The photoshoot with my husband, the speeches and items at the reception. Him taking off my gatar. The wedding night. Seeing our bedroom for the first time.
Reenendal, Knysna, The Lazy Leopard and we stayed in a cottage overlooking the forest called Leopards View. We visited Plettenberg bay and even went over the border and saw the big tree. It was truly a magical honeymoon.
I had a vintage, lace, classic hollywood, curly elegant look. The dress bordered on a lace/old western style look, but was agreeably very 'me' It had a button up back and was tailored to my body I got the dress from Didi Couture. I had blinged shoes with diamante style embellishments, ankle peep toe 6 inch heel. Vintage style medium earings. Sliver flower with rhinestone embelishments for my hair to give more of a vintage look. A neclace from my grandmother given at my 21st. I had a boquet I made myself with satin roses, beads and broaches all pinned on or sewn on to a silver like satin on a styrafoam ball attached to silver sticks to hold onto as the 'stem' of the bouquet.
Motivated by "all things beautiful", the work of Didi and her team is sure to leave you enchanted.
We were married at Kaapzicht Wine Estate. We did not have guests staying overnight, but it was a beautiful venue and exactly what we wanted on our wedding day. A place full of charm and character.
I'm a teacher and a mother of a three-year-old, as a result I didn't have time or money to go all out but there were certain things I did to make sure I felt good and looked good. I cut down on breads and pastries and ate more salads and fruit. I always have a meat component in my salad but then again in summer I always ate salads so it wasn't too different to what I was doing already. I was already working out regularly in the week. I had an app called Fitstar by fitbit and paid for the premium package in September so I could start doing the get lean work out sessions which take place 4 times a week and is tailored to your fitness. I went for a wax a week before the big day(I think it was a Tuesday?). I cut down on coffee and I basically only drink water so that wasn't a big adjustment either. I did use teeth whitening tooth paste and mouthwash from colgate and it did just the trick. I also found that it was very dry and my feet were also a little dry, which is unusual for me and I tried the silki socks and they worked quite well and restored the hydration in my feet. the more expensive options aren't worth it I found. I wore as little make up as possible and I didn't use any new or special beauty products. One cream that did help if I saw any skin irritation like a zit etc was Melaskin Remedy by Complete organics, but I had been using this product for quite some time prior.
We had a black carpet to walk down the aisle and it was an outdoor wedding and we were married under a thatched gazebo overlooking an arch and rose garden and trees. The only flowers at my wedding were white and yellow roses in two in v-shaped standing vases that were outside at the altar and later carried inside and placed either side of the bridal table for the reception that evening, other than that only the lapels on the gentlemen. There were round boards painted in a pale canary yellow. On top of the boards were large glass jars filled with white stones to hold large white and silver sprayed twigs and alongside the jars were different laterns, each table had a different lantern but all vintage styled or rustic or glass with tealight candles placed in the center of each table. The place settings had silver under plates with white linen napkins tied with a pale yellow ribbon and silver tie. There were glasses with a black lace on the outside filled with sweets and silver thank you bags with chocolates inside. The table cloths were white with a satin embroidery design and the chairs had black covers. The room had white drapery with beautiful fairy lights all around. There were also two classic carriages. One white ornate one for the presents next to the bridal table and another more rustic one at the entrance of the reception. Most of the things at the wedding like the table center pieces thank you gifts were done by us with the help of family and the laterns are a wonderful decor for our home and reminder of our special day. Our colours were black, pale canary yellow and silver.
They hired their suits from Mr Suit hire. The groom wore a black tuxedo with a silver cravat and silver waistcoat and white shirt along with black aldo formal shoes which he had. He also wore silver matte earings which he had bought from Sterns. The groomsmen wore silver-grey suits with a black detailing on the colar and grey waistcoats, they had also yellow ties and wore formal shoes.
I wanted a unique look for my wedding and I at first though of the dress where you can make many different looks, but it was too expensive, so, being inclined towards one shoulders, knowing they flatter any bustline, I came up with the idea to have a one shoulder dress where the open shoulder has a lace/ soft net going down to the wrist and the skirt has the same material overlay. This also would have black lace elements to it with a silver belt at the waist. I wanted peeptoe shoes to match mine so we could take a picture with the shoes and I used rhinestones to decorate the shoes I found on sale. It had vintage elements but with a neo design inspiration. All my bridesmaids excluding my maid of honour wore bracelets that looked like they were diamond bracelets and medium silver hoop earings which also appeared to have diamonds. My maid of honour had vintage style clip on earings that had a crystal and were 100% sterling silver. My nieces who were my junior bridesmaids or flower girls had the same earings as my maid of honour. With flat silver peeptoe pumps and a canary yellow dress which had a gypsy style inspired look with gathered shoulder sleeves, waist and neck and were also ankle length and the same material used for the bridemaids overlay was used for the flowergirls underneath a silver and black flower pendant pinned to the middle of their gathered waist.
Pastor Susan Abrahams from The Lighthouse Christian Centre Parow.
My sister Melany and my brother Ernest were the photographers. We didn't have a formal photobooth but we did have an area with frames and pop up signs where people could take photo's while enjoying canapes and waiting while we went off to take photo's with my Sister after the ceremony. My brother in law Faheem and Karl video'd the wedding and reception.
No planner was needed, we planned the wedding with the help of my family. My sister Tammy was a big help and did A LOT of research and outsourcing. We also went to the Tygervalley bridal expo in 2016 and that was actually how I found my wedding dress, my husband found the place to hire a suit and where my husband and I were able to see which ideas we liked and come up with our own.
It was a beautiful classic white cheverolet which we hired from the owner of Kaapzicht and he picked me up from my house and also drove us around the estate for wedding photo's.
A friend, a chef and pastor Paul Baatjes who owns a catering company called Bread and Butter catering and my mother made my wedding cake. I wanted cupcakes, and thats what I got with a large three layered cake on top (all the different cupcake flavours, red velvet, chocolate and vanilla). They had a black lace design on silver paper cups and there was some chocolate, some lemon and some vanilla icing.
Uhm stationery? We bought cheap small colour pencils from a factory shop in Athlone and place it on each table and my husband had purchased an adult GAME OF THRONES colouring book which we made copies of and had on each table. My dad had a chalk board in his garage and myself and my sister Melany are teachers so we just used white chalk and wrote on either side of the chalk board sign.
I am a dancer, but my husband and I did go for Salsa lessons which we enjoyed. He did not dance with me on the wedding night, but he made up for it and danced with me a slow dance on honeymoon, it was truly romantic. I did get down with my ladies though and we definitely jived. I ended up not going for a live band (even though I had been in one) I instead went for my friend Gradwell Lindhorst who also does sound and asked him to be the dj rather than having both.
Motivated by "all things beautiful", the work of Didi and her team is sure to leave you enchanted.
