We met at the age of 13, where after some motivation from his friends Wayne built up the courage to asked me out. Upon discovering that he was a year younger than me, I decided it wouldn't work, only to have him track me down 6 years later and ask me the same question to which I agreed! I believe to this day he was sent to me by my guardian angel Ouma who I lost a couple days before that. We dated for 7 and a half years before Wayne finally popped the question and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. We then got married 14 months later.
Early hours of the morning of Friday 20th May 2016 we were on our way to the Pilansberg for a holiday when we received a call to say Wayne's older sister had gone into labour. This was very exciting because we were on our way to their side of the world as they live in Pretoria. When we arrived we went straight to the hospital, but unfortunately we could not meet the little man. So off we went onto our adventure to Kwa Maritane in the Pilansberg. We arrived and checked in, I felt like I was in a movie, someone came to carry our luggage into our room, we had our own private heated pool and the biggest bed I have ever seen! Wayne seemed to be a little on edge and not really him self. By this time it was around 3, I was exhausted and just wanted to chill but Wayne insisted we go exploring. So off we went to an underground hideout or view point with our Sun downers. As we get there we get comfortable on 2 bar stools looking out at the watering hole with the Sun slowly setting in the background. Wayne leaned forward to talk to me and as he did that a black snake slithered past his face and over the peak of his cap, I have never ever seen him move so fast! I was laughing so hard my tummy hurt, he however did not find it so funny as a snake is something he completely despises. We then get comfortable once again but this time on the other side of the hideout. We sit and get chatting. Wayne then says to me "So 7 and a half years hey...... and you've known Iv wanted to marry since day 1." He swings me around on my seat to face him on one knee with the most beautiful engagement ring I have ever seem. " will you make me the happiest man in the world and become my wife?" He asked with the biggest grin and shaking hands. I answered a" most definitely YES!"
We had the most incredible engagement holiday after that.
Some of my most favourite moments were:
· While we were getting ready my flower girl got into some make up and the photographer caught her, she then proceeded to pose and blow kisses to the camera
· Just as I was about to walk down the isle my dad said to me "Arnt you supposed to have something over you face?" We forgot to put my veil on, so him and the caterer were re arranging my outfit for me.
· During the ceremony the marriage officer mentioned the exact same psalm from my granddad funeral without us ever mentioning it. (This brought tears to most)
·My flower girl (2 year old Ella is my God Daughter) kept saying she was my princess
· Our first dance which we had lessons for yet we completely forgot what to do.
· My brothers speech, it was really special and so close to my heart, again I shed a year.
· The entire day was absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!
So from the beginning Wayne kept our honeymoon a secret. He kept telling me we going to "Pofaddder" and I need to pack a costume and a jacket. Only on the Monday after our wedding we left from Nottingham Road to the airport and when we checked into Air Mauritius I knew where we were going. MAURITIUS it was! We stayed on the South East Coast at Preskil Beach Resort, it was absolutely Blissful!
My wedding look was quite simple, vintage and classic. I had a beautiful Lace wedding Gown which I bought from " Olivelli" in Johannesburg. A Good Friend from Hockey made me a soft vintage looking top with loose flowy feminine sleeves to wear with a ribbon on the waist for the ceremony. After I said I do I took the top off for a more daring looking of a sleeveless sweetheart neckline full lace A-line dress, I also then added a deep red lip to finish the look.
Hair was up in a very soft loose look with a classic, does not date finish with a red rose and my VERY long veil. (Which also came off later)
Make up was soft and bridal, neutral lips for ceremony and then added a deep red lip later in the afternoon.
I wore nude wedges until it was time to party and my sparkly rose gold takkies came out to play. (Such fun)
My jewellery was a gift to me from my parents, my father bought me beautiful earings to match my engagement ring, with a tanzanite and hallow diamonds around it, my mom then gave me a necklace with the exact same pendant. My bracelet was my something borrowed from my mom, a tennis bracelet which was a gift to her from my dad for their 25th wedding anniversary.
My jewellery was very special to me!
Haycroft Farm Country Wedding Venue and Accommodation in Curries Post Road in Howick.
The venue has accommodation available on site for at least 50 of your wedding guests.
