On the morning of my wedding day, I woke up so relaxed. I had the best night's sleep for the first time leading up to the big day. I thoroughly enjoyed my quiet time with the Lord, knowing that this was our covenant day. I enjoyed the jacuzzi. I thoroughly enjoyed having my mother and six bridesmaids by my side throughout all the beauty preparation. I loved driving in the Luxurious Rolls Royce with my mother and Uncle Henry (owner of the car); it was such a peaceful ride! Another highlight was seeing my dad all excited to walk me down the isle. Walking down the 100 steps isle made the moment even more special leading up to the highlight of seeing my soon-to-be husband. The sermon preached was one to never forget: it was different and so encouraging. Another highlight was having communion with my husband and also having a quick chat about how we were actually feeling and how we experienced the day so far. More highlights were definitely our Pancake Cake, our photoshoot, the shoe game, a song that my mother played for me, the speeches, the glorious food, the dancing and of course our beautiful family and friends who shared in our special day!
Honeymoon! Yes Please!
My husband took us to Mozambique - Dugong Beach Lodge (5-star lodge if I must add)
The people were extremely friendly and welcoming. They have such servant hearts and really work hard! The food was intensely delicious. The ocean was relaxing and different every day. The sunsets were indescribable. The sand was soft. The snorkeling, kayaking and private picnic were treats. In general we were treated with so much love and great hospitality.
PS: I knew nothing about our honeymoon, not even the weather. My husband pack my honeymoon bag for me. He did a fantastic job and the surprise was better than I expected!
I don't have a name to categorize my wedding look. I did however want to be as natural as possible.
My hair & make-up: Natalie Joy
My nails: My mother-in-law and I tested quite a few different styles. In the end we chose an arty yet formal french manicure style. She used gel so that it would last longer.
Wedding Dress: 2017 Blue by Enzoani "Jaylee" - Bridal Wardrobe Lynwood Bridge
My dress was a beautiful fit and flare wedding gown with 4 different layers of lightweight fabric. The front of the gown has a soft sweetheart neckline with beaded embroidered lace, which cascades down the torso, wraps around the hips and flows to the tulle train. The back of the dress has a definite wow factor. The low illusion "v" back is accented sublimely with the beaded embroidered lace. And the formation of the lace is executed expertly to really accentuate the beauty of the female form. (Explanation inspired by Lisa rose bridal)
Shoes: Olive green Wedges - Woolworths
Earrings: Swarovski Crystals
Bracelets: I made them using crystal beads and elastic thread.
Accessories: Flower Crown made to perfection by the lovely Mariette Loubser
Veil - Hired from Bridal Wardrobe Lynwood Bridge
Bridal Wardrobe is the leading stockist of all Enzoani Collections in South Africa and caters for the modern bride who wants to be at the forefront of the latest designer trends.
We got married at "Die Boskapel" : A Wedding Venue ideally situated on the outskirts of Pretoria and Johannesburg in a woodland environment. The perfect setting to host our outdoor wedding between the trees and surrounded by nature. You are completely surrounded by a forest of Blackwattle trees and long pebble stoned pathways. It was truly a fairytale venue!
Health & fitness - I went to the gym as often as I could. I did a lot of swimming and running but never over-exerted myself. I also used the sauna each time I went to gym (it helped open pores, relieve stress, cleansed my skin and burnt calories).
I didn't really drastically change my diet, I just made sure I ate everything in moderation. I took my vitamins everyday. However, I did get the flu 2 weeks before my wedding, but I quickly recovered using home remedies and medication!
I also think that sleep is part of health. I made sure I got enough sleep in leading up to the wedding but as I mentioned earlier, my best night's sleep was the evening before the wedding day.
Skin- I went for chemical peel facials at my make-up artist and beauty therapist (Natalie Joy Potgieter). She uses a peel that is more for sensitive skin types which does the peel but without actually peeling your skin off. These facials helped for hydration, pigmentation, evening out skin tone, anti-ageing and anti-acne. The results showed as my skin was glowing on the wedding day!
Our décor was handmade. I loved spending time with my husband and everyone else who helped make the decor; it made it so much more memorable and special! The colour scheme was white, grey, purple, green and brown. We used lilac coloured paper to make origami butterflies which we hung from the lapa's roof (above the dancefloor), in between the trees at the pre-drinks area and along the pathways leading up to the ceremony. We hung pinecones on string in between the butterflies. We used pinecones on our communion table, food tables and on our reception tables to label seating. We also used pinecones on our handmade direction, welcome and program signs. We cut and measured twigs, stuck them to empty "koo" tins and filled it with desert roses. These were placed on the reception tables as part of the centrepiece. We glued pieces of bark to empty tuna tins and used glass candle holders with it as part of the centre piece on the tables. We cut white, green and purple hearts, glued them on sosatie sticks and stuck them in the ground alongside the hessian mat (which the venue provided). We also handmade our thank you gifts which were wooden under plates made from wooden pallets; we tied material around the stapled areas and inserted a Thank You card which was personalized with different Bible verses. We used white an purple paper hearts, string and wooden numbers on pallets to make the seating arrangements. Our confetti was also handmade- we printed Bible verses back-to-back on A4 papers, then stained it with rooibos tea, tore it up into squares and our florist mixed it with eucalyptus leaves. We made our ceremony backdrop using pallets and white plant cover material. We also used wine corks and twigs to make hearts which we hung with string from the chairs at the ceremony. We used a small wooden disc and string as our ring "pillow".
Flowers: my florist was an absolute darling. We used a lot of eucalyptus, lavender, desert roses and white delphinium for the tables, bouquets and my flower crown.
