We fell in love as teenagers in 2010. In 2012 I decided to relocate to Amanzimtoti, and without a doubt he left everything and everyone behind, packed his bags and moved with. I couldn't ask for a better husband. Kind, loving, caring and just an absolute blessing. 7 years into our relationship on the 24th of June 2017 we were blessed to have the most beautiful wedding with all our beloved family members and friends. I couldn't be more excited to see what the future holds for us. I always said I want to marry a man like my father, and I sure did!
I had a Hippie Party planned for my 21st. That night he decided to pop the question! All dressed in our hippie outfits, not knowing the plan, I prepare myself to give thanks to everyone present when all of the sudden he puts a balloon in my hand with the writing "Marry me" on it and the next moment he starts going down on his knee, shedding a tear or two and asking me to spend the rest of our lives together. Without any hesitation a proper YES came out of my mouth.
God truly blessed us with a gorgeous day. We got married in June at Lake Eland, it always seems to be windy and cold but we were blessed with the most beautiful weather and open skies. The morning of the wedding I had a video made for him with photos of us from where we started dating upon till now, at the end of the video I told him that I can wait to see him in a few hours, not knowing how emotional this will make him at the ceremony. As I came down the aisle, he started to bawl his eyes out. For me that will be a moment I will always treasure, the emotion he showed and the way he looked at me. Even during our creative shoot he shed a tear telling me how beautiful I'm looking. At the reception I took the time to sit down and just enjoy watching all of our guests having the time of their lives.
Yes definitely!!! We went to Ponta Do Ouro in Mozambique for a whole week. It was amazing!!! He arranged for us to go swim with the dolphins(wild dolphins). It was amazing!!! We were surrounded by 12 dolphins! We had amazing food and just enjoyed our time together for the first time as Mr. and Mrs. He planned it all by himself, it was absolutely amazing!!!!
I wanted to be myself on our wedding day, not someone I'm not. "Plain Jane" is my style. I decided on soft flowy curls for my hair. I've got long black hair, so my hairstylist decided to sprinkle my curls with glitter and add crystals just for a little extra sparkle. I've got blue eyes so I decided on my makeup being natural but still beautiful with shades of light browns. I kept the rest of my accessories to a minimum with rose gold jewelry and comfortable wedges. Every bride absolutely loves her dress, and I definitely did and still do!!! Winter white modified A-line dress with a sweetheart neckline, lace from the middle all the way down and a chapel train just beautifully decorated with lace.
We got married at Lake Eland near Oribi Gorge in KZN. It is a beautiful Game Reserve about +/- 100km out of Amanzimtoti. We made it a "weekend thing" so most of our guests including us slept there from the Friday night where we had a braai till the Sunday morning where we had a breakfast together. Me and my husband decided not to see each other a week before the wedding, so the Friday night was a little bit tricky, but we managed to make it work.
Since I met my husband he has been set on being healthy, going to the gym and eating healthy. So I made sure to follow his footsteps. I made sure to handle my hair with care, as it is one of the important factors on the day. I also made sure to look after my skin by cleansing my face twice a day, removing the days makeup and using my cream. Waxed my eyebrows to get them in perfect shape for the day. Had my hair colored, nails done and eyelashes extended.
From the start we both agreed on having a unique wedding, one that everyone will remember. We went for a fun, comfortable vintage theme. We combined our two favorite colors, lavender and Tiffany green together with the beautiful texture of wood and lace. We had plain white chip, dried grass, small lavender, daisies and orchids for our flowers. It was beautiful! At the ceremony we had a runner made out of hessian and lace with Melissa and RD 24 June 2017 printed on it. Hay bales with flowers and confetti decorated our entrance at the chapel. For confetti we dried out lavender and lemon grass, mixed with dried rose petals, it smelled absolutely amazing! I wanted a fairy tale reception so we had fairy lights all over the reception area. Lake Eland has got the most beautiful hall, made out of bamboo and wood, it all went so well together. For thank you gifts we gave each guest a mason jar with their name on it, a Hug in a Mug hot chocolate sachet and a thank you letter. We didn't work with table numbers but with table names, love, hope, faith, trust etc. While we did our creative shoot, our guests enjoyed themselves with snacks and drinks. Our main course we decided on something different, build your own burger bar. Our guests had the opportunity to build their own burger with their favorite sauce, meat and fries. Biltong, chocolate brownies and chocolate fondant pudding had their inner kiddies in them come out. We had a carrot and pecan nut naked cake with a milk tart filling decorated with white chocolate ganache. As we came into the reception we immediately opened the dance floor as we both love to dance. Instead of me tossing my bouquet I had 4 bouquets that I tossed into the air to make sure all of the beautiful lady's felt special. My husband then wrapped my garter around a rugby ball and threw it into the the crowd fulled with his rugby friends. We ended the night with him carrying me out of the reception.
We hired my husbands suite from a place called Shana Wedding Hire. He had a cream suit with a white button up shirt, bow tie and brown shoes. All of the groomsmen were dressed the same. Cream coloured pants, brown shoes, white button up shirt with sleeves rolled up and brown suspenders to complete the look. My husband bought them all superhero socks to wear with their outfits.
I gave my bridesmaids the chance to decide on the dresses as they were the ones wearing it, not me. So they all decided on long Tiffany green infinity dresses. They had their hair curled up to the side with beautiful flower crowns made out of lavender. They looked absolutely gorgeous!!!
Ds. Frans Klopper from NG Gemeente Suid-Kus Amanzimtoti. Couldn't ask for a better person to marry us. Made us feel so comfortable and had such a beautiful preach.
We used Johann van Dalen Photography and Videography and Brendan Leigh Photography. Johann took photos but mostly videoed our wedding and Brendan captured all the special moments on camera. We had our own little photo booth that we set up ourselves.
Not a professional planner, but yes, my mother. She was an absolute blessing helping with the planning of our wedding. Planned every little detail. She made our dream wedding come true.
To be honest that was the last thing I worried about. We arranged transport to the chapel on the day of the wedding.
Lake Eland prepared all the food for the wedding. They made sure our guests had enough to snack on while we did our creative shoot. For the burgers our guest had the option between whole grain or white rolls, cheese, garlic, barbeque,mushroom or peri-peri sauce, steak strips, chicken or beef patties, tomatoes, onions, lettuce and cheese with fries and salad on the side. Pudding was a choice between chocolate fondant with ice cream and raspberry sauce, chocolate brownies or our wedding cake. Smiths Bake Shop made our amazing Naked cake. A carrot and pecan nut cake with a milk tart filling, drizzled with white chocolate ganache, decorated with fresh lavender flowers and purple macaroons. Need I say more. Yum yum.
We designed the words and layout of the invitations ourselves. At we first we tried to print it ourselves but it didn't work out. Later we got the help of a friend to print them for us.
My husband comes from a family that absolutely loves to dance, I come from a family where we love to dance, so no dance lessons needed. When we dance together, we just flow, it's so easy to follow his lead. We had a DJ, James Ellis. He did the sound and lightning at our wedding. We opened the dance floor as soon as we walked into the reception. We opened on Asemloos of Liezl Pieters, a fun and energetic song, reflecting our love for dance, each other and personalities.
