Our wedding weekend was perfect in every way, just as I imagined it would be. Even though it rained the whole day of the western wedding, while we were getting ready, when it came time for the nuptials in the afternoon the skies cleared and made for the most beautiful photographs. Most memorable for me, was when someone's phone started ringing right in the middle of our vows. Not only was it the oldest person there, who's phone rang, but her ringtone was "Let's get it on" by Marvin Gaye. It was so appropriate and inappropriate at the same, that I laughed out loud in front of everyone. The most memorable moment for me on the traditional Tswana wedding day, was the overwhelming support we received from both of our families and friends, and from the community. It was so special that it made me cry.
We were lucky enough to have a honeymoon in two parts. First we visited Cape Town for a week with my sister and cousin, which we were able to do thanks to our families. The second part of our honeymoon we spent in Vilanculos, Mozambique, this time just the two of us.
While planning our wedding, there was one thing I always had at the top of my mind: Budget. Even though we did receive help from family, our budget was very restricted for the wedding, especially since we needed to essentially arrange two weddings. For me this meant doing as much as possible ourselves.
I researched make-up and hair looks that were simple, elegant and easy to replicate. MAC Make-up at the Cresta Shopping Centre, Randburg. gave me a few tips and a short tutorial in make-up, which I then practiced at home a few times. It was very simplistic and natural and I was very happy doing it myself, rather than getting someone to come all the way to Magaliesburg for some ridiculous amount of money. My sister was gracious enough to do my hair for me. We picked a style with some braiding which she then practiced a several times and we finished it off with a few small white flowers and pearls.
Both hair and make-up were on the simple side and matched my bright white dress. As I am not the kind of person who likes to fuss and go extravagant or overboard with things, it was quite difficult to find shoes and jewelry that weren't covered in diamante and sparkles. After a long search I found a pair of comfortable, plain white, wedged heels that I could survive wearing the whole day. The only jewelry I ended up wearing were a pair of pearl stud earrings, as I felt anything more would just end up being distracting.
Since we had two weddings in a row, I was lucky enough to get some extra mileage out of my dress and got to wear it twice. On the second day, however, we put a bit less effort into hair and makeup as we had a very early start that day. As is traditional in a Tswana wedding, I also wore the traditional Tswana wrap skirt, white shirt, head wrap and white blanket over the shoulders.
We got married in Magaliesburg at a beautiful nature reserve called Mountain Sanctuary Park, which my family has been visiting since before I was born. We rented the small chapel they have on their premises for the ceremony and as part of the package, we got a two night's stay in one of their log cabins. Since several of our guests were coming a long way for the wedding, such as Jo'burg or even as far away as Switzerland, we informed them of the option to stay the night at the reserve, which they did at their own expense. We ended up being a group of about 20 friends and family that stayed the night. Most of us arrived the day before the wedding and stayed two nights. What made this even more convenient was that it brought us much closer to the venue of the traditional wedding, which was in Meriting, Rustenburg, at my husband's family home.
The only specific treatments I had prior to the wedding were several sessions of Microderm Abrasion on my face to try and reduce the pigmentation that I have.
The decor on day one was very minimal. We had a few flower arrangements made up for the entrance of the chapel and some posies in glass bottles to hang on the chairs along the aisle. The owners of the venue arranged some balloons which we also tied to the chairs to create more of an aisle illusion. We packed some dried rose petals into paper bags as confetti and placed one on each chair. Most of this was all DYI, as far as was possible.
For the reception dinner, we re-purposed the posies in the glass bottles and used them as table decor along with some candles. The owners rented table runners and serviettes in our colour scheme, which was peach and navy, to complete the decor look. Once again, very simple and elegant.
For the traditional wedding on day two, we hired someone to arrange everything as there simply was too much for me to do on my own. We had a white stretch tent and two long rows of tables with a more traditional look. I asked for runners in Shweshwe material to match the day and some dried wheat stalks in glass vases. Everything was either white or navy blue.
The groom and groomsmen wore full three-piece suits with a bow-tie and flower. The groom's suit was light grey with a navy blue waistcoat and bow-tie. The groomsmen wore navy blue suits with peach coloured bow-ties. All wore plain white shirts from various places.
The groom's suit was from TopMan, and the groomsmen's suits were from Markham. The bow-ties we found at the China Mall in the Clearwater area. Cheap and in every colour you can think of!
The bridesmaids all wore dresses from Salvation. They each wore a slightly different peach or pink colour and slightly different dress of their choice, but what made the total look cohesive is that they were all made of the same material. I left the choice up to them, as to how they wanted to wear their hair or what kind of jewelry they wanted to wear.
We had a marriage officer as well as a pastor. My husband wanted his uncle, who is a pastor, to do the ceremony for us. Since his uncle isn't a registered marriage officer yet, we used the services of the Nature Reserve owner's mother, who is a pastor and registered marriage officer. It was a happy coincidence that it worked out that way, the two pastors even happened to know each other as they are part of the same church.
We used the photographers Adeline and Nelius from Fotoasylum, who are old university friends of mine. They did an absolutely amazing job of capturing both days of our wedding and practiced extreme patience when there were moments of chaos or waiting. We DIY'd a photo booth, which we set up for guests to have fun with while we were busy with the photographers.
We used the photographers Adeline and Nelius from Fotoasylum, who are old university friends of mine. They did an absolutely amazing job of capturing both days of our wedding and practiced extreme patience when there were moments of chaos or waiting. We DIY'd a photo booth, which we set up for guests to have fun with while we were busy with the photographers.
We used the photographers Adeline and Nelius from Fotoasylum, who are old university friends of mine. They did an absolutely amazing job of capturing both days of our wedding and practiced extreme patience when there were moments of chaos or waiting. We DIY'd a photo booth, which we set up for guests to have fun with while we were busy with the photographers.
We did not make use of a wedding planner at all. We did receive help on the respective days from various people. On day one the owners of the nature reserve arranged the catering, decor and set up and on day two family members stepped up to arrange catering and we hired someone to coordinate the setup and decor.
In the interest of saving money, we did not arrange any special kind of wedding transport.
At the western wedding the owners of the nature reserve organised a caterer to prepare the food for the day. On the second day, in true African style, the family all rallied together to cook up a storm for about 300 people.
The wedding cake was made by Magnolia Bake and Cake, in Northcliff.
Our wedding invitation was designed by a good friend and was distributed to our guests digitally only.
The Menu and Thank You notes were DIY.
On the Saturday we did not have a DJ but simply brought our own music and used the venue's sound system to play it. We didn't have a special song for our first dance, nor did we take dancing lessons. We made it very casual and fun. What we did have for the western wedding was a choir that sang for us during the ceremony. The choir was made up of several men and women that work on the Nature Reserve and are all from Malawi.
For the Sunday we once again used our connections and asked a good friend to DJ for us. As it was mostly during the daytime, we did not have any lights.
