I met my husband unexpectedly, I worked with his room mate whom i had been friends with for years, we grew up together in the same neighbourhood and we both used to run the technical department at the company we worked at, My friend (his room mate) and i had an argument during the day about a job and things that day ended bad, on my way home from work his room mate called me, i was still a little red from the argument, but having been friends with the room mate since i was 11 i couldn't hold a grudge for too long, i answered the call and he invited me over for a "peace-drink" i was reluctant at first but thought it was a Friday afternoon and i was going home to watch TV alone anyway, so i turned the car around and drove to their house, I rang the door bell down stairs and it wasn't working so my friend messaged at that time saying "when you arrive push the down stairs door really hard to open it as the latch lock isn't working" so...i did just that, i gave it a a thud of a kick and it flung open, I got a freight and so did Sven (my now husband) who was sitting on a chair tanning by the pool, we looked at each other for what felt like a while and he suddenly realized he had been caught tanning....by a girl, he sat up straight in the chair and said Nice kick, i like your sneakers.....I was defiantly experiencing a little awkwardness myself and instead of saying "thank you" i said "I like your face" we both looked away and i walked-ran past him,
On Monday at work i confessed to my friend that his room mate was a sight for sore eyes and we didn't bring it up again, the following Friday i was out with my sister and my room mate girlfriend rocked up, she had a bit to drink so i offered to take her home, When i dropped her off i walked her inside and there was Sven, he offered me a drink and we sat up the whole night talking about love, life and everything in between and how the next person we ever met we were going to do things differently in that relationship, he had to go to work the next day and i decided after he left to go meet my sister and do some shopping, Sven rushed home after work with movies and take out hoping that i would still be on the couch sleeping, But i wasn't and we never swapped numbers and we didn't speak again for months after that,
I bumped into Sven out one night which was odd for him as he is not the type to ever go out but his friends dragged him out by force that night, This time we swapped numbers and promised to keep in contact....we spoke every day all day from the time we woke up till the time we went to sleep, we used to give each other dating advise and almost became each others "wingman" until one day i won a trip for a weekend away for 2, i was so excited about this trip i told him i need to pick the perfect friend to take with because its an awesome win and its a full weekend, he joked and said "You going to cause fights between you and your friends, Take me" so i did.....from that day on we have never been apart.
We had been planning a nice weekend away for what felt like forever because life and work was just taking over, Sven had become my best friend so we needed to spice up the relationship and treat ourselves to a weekend with no friends around, we booked a weekend at the one place we both wanted to go, a few days later we got a call saying we couldn't take the booking because it was full and there was a mistake on the system, we missed our holiday that year and said if we get a gap to go there one day we will, we kept checking their website and they were fully booked, then one day a year later i was at work when my phone rang, it was the place we had booked at a year before but couldn't go to, they said they wanted to apologize for us not being able to go the year before and there is an opening in the honeymoon suite, we more than welcome to take it in July if we wanted (it was February when they called) i called Sven and he said grab it, so we did, we booked in and looked so forward to our little weekend away,
When we woke up that day i was soooo excited i was chabbering the whole morning and Sven wasn't sharing my excitement, in-fact he was very quiet that morning, it was a 2 hour trip.....a very quiet 2 hour trip, When we got to the holiday place we were a little early to book in so we took a paddle boat ride out and i was making conversation with Sven, Sven seemed pretty preoccupied with making this boat work, eventually i said to him lets drive to the nearest town there must be something to do around here because talking to you isn't working out so well, we took a drive and got back to our holiday place towards the afternoon, we went into our room and it was immaculate, it was so beautiful i was blown away, i was just taking pictures of everything...LIKE EVERYTHING!!! and Sven was pouring wine, i went to get my glass and he snapped that i wasn't to touch it, i thought hmmm this trip isn't working out, this guy needs a steak and a nap, eventually he took the wine and said lets go on the canoe??? i was a little confused as we had already had a boat ride that morning, it was getting nippy and i wasn't sure what the need for another ride on the small dam would actually do for the entertainment for the day as a glass of wine by a fire seemed more appropriate, anyway i thought, its his trip too so let me go and humor him with ANOTHER BOAT RIDE, we got to the canoe and this canoe had some water in it at the bottom, i suggested we go back and hire the paddle boat rather as this one wasn't looking like it was going to be too much fun (or safe), he insisted we get in this canoe, I again tried to have some wine from the glasses he was carrying and he said its for the boat, (i was thinking i needed both glasses to get in that boat) none the less, we got in this risky looking boat and off we paddled out to the middle of the dam...there was no conversation Sven was lost in thought again so i was taking pictures of the surroundings wondering at what stage we were allowed the wine when he EVENTUALLY spoke, i wasn't looking at him at the time i had my back to him taking snaps of the trees and the mountains, he said we need to talk babe, i carried on taking pics without looking around at him and i said talk babe....im listening, he then said you know i love you very much and i want to spend the rest of my life with you so will you be my wife.....i spun around and there was Sven with his one knee leaning in the water in the bottom of the boat holding this gorgeous ring with tears in his eyes, i burst into tears, told him he is so stupid (not sure why, but we both handled that well hahaha) he then asked "is it a yes because my knee is very wet" and i said "can i have some wine now", we stopped crying and burst out laughing, he then said "lets get out this stupid canoe i really dont think its safe......"