Furniture: we made use of the venue's white chairs and newly built wooden tables. Cutlery was provided by our caterer.
Lighting: Sparklight Productions did their first ever light project at our wedding and it looked immaculate. They made use of fairy lights and light bulbs. The DJ also had uplighting on the dancefloor.
The Groom looked super handsome in his navy/charcoal suit which he already had in his cupboard. One trip to the dry cleaners made it look brand new! We had the pants tailored. He used a grey woolies shirt and bought grey and navy happy socks! His light brown shoes stood out beautifully but also matched his light brown belt. My mother-in-law made a narrow floral tie which had browns, whites and cream colours. We cut the end of a pinecone and glued a brooch pin to it which formed my husbands buttonhole. The groomsmen's clothes were chosen by my husband (very good taste in style)! Light grey pants (woolies), brown shoes (own), white collared shirts(own) and grey jerseys (old khaki) were the attire for the groomsmen. It was topped by handmade cork bow ties with brown leather ribbing.
We also had a little ring bearer who wore the exact same attire as the groomsmen, but had an additional "oupa hat" to finish the look.
The look of the dresses for the bridesmaids was seen at The Wedding Expo. I took a picture of the design and showed it to my mother-in-law. She said she was able to make it and suggested that we add long sleeves to the design due to a worry of the winter chills. I decided on purple dresses (my favourite colour by the way) and the hunting for good quality, cost effective material was quite a mission but it was eventually found! I also bought grey pumps for everyone and chokers. Everyone wore their own earrings and one of the bridesmaids made grey beaded bracelets for everyone.
Their hairstyle was a waterfall plait with curls and the make-up was their own perogative. They looked absolutely stunning and the colours of the bridesmaids and groomsmen worked very well.
I also had a flower girl who had a purple and white dress with white pumps and a flower crown; she represented a smaller version of me. She was adorable!
We had 2 pastors from our church named Shofar.
Christo Pieterse did the sermon and married us at the ceremony.
Phillip Boshoff married us legally.
Photographer: Trou Pasella
My husband actually knew the lady of this photography business: they were at school together. Trou Pasella specialises in wedding photos and she truly captured many intimate moments. They are 2 photographers, male and female, who capture the groom and his men while getting ready and the bride and her ladies while preparing at the same time. They are young and active. They think very well on the spot and really work well as a team! They met up with us for coffee before we even decided to use them and that already made us feel comfortable. We are happy with their work!
Photo booth: The venue has a big wooden heart placed behind a bench. The heart was draped with fairy lights and used as a photo booth. There was a fairy lights curtain draped behind my husband and I (main table) which was also used as the photo booth for the table photos.
Videographer: Handmade Media
We know of them through one of my friend's who works there. They did the videography for many of our friends and we were very impressed with their work! Once they quoted us, we also found out that we get a 10% discount due to being friends! #bonus _ We chose their best videography package as we feel that most reality of the day truly gets captured on videos (other than your memory of course). They are a very skilled team and also work well together! We are glad that we chose them!
My husband and I did most of the planning and preparation. We did however have the venue's owner and our food caterer help out with the smooth running of the day, lighting the bonfire, keeping the glasses full and tummies satisfied.
Our MC was also a huge help regarding the co-ordination of the day!
We made use of a vintage car: Rolls Royce Silver Shadow.
Friends of my parent's friends were the owners of this beaut.
Food: @Your Place Caterers run by Trudi Jansen Van Vuuren
She catered for the savoury and sweet fillings at the pre-drinks.
She made delicious salads, creamy butternut, roasted veggies, chicken curry, rice and a mouth watering oxtail.
She also made extra pancakes for dessert alongside marshmallows on a stick which each person could braai at the bonfire.
She was very well organised and she definitely knows what she is doing! Her prices were very reasonable.
She has been in the business for 13+ years and I would definitely recommend her over and over again!
Wedding Cake: Bedolce Cakes & Desserts
It's actually a new business that my friend and her mom run together. I always wanted a pancake cake and that is what was made. There were 3 tiers of small, medium and large plain pancakes totaling 200 pancakes stacked on top of each other. Icing sugar was dusted over the pancakes and around the cake. Flowers were placed around the bottom tier.
Organza and tiny pearls were wrapped around each tier to make it more bridal. 2 pinecones dressed up, 1 with a hat & bowtie and the other with a veil, were used as our cake toppers. We had a traditional cake cutting ceremony, however we rolled our chocolate mousse filled pancake to break the ice. The pancake cake was such a winner with all the sweet and savoury fillings and it presented itself as a sort of 'activity' for each guest.
The cake was a wedding gift and we are extremely grateful therefore!
Our invitation was my idea but a friend of ours (who is a graphic designer) put the perfect picture together.
I designed our website.
I also designed our thank you card.
Minuteman press Edenvale printed our Thank You Cards.
And what a Partaaay it was!
My husband and I love dancing and neither of us have '2 left feet'. We therefore didn't go for dance lessons but rather improvised as the song played on.
For the ceremony, we had 4 of our friends from church who made up a band for the worship. A lead singer and guitarist, a back up vocalist, cajon drummer and a keyboard player.
Side Note: My husband and I walked out the ceremony to the 'Bear necessities' song (Our surname is BEHR).
Reception: the lead singer of the band at the ceremony played guitar and sang 'Christ be the centre'; so our first dance was live!
However, throughout the whole day, Nitelife Productions assisted with the sound. They were very helpful and kept the party going!
Bridal Wardrobe is the leading stockist of all Enzoani Collections in South Africa and caters for the modern bride who wants to be at the forefront of the latest designer trends.