I am a skin care and beauty therapist so I believe a woman needs a beauty regime her entire life not just when she gets married. A facial once a month with waxing and tinting etc. But just before the wedding I had a partial set of Vogue Volume Lashes, with a manicure and pedicure when I did my nails in the deep burgundy red. (So dramatic) it's amazing how it pulled all the colours together.
The feel I wanted when I walked into the Reception hall was "Beauty and the Beast" and that is exactly what I got. White washed rectangular tables with wimbledon chairs and candles everywhere. With gold and glass candlesticks, tall and short, white and gold candles, dinner candles, short, tall round, cylindrical, some free standing and some in gold votives and some even floating on water in glass jars in all shapes and sizes. Table numbers were laser cut out number in words in a gold spray.
My flowers were exquisite, dramatic but simple. Lots of penny gum with blush and burgundy roses made into garlands for the tables, lying flat with glass jars, votives and candlesticks between.
Bridesmaids Bouquet's were penny gum and blush roses with a Blush satin ribbon tying it all together.
My Bridal Bouquet was a lot more dramatic with penny gum, blush, white and burgundy roses as well as white day lillies which is mine and my late Ouma favorite flower. It was all tied together with a long burgundy satin ribbon with a gold locket which my Ouma gave to me the month before she passed. My bouquet was extremely special and sentimental to me.
My flowers were done by the lovely Kelly Rothan from Flower Fusion in Gillits.
We had black boards with our love story, the evenings time line and a welcome which were all drawn up by the best man's sister.
In the Forrest where were said the "I do's" we had Origami strung from tree to tree giving us a canopy of paper cranes, which the bridal party Sat stringing the week before, it looked breath taking.
My Groom and his Groomsman wore a bright navy suit which we hired from "Suit Up, Suit hire" in Westville. The men all bought their own white smart button up shirts from woolies. We found amazing floral ties at Woolworths in the mall of Africa and a deep red burgundy pocket square at the farmers market from a stall called "His Apparel." Shoes and belt were tan matching the wooden cufflinks and tie clip made by a company called "Whats cutting".
These gents looked absolutely Dashing!
My Beautiful Bridesmaids wore a Blush Pink Hoidens dress. Straight cut shape with a lace boddess and capped sleeves, they looked absolutely beautiful! We got these dresses from Bride and Co in the Crescent shopping centre.
A Good Friend of Wayne's, they went to school together since the age of 7. His name is Jabin Lyons and he did the most incredible wedding ceremony.
Christy Long from Long Exposure photographed our wedding and we could not have asked for a better photographer, she is incredibly talented and so easy to get along with, we have built a wonderful relationship and I will most definitely use her to photograph all the different stages of our lives.
Byron DuBois Photography did our video for us, he us new to videographer but he did a superb job.
No, my now husband and I planned our own wedding from start to finish. Some days it was a little stressful but we had lots of fun planning our special day together.
Our food was completely out of this world, it was so delicious. A harvest table on a deck over looking the dam, then the starter was a butternut soup with heart shaped croutons. Mains was a lamb shank with roasted veggies, pomme puree and a red wine sauce done by a company in Pietermeritzburg called Hamblins. Heidi was an incredible woman and helped us a lot with the running order of events.
Our cake and desserts were made by The Farmer's Daughter in Karkloof. We had a 1 tier semi naked carrot cake and lots of mini desserts for pudding. These were; mini donuts, mini Lemon meringue, mini cheese cake and mini brownies.
I had the help of a school friend by the name of Kerry from Tie the knot help me with my stationary.
The party was insane, we danced all night. (In our sparkly takkies). A company called "DJ wore" from pietermaritzburg did the Dj sound and lighting, they were fab!
We had a live band while our guests had canapes on the deck, their band name is "Kith and Kin" they were absolutely amazing and I would recommend them to everyone!
Olivelli is a wedding attire boutique offering exclusive, world class wedding dresses; coupled with a memorable and unique fitting experience. Exclusive, unique and p...
Suit Up suit hire opened on the 1 February 2013. We are centrally situated in Westville and offer high quality men's and boys' formal and fashion suits for all occasions for th...
