Navy and Gold, tulips and roses, a simple yet elegant day beautifully captured at Manor House.
Marc & I met when I started working for a promotions company that he was managing at the time (2004). Day one of work I saw him and immediately felt the butterflies in my tummy and I'm sure I was wearing that cheesy kind of smile for the rest of the evening. I naturally thought I never stood a chance, but clearly he fancied me too. Soon we were best friends which developed into a romance that we still share today as Mr & Mrs.
Christmas and Birthdays are my favourite time of the year but he always said he would never propose on my Birthday, so on the eve on Christmas 2013 (which is his birthday), a few minutes before midnight while I was in the lounge, religiously watching The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, he stole my heart forever when he went down on both knees and asked me to marry him (he only realised after he had asked that this feels awkward and realised that he was on both knees instead of one)
Marc was not the “average” groom that wanted me to do all planning; he wanted to be involved as much as I was in the planning and decision making. This allowed for me to see new and different ideas and this made decision making so much easier; he was hands on and made a concerted effort to make every appointment from stationery to linen.
Most of our ideas we drew from real weddings from Pinterest and SAWeddings.co.za.
When we booked the venue, the Event Coordinator's words were "Paarl, in November is going to be a scorcher, you best plan for extreme heat"... The big man upstairs had other plans, he decided to give Paarl rain, all day the Friday prior and the Saturday of the wedding; the only two days in November that it rained. I refused to move the ceremony inside and the rain played along, it stopped as I walked down the aisle and for most of the ceremony, the few minutes of drizzle that came down before our vows looked beautiful and washed all my stress away. We were getting married in front of that waterfall come rain or sunshine. For Marc he says, call it cliché, but seeing your bride walk down the aisle towards you……definitely one of the best moments – Holding an umbrella for my bride to shelter her from the rain just as we’re about to say our vows.
We opted for the feel of a Royal Wedding; Navy and Gold, tulips and roses, simple and classic, and it was pulled off with ease because this is exactly how we both enjoy life. Everything from the venue being a Manor House instead of a wine farm to the ceremony at the waterfall all depicts how we both like doing things differently to the norm, stylishly but classic.
I always knew I wanted a princess style wedding dress (poof and all) but couldn't find "the one" in store so I had it made. I had two pictures, one of the bodice and one of the bottom and I wanted a mash-up, she made it and I still love it. Something about the lace that makes me fall in love with it every time I look at it. I told my bridesmaids they could wear any style dress but it needed to be the same blue, I sent them a picture of the colour I wanted and low & behold the style sent was so beautiful the ladies said that’s what they would wear.
For décor we decided to hire Mabel of Die Gieter, she embodied our style we were going for. When we saw her work we knew she would deliver what we wanted. Tulips were my dominant flowers, they are my favourite and white and cream roses as these are timeless classics. We had long tables with a minimalistic feel; exactly the theme we had in mind.
We made our own wax seals for the invites; wedding stationery extra's like ribbons & wax seals all add up, so we did some research and made our own. They looked much better than perfectly manufactured seals that have no “personal touch”. We also wrapped our own Thank You gifts (nougat) in the wrapping we wanted with our personally designed monogram on it which would have cost us a fortune if we had asked the nougat company to add it to their service. Lastly we DIY'ed our name placing cards, download your wedding font and printing at a local printer is much cheaper.
We chose Ellie Goulding’s “How Long Will I Love You”, it’s just over two minutes of the perfect lyrics.
Seeing Marc’s face light up as I came down the aisle, for Marc it was watching me walk towards him down the aisle.
Your family and your bridal party are the most important people while wedding planning (other than your fiancé of course), choose your party wisely and try not to go “Bridezilla” on them; believe me you need many hands to make 60 hand-made wax seals and wrap 120 Thank You gifts! They all keep you sane. Also, there's no point in arguing about the guest list. You’re going to end up adding those people in the end anyway.
We opted to go locally, to Madi Madi Karoo Safari Lodge; we would recommend it to any couple for their honeymoon, a quaint safari lodge allowing for a personal touch, they make you feel really special.
Cascade Country Manor can seat up to 100 people, but for Weddings of more than 80 guests the event has to be arranged by a professional Wedding Coordinator. Wedding enquiries v...
