I met James in New Zealand a few days before our mutual friend’s wedding. We helped them set up for their wedding and afterwards James and our friends toured around New Zealand for a couple days before I had to head back home to SA. We got to swim with dolphins in Akoroa, went to natural hot pools in Hanmer and then celebrated St Patrick’s Day in Queenstown – it was awesome.
Funny story: We were back in SA visiting my family. James thoughtfully planned to propose so I would be able to celebrate with my family before heading back to NZ. We were staying at our favourite place, Misty Hills where we share great memories, after a lovely dinner at Carnivores we headed back to our room through this stunning water feature over a little bridge - it was almost magical except we both were giggling like a bunch of teenagers. James had found a lookout which while we were enjoying the night lights he got on his knee and proposed. It was beautiful and a night we’ll never forget.
Living in NZ and planning a wedding in SA was not easy, but luckily we had family in SA who helped us heaps. We had used SAWeddings.co.za to find our Wedding cake, DJ, Caricaturist, Photo booth, Celebrant and Videographer.
James and I knew what we wanted – we thought of a SA vs NZ wedding theme. Our table names were places we cherished both in SA and NZ. Our flowers were representative of Ferns for NZ and Protea’s for SA. We had looked on Pinterest for ideas too. My parents had also sent over some SA magazines which helped us think of SAWeddings.co.za
Having all our family and friends there. We had all James’ immediate family there and his Groomsmen which we will always be grateful for that they were able to share our celebrations with us. We had friends who flew in from the UK for one night to share our day with us, and others from Germany who had planned their holiday to fit our day in. We were so blessed with having all our family and most of our friends there.
We knew we wanted to merge the two families into our day. We had a SA vs NZ wedding theme because it is where we both call home. Our flower arrangements represented Ferns from NZ and Protea’s from SA. Our table names were of places we cherished both in SA and NZ. The main table was named after our first home together. Our gifts were potjie pots filled with mints. My cousins had also contributed to this theme by performing a ‘gumboot dance’ in anticipation of a ‘Haka’ performed by the Kiwi’s later in the evening. It was just brilliant!!
I got the idea of my bridesmaids dresses first after looking at dresses in NZ – I liked the idea that each Bridesmaid could have a little say in how they wanted to wear their dresses. I wanted ankle length dress but it had to be light flowing material so it would be comfortable and cool to wear. Each of my bridesmaid and flower girl had a different way of tying their straps which I thought was fantastic. My dress was bought in NZ, I wanted something I would not normally wear.
Yes, to tie in the theme of SA vs NZ. Ferns and Proteas but because the Protea could look very harsh we needed something to make it soft. Fairy lights and draping made our perfect Boma into a beautiful venue. The colour tied in with the theme of Gray and pastel pink.
My dad made our wedding arch and our friends decorated it with Ivy. My mom made serviette rings for the table.
My cousins doing their version of a gumboot dance to Impy, and welcoming the two families joining together. Followed with a version of a Haka performed by the Kiwi’s. It was awesome to see our guests get involved to shape our memories of our special day.
Go to dance lessons or have date nights to get away from the demands and stresses of planning your wedding day. Have fun with it and on your special day, take the time to spend time together sharing a glass of bubbles or cake to enjoy the day together.
We went to Mauritius, it was for 5 nights but it was too short. We would have loved more time there, after planning the wedding and spending time with all our friends and family we needed more time to relax.
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