There are so many to pick from. We wrote our own vows which were very special, and took my breath away.
And at the reception Michael had a prepared a whole song with some of the bridal party and friends to sing to me, it was incredible. It was from my best friends wedding, movie which is one of my all time favourites "I say a little prayer for you". It was amazing, they even organised a little keyboard.
Honeymoon was organised completely by Michael, it was all a complete surprise for me. We went up R62 and then stayed in a tiny place called maatjiesvlei. There were beautiful cottages on the river, it was remote with no signal and nothing to do other than relax. He organised a spa day for us in Oudtshoorn and a wonderful dinner out. After 5 blissful days we went up to Plett and stayed in forest accommodation. We explored there for 2 days going to Storms river mouth before heading home in time for Christmas.
My dress was lace and I wore pearls so I tried to keep it as classic and elegant as possible. I am terrible wearing anything with a heel as I am a teacher and only wear flats. So my shoes were from Jet and my brother-in-law made the heel a little smaller for me so I could wear them all night long.
Because I'm a teacher and Michael has just completed his studies we decided to have a big church service and invite our classes, as well as our guests attending the reception. Our ceremony was held at our church in Somerset West, once our service was finished we were gifted a ice cream truck by one of our friends so all our guests were able to share a ice cream and we relaxed with everyone. Having my class there and other children I have taught was very special. Then just a handful of guests were invited to the reception held at Bontevlei, on the way to Stellenbosch.
Mmm, that's a tough one. I am very much what you see is what you get and our budget was very tight. I worked up till the week before the wedding so just relaxing and trying to get sleep was my biggest beauty treatment, hahaha. My mother, sister and I went to Sorbet the Wednesday before the wedding to get our nails done, we had champagne and relaxed together which was wonderful.
We did everything ourselves and Michael had to work very hard during his holidays. We found reclaimed wood from houses getting built on the side of the road and made everything we needed. He made little blocks for the menu to stand on, as well as boxes for the tables with the flowers in. I bought fairy lights which were hung behind our table from WISH for about R20 so super low cost. Table runners were end of range fabric which was neutral and a friend sewed it for us. All the printing and paper I did on my own. I tried to keep it white and neutral with it been as clean and classic as possible. Our table names were from corks collected from family and friends and the seating plan was from a frame Michael also made. Nothing was rented and everything made by ourselves.
Michael hired his suit from a company in Stellenbosch and his groomsman is a business man with tons of suits so he wore his grey suit and it matched perfectly. We got Michael a white shirt from Country Road as he needed a thicker shirt, and we got them both black ties.
My bridesmaids looked absolutely stunning. They wore dresses from Jacoba. It was the best, each of them could design and mix and match their dresses. The colour was tough to pick as there was such a selection but with my neutral colours I decided on a blush pink which looked amazing on each of them.
Our minister from a neighboring church was our marriage officer and is a old friend.
Duane Smith, captured all our fun and special moments. He was there but you would have known there was a camera around all day. He was relaxed and reminded us to just enjoy the moments. He was wonderful.
“I’m so moved with how each wedding has its own heartbeat , and I get to be part of that beat”
No, it was all me:) It was fun and I really did not find it stressful at all. I loved every moment of it.
My mother and father-in-law have Mercedes so I was fetched with my parents in the one car and the bridesmaids were taken in the other one.
The food was prepared by the venue and it was delicious from start to finish. Our cake was made by one of the bridesmaid's mom. It was a beautiful three teared carrot cake, our favorite.
Pinterest helped with all my ideas and then my brother-in-law who is wonderful on Coral-draw took my ideas and made them real. I printed folded and made the rest.
We love to dance and Michael having studied at Stellenbosch is an excellent sokkie and general dancer. Our first song was to Kodaline, The One, and we just enjoyed ourselves and had fun on the dance floor.
Our DJ for the evening was great and we danced the night away.
“I’m so moved with how each wedding has its own heartbeat , and I get to be part of that beat”