My wedding.......the best and quickest day of my life, it started off a beautiful sunny day, my bridesmaids were full of jokes and everything was just falling into place, family i hadn't seen in years were arriving at the venue, i was so relaxed the entire day and it wasn't because of the champers we had on tap in the dressing room either, everyone from the make-up artist, to the hair-stylist to the decor was on time, the cake arrived and was beautiful and the venue staff set the hall up better than i had imagined it to look,
When the afternoon came we all got ready to go to the chapel and it hit me then that i was now going to become a married woman, i cried tears of joy because i knew i wasn't marrying my boyfriend, i was marrying my best friend, my highlight of my day was walking down to Sven and seeing him tear, not enough for his friends to remind him of it at the next soccer game but enough to show his emotions to me about how he felt and it was beautiful,
Most couples would smile at each other and go on with ceremony but Sven and i kissed straight away and hi-fived each other which in turn caused the entire room to burst out laughing - they know Sven and i and that's exactly what they would expect from us, after the ceremony Sven and i were just in a daze and loved sharing our day with those close to us.
Our honeymoon was 2 weeks long (i say that because it felt longer than 2 weeks, with us being social people, being in the sticks was a shock to our system) we drove up to Qwantani for 4 days in the Berg that was beautiful place to unwind and relax after the wedding, from there we drove up to Sunninghill Guest lodge in JHB which is run by a very good friend of mine, there we were able to see people and socialize a little it was a nice break from the silence of the woods, after being in JHB for 4 days we drove to the Kruger national park and stayed there for the remaining of our honeymoon, we got to see God;s window, Pilgrams rest and eat as much waffles as possible, eventually we decided after that trip to leave at the crack of dawn and make our way home to our beautiful house we had bought and enjoy our gifts and cards from all our beautiful guests.
My dress was a Venetian lace boob tube dress with a crystal sash from Bella Bride, my hair was done by Bonita at Bon Bon Hair studio and was plated on the sides and brought up to show my neckline, my make up was done by a celebrity artist Tony James, my shoes were bought on line by Dolce, my Lingerie was a gift from my hens party, My jewellery was diamond earrings a gift from my step father and my accessories were my something borrowed, something new, something old and my garter was the something blue.
We got married at Chantecler Hotel, it had 21 rooms so our guest chose to stay over as it came with a lovely breakfast included in our stay.
My health and fitness leading up to the wedding was eating right and LOTS of water, I went to Total Skin solutions for dermo-rolling and Sandawana Spa for organic facials and hydro peels
My flowers were done by Kloof Florist and my decor was hired from Events unlimited, the venue itself came with draping and lights if you chose the pavilion package, it was a little more pricey but came with everything i needed. which saved me in the hire department.
The groom and Groomsmen wore Royal blue suits that we hired for them from Suite yourself in Durban North, we Bought them 'All-star' sneakers from Thirdbass which is a private run small business by Maxine Sweetman and Martin Joubert
My bridesmaids wore infinity dresses in Royal blue made by Hello Trixie. with sissy boy black heels
Brian Barnes
Joe Cunningham and Ks photography
Nope.....im a perfectionist and knew what i wanted in my head, it was hard to keep explaining it to others.
My wedding transport was the sedan Audi with all the trimmings and luxury fittings compliments of my father-in-law (it was his lol)
My wedding cake was made by Tienkes cakes and the venue did the catering for my wedding
I did that myself
We did take dancing lessons for our main dance with Shall we dance with Shirely, however, my husband got shy and decided we weren't going to do the routine, The DJ was New age entertainment - Jose, he kept the dance floor alive the whole night.
