We met unexpectedly on a hike through the Fish River Canyon.
I was 39 and desperately wanted to see the Canyon after the rains and ALL my friends were going.
I found an aged Paarl Mountain club group with space for me. My best friend said: Yes go!. Maybe you even meet your husband! I laughed dismayed. 2 years later she was my bridesmaid....
He went to support his Dad on his final and 10th Fish River as leader. Just to spend time alone. He ended up bravely carrying his own and his dad's backpack for 5 days! My calves were the only view he had of the whole canyon...
I was drawn by his quiet soul, his appreciation for the same things and his testimonies.
I found I repeatedly would run to him for advise and felt secure under his wings in the following weeks.
It scared me, so I blocked him on my phone for months!
I gave in when he took me to my beloved Table Mountain to blow the shofar, before I left on a trip to Israel..
A year later he asked me to marry him on the same spot with 2 eagles grazing the valley in front of us.
The custom made ring fitted perfectly and it resembled the crown of Queen Esther with 8 small diamonds symbolising a NEW BEGINNING.
I said: NO , not yet!!
8 Months later we embarked on a 600 km cycle trip around Lake Malawi with a mission organisation, bringing literature and hope to a forgotten tribe there. He prepared a Ketubah in a beautiful purple bottle before the trip and and while snorkeling I found it in Lake Malawi. After reading it at sunset on the beautiful beach overlooking the lake, I finally agreed to take his hand in marriage and we celebrated it with the group that night, as I took a sip of his red wine. ( We are not Jewish but its a very meaningful tradition).
I planned my wedding myself and it was literally one of the easiest and most joyful experiences of my life. The rich content just flowed from our love story and God's original design, where marriage on earth is only a physical dress rehearsal for the spiritual marriage to come!
I fell in love with the color of jacarandas and it became my confetti.
My wedding dress turned out to be real princess style and at Rusticana we found the perfect classical setting for a royal wedding!
Emile's arrival was announced by the Shofar. The wedding Psalm 45 was read and my entourage entered on All Arise by MW SMITH through the Olive Orchard on the farm. We read our own vows to each other after Emile's best friend from school , Jattie Van Jaarsveld, announced us husband and wife. Helmut Meijer concluded the ceremony with : Sovereign over us.
We shared our first special communion as husband and wife and signed the register. Guests were entertained by a bread and cheese table and writing verses of inspiration on white river stones for our garden. In the hall a video was played of our lives. Marrying at 40 for the first time, ensures for a long life prior!
I was very nervous about the program that followed, for everything was mostly improvised, though well communicated to all. Video messages from overseas friends had to be mixed with surprise speeches from my best friend at school. I dared to make a speech on my own wedding, which I did not rehearse the past month since I wrote it. Lastly I wanted to bless my husband by dancing around him 7 times, to symbolize my love and protection I promise. All improvisation. Everyone was in tears!
We opened the dance floor with a small routine we worked out 3 days before, since my husband had to have specialized leg surgery a few months before and was still meant to be on crutches!
Thereafter his son ran into his arms and he danced with him on Bobby Van Jaarsveld: Berg Sion
Special memories were made and re-experienced on the dance floor, while some of my best friends took over the swimming pool!
It was definitely the party of a life time and the wedding of the century my friends said.
I am just grateful to have been able to share our love and that everyone had a good time.
We slept our first night for the first time together in our own room in our own house that we bought before the wedding!
The following morning we packed and delivered my wedding dress to my bridesmaid, with whom we had a swim in a mountain dam where they stayed over in Paarl. Then Emile surprised me with a remote little farmhouse near Caledon: Die Skudhuisie! We visited Greyton and then head off to Montagu springs for 2 days on our way to Knysna.
There we spend 3 blissful days at a 4-star resort with a view over the marine lake.
I found my dress at the very first bridal boutique I booked a visit with, on a bridal fair. Assistance by Natasha was warm and personal and she really has an exeptional hand picked range to accommodate all tastes. It was a very technical procedure to get into it and we were not properly trained and couldn't remember clearly. I ended up wearing the "hoepel" inside out and fasten the dress too low, so needless to say, I literally fell over my dress walking down the isle, until we corrected it before the reception!
The dress fitted my cinderella shoes I bought in 2010 in Pakistan, where the shop lady totally insisted I must buy it. My mom made sequenced elastics to fit around my heel to keep the slip-on shoes on my feet when I dance. Somehow SOMEONE knew what my wedding and dress will look like. This is definitely not co-incidence!
