The best day of our lives! We have known each other our whole life. We have been dating 7 years and 16 days before we tied the knot.
We have walked gravel and smooth roads together.
I am blessed to have married my best friend and soul mate.
"Not everything in life will be easy but with you it will be worth it".
To be honest, this entire day was a massive highlight for us, we managed to plan the wedding of our dreams together and we were surrounded by friends and family, all very special for us.
We stayed on the east coast of Zanzibar in the beautiful Azao resort and spa.
Wedding dress designed by Werner Dey Couture from Parys, hair and make-up done by Mandi Dannhauser and shoes from Charles & Kie
Lingerie, jewellery and accessories all locally sourced in the Free State or from family member.
Wedding look was elegant and sophisticated with soft seasonal pastel colours, make-up and hair reflected the theme and all accessories blended in seamlessly with the event decor.
Wedding dress designed by Werner Dey Couture from Parys, hair and make-up done by Mandi Dannhauser and shoes from Charles & Kie
Lingerie, jewellery and accessories all locally sourced in the Free State or from family member.
Wedding look was elegant and sophisticated with soft seasonal pastel colours, make-up and hair reflected the theme and all accessories blended in seamlessly with the event decor.
Wedding dress designed by Werner Dey Couture from Parys, hair and make-up done by Sonika Retief and Mandi Dannhauser and shoes from Charles & Kieth.
Lingerie, jewellery and accessories all locally sourced in the Free State or from family member.
Wedding look was elegant and sophisticated with soft seasonal pastel colours, make-up and hair reflected the theme and all accessories blended in seamlessly with the event decor.
We got married on the 18th of November on the banks of the Vaal River on a French inspired estate called Pont de Val. Their hotel opened in December for the first time so all our guests stayed close by in either Vanderbijl, Parys or on neighboring guest farms within 5km's from the venue.
Plenty of beauty sleep and light workouts to keep our sanity, teeth whitening regimes and a diet to ensure that all our clothes fit properly and that the designers were happy throughout.
We opted for a package where we would have the venue exclusively, this meant we had access to all the different sections of the Venue and thus we structured our special day around this. No tents were required as one of the sections were perfect for the reception suspended over the Vaal River with a 360 degree view all around.
The service took place in the Laurentin, one of the sections within the main venue, that doubled as the church and dance floor as it was retrofitted after the service during the reception. Decor and Flowers were done by Bride in Bloom and some loose items were rented from various service providers in Johannesburg, Parys and Potchefstroom. All the furniture were provided by the venue itself.
The groom had a blue suit, white shirt and leather accents, including a custom leather tie, a leather belt and leather shoes all sourced from Sedgars in Vanderbijl. The groomsmen had the exact same attire with the exception of the formal jacket that formed part of the suit. Matching socks and watches were also sourced from Sedgars.
Floral dresses from a well-known boutique in Pretoria, Gelique, with matching accessories, funny story here, we had an entire look planned out and everyone agreed this is what we were going to do, the first boutique we walked into we saw these dresses and made a complete 180 turn as this captured us completely and we made a there and then decision to rather go for this outside the box look.
At Gelique we believe that your bridesmaids should look stunning and feel gorgeous on your big day!
The niece of the bride handled the ceremony as she had just finished her formal studies and we thought that this would be very special seeing as we were her first wedding that she had to officiate over.
Probably the best choice by far of our entire wedding was not holding back on ensuring that we secured the services of an expert photographer and videographer. Enter Van Bower Studios. To state that they are professional and amazing at their craft just doesn't seem to cut it. A definite and massive recommendation for these guys, they also handled our engagement shoot in Pretoria/Johannesburg.
Photo Booth was supplied by AMA Productions that also handled the sound and dance floor lighting and other extras.
We did the overwhelming majority of the planning and logistics ourselves, however the day would not have been so perfect had it not been for the in-house coordinators of Pont de Val. These ladies know exactly how this business works and they are a must have addition to your package if you choose this venue.
We rented two of the estate houses on the banks of the Vaal right next to the venue, literally like 2 or 3 minutes walk, so transport was not necessary. However a definite highlight was the grandmother of the bride being flown in by helicopter by her nephew. We definitely had the estate awake at that point!
Believe it or not, Pont de Val has a massively decorated and esteemed in-house chef that prepared that most delicious "masterchef-like" set menu for our entire wedding, this included a french countryside inspired buffet for guests while photos were being taken as well as a 2 course meal and a dessert table that was to die for.
Wedding cake was sourced from a local baker in Sasolburg.
Our saving grace was Marisa Fourie from Oh Crop Designs in Bloemfontein that basically designed everything custom according to our needs including some last minute printing the night before the wedding.
No dance lessons were necessary, being Afrikaans and from the Free State it kind of comes with the territory!
AMA productions took care of our sound and lighting and provided the photo booth and DJ, they had a very professional approach and were more than satisfied with their service. Top notch!
We also had a string quartet in the church and to entertain the guests during their French Country Side buffet excursion while photos were being taken. This added to the ambiance of the theme and feel of that French Riviera vibe we were trying to recreate.
At Gelique we believe that your bridesmaids should look stunning and feel gorgeous on your big day!
