We had seen each other many times before since we had many friends in common and trained at different time slots at our local gym Animal fitness. However the day we met personally was not by choice for Jesse. I trained every morning at 5 am. My now mother in-law had just started a fitness challenge which allowed her to train in the same class as me. One morning she dragged Jesse with, lucky for me!! My best friend and then trainer decided to pair myself and Jesse together for the entire class, this turned into a full on competition between myself and Jesse! Both being highly competitive, we didn’t want to lose, myself to a boy and Jesse to a girl!! Through the entire class we joked but kept the competition alive. Needless to say I WON!! The next morning at class, Jesse was NO WHERE to be found! My now mother in-law told me during class that Jesse had to go home and have a nap after the previous days competition with me. We then became friends on Facebook and a few weeks later Jesse posted a Facebook post regarding relationships, which rang true to me, I then message him on Facebook regarding the post. After that I gave him my number to chat on WhatsApp, but forgot a digit (woops). He then had an entire conversation with his family debating whether I gave him the wrong number on purpose or if it was actually me. He later on plucked the courage to ask, and the rest is history!
My proposal was just like any other day. It started off with a message to Jesse, saying we should go for supper. Since I always picked the places we usually went, I told him he should chose and surprise me!
I got dressed as usual for the night out, nothing fancy rather casual. I wore army green cargo pants, with a black high neck vest and black boots. We got to the restaurant and after a few moments of looking at the menu, I knew what I wanted to eat and thought we should order like we usually do. Jesse kept telling me to relax and enjoy the evening and not rush- this resulted in an amazing evening chatting and drinking wine (maybe too much on my part). Then to my surprise all of a sudden Jesse then started rushing me to finish my wine and desert. Reminding me I still had my tan to put on- in my head I was thinking since when does he care about my tan! He hates the smell! And secondly he just told me to relax and not rush, now he is rushing me. I went with the flow and we soon arrived home. As we were walking down the driveway and neared the front door, I heard myself and Jesses song- straight away I said to Jesse: “ They must be watching, Me Before You”- even though this song isn’t even in the movie. Jesse proceeded to open the door and what lay before me shocked me even more- to be honest I never get surprised! It’s really hard to keep secrets from me, haha!
It was dark only lit by candles creating an Aisle leading to champagne and glasses at the end, roses were all scattered and above the champagne was a heart hanging from the ceiling. Jesses mother, sister and gran stood waiting. When I saw this and turned around to find Jesse on one knee, with a ring in hand. I was shocked and of course, I said the first thing that came to mind- “Shut up!” to which Jesse replied I hope that’s a yes! To which I replied: YESSSSS!!
I have so many memorable moments of our special day. However let me squeeze it into three.
The moment i walked down the Aisle and saw Jesses face was a moment, i will never forget! Firstly because obviously, Jesse had never seen my dress and was excited to see me in it. Secondly i couldn't wait to see his reaction. It's amazing how everyone is around but you have complete tunnel vision!
Then the thing that will go down in history was a moment after our ceremony, while on our shoot. One of the locations we had chosen was beautiful field, however to get there we had to go down a bank. My bridesmaids all got down and then Jesse, who was meant to help me down. The problem comes in when Jesses shoes had zero grip, resulting in him doing the running man up the bank in order to not fall, all the while holding my hand. All i could do was anchor my heels into the ground and tell Jesse to; "Let go!!". Luckily jesse managed to recover from slipping and luckily i was not a tumbling bride!!
And finally Jesse would agree, just watching all our family and friends interact and enjoy our special day, was definitely amazing!
We didn’t go on honeymoon due to family being down from the UK for our special day and finances. However we are planning a December Trip to Scotland and Ireland, making sure to stop at all the historical spots.
We got married at a beautiful venue called Intaba View, in Drummond! It over looks the valley of 1000 hills and is breathtaking!
Our venue, did not have accommodation, however we gave all our guests the option of staying in near by locations.
Myself and jesses spent our wedding night at The Mulberry Garden Cottage- which was stunning and tranquil.
Intaba View is located in the tranquil and majestic Valley of 1000 Hills. Overlooking the Phezulu Nature Reserve, we have a panoramic view of this magnificent valley.
I didn't follow any bridal beauty regime leading up to the wedding.
I am a very active person and one of my passions is fitness, so i trained 3-5 times a week as i normally would, varying from functional fitness or weight training. However every bride will know sometimes things come up and last minute details need to be done, resulting in limited time to train.
The week of the wedding i had:
Eyelash extensions, nothing hectic just natural. (lu-Rita's in Waterfall)
My hair had the final touch ups with colour and a trim. ( Chi Chi's Hairstudio in westville)
My nails were done. (RVD nails in Queensburgh)
Finally my spray tan! ( La Vida, Waterfall)
That was my regime leading up to the big day!
Jesse wore a light grey suit from Zara, with a Navy blue (almost black) and subtle white printed bowtie (also from zara) which he wore a white long sleeved button up from Markhams.
He had black accessories such as suspenders, belt and shoes funky black and white stripped socks.
Something special was his boutonniere, which i made. Jesses father died before he was born, jesse had a feather which his father loved, so i decided to incorporate this into his boutonniere, so that he had a bit of his father with him. It consisted of the feather which was beautiful, with colour of red, cream and black. I then used silver arrows, twine and a small wooden protea emblem.
The groomsmen wore grey pants with white formal long sleeve button ups from Markhams, black suspenders, a grey bowtie ( from Woolworths), black belts and shoes. I also made them all a matching boutonniere to Jesses, the only difference being their feathers were cream.
Our marriage officer was our pastor from Grace Hill church in Hillcrest, Brad sadler.
Louis Van Rooyen from Momentography captured our day, and all the magical moments!!! He was so easy to get along with and his work is truly amazing!!! I would pick him again and again, he really was the best!! Beyond happy with his talent which comes through into his pictures.
We had a photobooth for guests while we were having our photos taken called PicMe Photobooth.
No, i didn't have a planner or coordinator, i am someone who has an idea and runs with it- i like seeing my vision come to life!
However with that said Jacqui from Intaba View was absolutely amazing and helped at every stage, ensuring that it was what i wanted! Best venue and service.
I also used Shells of Decor for my flowers and some decor items, Shelly went above and beyond with setting up and making it perfect.
So although i never had a coordinator, Jacqui and Shelly helped on the day to put my vision into reality.
Intaba View prepared the food- we had a buffet, the food was amazing!!
Our wedding cake was made by Lilian.
Intaba View is located in the tranquil and majestic Valley of 1000 Hills. Overlooking the Phezulu Nature Reserve, we have a panoramic view of this magnificent valley.