A week before the wedding my mom and I went through her jewellary box and found a perfect earring and neckless set to fit my dress!
My wedding ring was a diamond I bought from a friend in 2007 to help him financially, which I had set in white gold in the eternity shape.
My hair trial was a disaster, so I blindly made an appointment with a hairdresser in the closest mall for the morning and had to trust she can imitate what I want! She did a perfect job. Lucky me!
I managed to convince my make up artist to loose the smokey eye look and make me look more natural.
Looking into the mirror I saw the most perfect picture and I can truly say never has any make- up artist achieve such results. She was GOOD.
Rusticana - or Rustic Cana!
In Klapmuts opposite Spice Route
Family setup and very personal with lots of photo opportunities
Great menu and lavish
Guests from afar stayed over in Paarl guesthouses.
None really.
I tried to stay injury free after I lost my thumb nail in my car door!
I suffered from chronic sinusitis which kept me in bed and caused carbuncles on my nose every few weeks.
I visited the chiro every 2 weeks to keep my lower back from impinging too much.
A few days before the wedding I one morn couldn't walk due to an Achilles tendinitis I developed from climbing stairs, moving to our new house.
The night before my wedding I bumped my head against a lock walking through a gate and drove home with an ice pack to prevent the bruise from swelling!
I did treat myself though to hair highlights, gel nails by our beautician friend Liebenette Burger and a wax session at Jeni's Body and Skincare Studio. All 40 th birthday gifts.
If I do it again , I would recommend Eucerin face products, which I only discovered lately fro proper hydration and Jeunesse's Instantly Ageless which i did not end up using due to the preference of my make up artist. At my age, that was a mistake!
Besides providing a perfect venue and photo opportunities, Rusticana's capable Marieke Theron's food buffet is well renown!
Nevertheless she also offered to do the decor, provided the arch and sheets for the Orchard ceremony and made my flower bouquet exactly as I wanted it.
We rented glass vases and bought candles from Mr Price for the tables. We covered the tables with greens and succulents from the farm's garden and added fairy lights. It looked earthy, classy, and exhuberant and it cost me nothing!
Suit Hire Stellenbosch Eikestad Mall had them perfectly fitted out with styles and colours which complimented my dress. When Mom-in-law smiled satisfied I knew we had hit the jackpot and went with their suggestions of a silver krawat and waistcoat.
www.suithire.info
0218721497
I wanted them to wear elegant infinity dresses but due to their different body shapes decided on a simple A line knee high cream dress they can use everyday for work if they want to and added a ribbon for that dash of lilac jacaranda blue purple colour theme to come through.
The flower girls had their dresses specially made to look like wood fairies coming down the orchard , spreading the flowers on the red carpet.
Ds. Ian Coetsee is my sister in law's best friend . He helped with the documents and registration. Ds Jattie Van Jaarsveld was my husband's best school friend and together they played great rugby and were up to a lot of mischief. Jattie was so honoured to preach at Emile's wedding. He just finished his theological degree and a great singer too.
Dutch Tulip productions by Arjen Fisher did my sister's wedding video 7 years ago , so it was special to follow in family tradition!
My photographer is my oldest Cape Town friend (Lavonne Bosman Photographic Art - www.lavonne.co.za) with whom I have built special memories from Greyton to Coffee Bay adventures. She is a well known photographer who captures the essence of a person's soul.
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My Dad's Mercedes C Class SLE served as the perfect white classic car and he was my own chauffeur!
Marieke Theron and her team of Rusticana.
I don't need to say much more. Their food is well known.!
Her husband Francoise made the spit lamb and buffet was served until late.
My own sister and a friend , Helen Van Jaarsveld, helped with the ideas and designs of the table numbers, invites and graphics.
I compiled the content of a memorable booklet for the ceremony which was printed by WIZARDS Stellenbosch.
They opened early enough in the new year to have all table numbers , menus and booklets printed before 7 January.
We couldn't go for dance lessons because my fiance hurt his knee cartilage and had to have an osteotomy in order to walk again 12 weeks before the wedding. As a super athlete he has great rhythm so I wasn't worried and was willing to even dance with him and a crutch.
He healed quicker than medically explained and could even carry his son for a full dance on his hip.
We hired DJ 's from Paarl at a very affordable price and they kept the dance space full all the time. I made some music lists of my local artists friends' music for different parts of the wedding and we used it as background music. Compliments and thanks to Dr Etienne Van Der Walt, Helmut Meijer, Lize Wind, Julani Kok, Henry Pike.
We pride ourselves in giving every bride a truly unique and intimate fitting experience.
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