It was not love at first sight but sight at first (real) love.
God is our biggest chearleader and we are His biggest fans!!
I was in a long distance relationship with a guy who did not believe in Christ and at an attempt one morning to see what he would think of it I unnaturally dragged him to church with me. Not knowing it would lead to me meeting my husband through my mutual friend who attended church with me every Sunday. She did not tell me that she was planning to introduce me to one off her male friends that morning, so I believe she was caught off guard and ended up not even introducing her friends to us. These 2 friends stood next to her throughout the whole church and I was never aware that she even brought them with, believing that it was just 2 more people in church that day. It was only after church as my then current date and myself were about to leave that she had introduced them to us while inviting us to join them for breakfast afterwards. I remember sitting opposite the table looking at this big teddy bear (my now husband) wondering why he wasn't saying anything. He looked so bored but actually afterwards I learned that he was just stunned by my presence (so he says), observing my manners and wondering why I was dating a guy like that. We had breakfast and afterwards our mutual friend mentioned to me that my husband asked questions about me, making a bold statement to her that he was going to walk a very long road with me, and then did what most modern people do and snooped around my FB to see whats going on in my life. A week or 2 afterwards I broke up with my ex and my husband asked me to coffee and drinks multiple times, just to be turned down by me again. Eventually I got so tired of his constant and persistent invitation to coffee and drinks that one evening I agreed to let him and his friend meet up with me and my friend for a very QUICK drink. Just so he would stop asking me out for a drink. And then.. well then he started texting me. Sending me love songs. We ended up chatting about life, religion, relationships and friends up until the early morning hours. Then he invited me and a friend to his birthday weekend away at a Game Lodge. And on his birthday, after singing around the campfire and deep conversations under the stars he sneakily stole a kiss! After that kiss I was "jelly". A lot of breakfast and coffee dates followed and off course eventually the "will you date me" question was asked.
When my dad bought our farm there was a small Maroela tree that sat halfway in the road and everybody wanted my dad to remove it, but my dad said : "no, this tree will one day have a purpose". And it did! My husband came to visit on the farm a few times and after a year of dating he was busy driving around the farm with my dad to check the water. They stopped under the shade of the small Maroela tree and Jacobus asked my dad if he could marry me. My dad told him the story about the tree and gave the tree as a symbolic acceptance of our love, in short he needed to water our relationship everyday like he was suppose to water this tree from that day on. This led to my husbands choice of proposal. One morning my husband told me put on some shoes we are going to go play some golf and have some lunch. The whole day something was strange to me about the behaviour of Jacobus and eventually we went back home. We sat on the grass talking about the day and our life goals. He then said to me cone lets go take a walk on the farm. We walked to the Maroela tree while the sun was setting and as we reached the tree he said to me "sit down". So I sat down. He looked so nervous and I think at that moment I realized what was about to happen. I remember looking up at the sky seeing the lighting in the distance and then he kneeled. He took my hands and told me about the tree and my dad and how much he loved me and that he wanted to spoil me forever and never wakeup another day without me. He asked me if I would honour him by agreeing to marry him. I said "YES". And cliché as it sounds it started raining. We laughed and walked back home grateful for the rain on the farm and off course an exciting new step to inform everyone else about.
Highlights:
• Most definitely the chapel where I met my husband while he and his best men were both crying. My husband looked soooooo handsome and the pastor gave the most beautiful service regarding the duties of a husband and a wife according to the Bible.
• Our first dance and off course the father and daughter dance was so fun and funky.
• After our wedding we had champagne in our room and I read the first poem I ever wrote about my husband when we barely just started dating. I wrote the poem and said to him one day if we get married I will read it to you. And I kept that promise.
Yes we went to Italy for a few days and used a friend's house for a week in France.
I wanted minimal jewellery and a white mermaid dress to keep it simplistic because of my colourful hair. My makeup was a bit more smokey than the usual bride style, but still natural enough to only enhance my features instead of tranforming them into a polished "perfection".
I chose to keep my hair purple and blue because that is who I am and how my family and friends know me, I didn't want to change myself for my wedding day rather embrace my uniqueness.
My shoes were a natural beige and I only wore a small set of crystal earings combined with a borrowed pink pearl bracelet. I believe in noticing the bride first and not the dress or jewellery.
As for my hairstyle I wanted something romantic but not too "tight", half an updo - half down.
We got married at a guest house in Gauteng: KammaFrans.
We loved the rustic venue with its fireplace and it was perfect for a small intimate wedding.
Yes, close family and friends slept over so that we could have breakfast together the next morning.
I decided to loose a bit of weight before getting married for my own benefit, to improve my self-confidence and mentality. I did this through adapting a healthy banting lifestyle, which I still use today, because it satisfies my cravings and simply because it helps me feel healthy and energized.
I work on a farm, so I am naturally moving around throughout the day, therefore I did not adapt any new fitness regimes.
I made sure to moisturize my skin daily, because we got married in the winter and I didn't want my skin to look dehydrated.
My mother treated my bridesmaids and myself to a day at the Spa a few days before the wedding.
The decor we chose for the wedding was very french/country chic with a hint of Alice in Wonderland. The decor was made up out of light natural colours and elememts such as whitewashed wood lanterns, garden bunnies, birdcages, rock roses and soft gyps with pastel coloured roses or flowers. Our colour scheme was made up of neutrals, duckegg blue, blush, soft mint and rosegold hints.
Each table was made up differently from the next because that relates to my own personal style. I love picking different things and combining them into a whole. Not too strict, not too guided by societys trending "norms".
As for the furniture in the venue it was rusty and french. Exposed wood but still with a hint of an high tea luxury.
The groom wore a beige coloured suit, white shirt and a duckegg blue tie. The groomsmen wore beige pants, white shirts, mint ties and beige suspenders.
They bought their outfits from Parktown suites.
My beautiful bridesmaids wore dusty purple coloured dresses, each in the style they preferred. They wore long dresses and each dress had a a little bit of sequence on. Dené's dress had long sleeves and Pamela opted for a no sleeve dress instead. They bought their dresses at YDE menlyn.
They wore their own choice of shoes that suited their dresses.
We had a lovely female pastor named Carima who wed us.
Our photographer was Carmia from Philzani photography and she made us feel so comfortable and natural while taking our photos. We love her style as it's light and not too edited.
We also partcipated in a show named My Skpas troue, therefore we didn't have the need to make use of any videographers.
I did not, I mostly planned everything to try and save some money, with the help of my superhero mother!!
I was blessed with two working feet and decided to make full use of them on my wedding day.
The food was prepared by our venue KammaFrans and our desert table along with the wedding cake was made by a friend from high school, their company is known by L's Creations. Their cake is off the racks!
We sent invitations by email, which I created myself through the use of a site called Punch bowl and my mother created the table seating stationery. I bought a rustic A3 book from Exclusive books to use as our Guest book.
We did not take any dance lessons, my husband's got some natural spunk in his groove!
We used Malan Bruwer to aid as our DJ for the wedding AS WELL AS he played live cello for the chapel and during the photo sessions to entertain our guests.
My husband, mother-in-law and one of my bridesmaids all have musical backgrounds which they used for live entertainment on our wedding as well.
