit of a detour towards Table Mountain. To my surprise he already bought the tickets to go up with the cable car. It was a perfect day and while we enjoyed a walk on the mountain, we found a perfect spot to take a picture together. While I was asking a tourist to take a picture of us in front of the beautiful background, Charl got down on one knee and when I turned around to go stand next to him, he was holding out the most beautiful ring and (nervously) popped the big question. All caught on camera! I'm not sure who was more surprised, me or the photographer! What I thought was just a photo, turned out to be the happiest moment of my life.
I've always wanted to do an engagement shoot and convinced Charl to do one with me once we were engaged. I am a big fan of Riaan's work and when I showed his work to Charl, he immediately understood what all the fuss was about. We specifically booked the photo shoot, seizing the opportunity when Riaan phoned to congratulate us on our engagement. We were very happy with the end results!
We shot the engagement shoot in the city of Cape Town, but it wasn't necessarily linked to us. We had so many options of beautiful venues where we spent quality time together, the Mother City stood out above the rest. We wanted something elegant, yet trendy with a little urban touch and so there was no better option than our beautiful city!
We wanted the photos to portray a sophisticated, New York City feeling and also something very unique and different. The photos look like something out of a high-end glossy magazine and so we are truly happy with the outcome.
We started off by going to a few jewellery stores together, but it took us a few trips to find something that we both absolutely loved. Eventually we came across this gorgeous rose gold halo ring, but to our disappointment the ring was too big and could not be resized. We then sourced pictures of similar looking rings that we both liked and Charl had my dream ring custom-made for me. The ring ended up looking exactly like what I imagined!
We are very fortunate that our all-inclusive venue package incorporates everything from décor, flowers, catering, the wedding cake, bar services and a team of very helpful staff taking loads of our hands. Therefore, we do not feel the need to make use of a wedding planner. We are only planning to do a few DIY things ourselves.
We are planning something very elegant and simplistic with gold and rose gold features. Also, a little bit of glitter accents and fairy lights for some sparkle.
Riaan West is a Cape Town based international fine art wedding photographer who travels for local and International weddings.
