One of the greatest parts was having my mother dance with me down the isle. She had a stroke two months before the wedding and had left side paralysis. There were times during those two months when I was not sure if she would be alive to see me get married. Having her be able to walk was wonderful, dancing down the isle is celebration was extraordinary!
We were so blessed to be able to go to Zanzibar for a week after the wedding. We stayed at the Nungwe Doubletree Hilton. It was exactly what we needed after the craziness of the months before and we just relaxed, had fun and, with no cellphones, recharged ourselves. Bliss.
I accidentally found the perfect dress at Bride & Co. I was trying on dresses discussing with my mother how we could alter it and change the color, when the assistant heard what I was looking for (an ivory or off-white strapless A-line gown) and made it magically appear from the stock room!
Meanwhile, my bridesmaids were given carte blanche on what style of dress they wanted, as long as it was all in the same colour, but they immediately agreed on the same dress! No stress, no fuss!
I wore Donna flats, red with a big flower on top, as we were having an outdoor, morning affair and I’m already quite tall. Comfort is the name of the game.
My hair vine was made by Carlize Bam, who also made one of my garters ( I had two!)
My bouquet was satin and lace handmade flowers, started by my mother and finished by a good friend of hers after she had a stroke. My flowers will therefor last forever.
We chose Simondium’s Country Lodge as our venue because of their amazing garden. We wanted a morning, garden party with lots of greenery, lawn games, a relaxed atmosphere and love, which was perfect at this venue.
My sister had been married there over a decade previously, but with all the changes, it felt both new and different, but nostalgic at the same time.
Many guests stayed over the night after the wedding, but a few booked in for the whole weekend, which made it so special to have family from as far as Namibia visiting and catching up.
I lost about 14kgd before the wedding by being very careful what I eat.
I always have a good skin care routine, which I stuck with.
My feeling was that I wanted to be the real me at our wedding, not a dolled up, fake version of myself. I wanted my husband to marry the woman he fell in love with, not a strange version of her.
Paradoxically, my husband and his groomsmen went for a spa day the day before our wedding and had a blast!!
We were married in a beautiful structure in the middle of an amazing garden, so I kept flowers to the minimum. The tables had gorgeous off white brocade-like cloths over with antique silver chalices containing mostly greenery and the occasional burgundy rose or flower. The off-white Tiffany chairs from Beanstalk Event hire looked so charming in the garden!
We had a black and white chequerboard dancefloor under a giant tree in the center of the garden for dancing.
There was lawngames for the adults and kids and the kids loved that they could jump in the pool and run around to their heart’s content.
The venue had wonderful wrought iron chaise lounges, umbrellas and chairs and loungers all over the garden, which the guests loved. I specifically didn’t want anyone to end the day on the same seat as where they started, so no place settings or table numbers. We had long trestle tables in a u shape around the dancefloor for eating and speeches, and then everyone moved about and had fun.
I made all the chalkboard signs by hand myself and we had various herbs strewn for good luck.
In the garden we had bug spray and sunscreen so no one was bitten or burnt.
The groom and groomsmen wore stone coloured chinos and white shirts. The groom also wore a burgundy waistcoat make by his cousin. It was wonderfully relaxing and comfortable in the heat.
I made their boutonnière with corks myself.
Each one chose their own shoes in a dark shade of brown.
My bridesmaids wore burgundy one shoulder short chiffon dresses from Bribe & Co. It was beautifully cool and flowing, with flats they chose themselves, again because of the garden theme to the wedding.
They wore earrings which were my gifts to them.
Michelle Walker, a registered non-denominational wedding officer who beautifully incorporated our unusual wedding ceremony requests.
Mish Pratt and her brother from Mish Pratt photography took amazing photos. They made us feel so relaxed and comfortable throughout the day and we had an amazing time taking photos and having fun with our guests!
I was crazy enough to do all the planning myself. It was an amazing experience!
The venue, Simondium’s Country Lodge did all the catering. We had a brunch theme.
We had beer on tap from Stellenbrau and sparkling wine in champagne saucers.
We went completely paperless for the wedding from save the date to invites and RSVP, with the help of ‘myweddingonline.co.za’
