Jayson and my love story began four and a half years ago...
It was my first night out as a single girl, with my single friends, and his first night out as a single guy...
Fate had us and we clearly were not meant to be single! The min we saw each other, we were a done deal :)
Jayson scammed us into a "free night" at a very luxurious hotel that was "gifted to us" by a friend that couldnt use it on the specific night it was complimented for. We walked in to this amazing suite, poured some champagne, he couldnt hold on to the ring for very much longer.... he was itching and SO nervous! So he popped the question right away, on bended knee AND managed to get it all on video! Clever boy!
Friends and Family! Those 2 things stand out most for us.... it was definitely our people.
Nope, Jayson and i had just bought a house together, literally moved into it 3 days before the wedding (we like living on the edge), so we were both keen to save the honeymoon money and put it towards renovations to our new dream home!
I wanted a vintage look - our wedding being in winter... i thought the 2 would go well together. So i went for a very dramatic princess ballgown, fur shawl from my great grandmother, copper gold eyes and a nude lip. Jayson is a bit shorter than me, so i opted for sandles, with rose gold diamante (that i was very grateful for during the nights dancing). I wore my "something blue" underwear. The top of my dress was quite dramatic, so jewelry i opted for something less dramatic, i wore a slim tennis bracelet, a diamante hair clip and a teardrop earing.
I got married in Tulbagh, at Montpellier De Tulbagh.
The venue was amazing, we did our ceremony in a glass barn in the woods and then our reception in the cellar. Hundreds of candles and rose gold sequin table cloths sparkled like something out of this world
We had 66 guests, family and bridal party stayed on the farm while guests stayed at the farm alongside.
Gym, gym, gym, no carbs! eating is cheating! lol
Kidding.... i just watched what i ate and made wise decisions
I had pink and white roses, tulips and mixed flowers LOTS of greenery hanging from all the chandeliers and a dramatic cascading forest of greenery flowing over our bridal table that swept to the floor... Hundreds of candles, i hired a vintage whiskey bar where the guys enjoyed numerous bottles of very expensive and unique whiskey...
A lounge area with over sized leather couches, rose gold lanterns edged the walkway of the corridor into the reception area.
Jayson's suit was bought from Eurosuit. The groomsmen and best mans suits were hired from the same place. They wore navy blue suits with jackets, white crisp shirts and tan leather shoes. They looked so dashing!
I was so over the normal mundane bridesmaid's look. I opted for floral maxi skirts with hints of blue and pink and the tops were navy blue bodysuits. They wore pumps (the skirts were so long, u didnt even see the shoes) and i wanted them to be comfy. Thier hair was curled into messy curls and a side braid. Luckily i had 4 gorgeous girls, so making them look like a million bucks, was not hard!
Jayson's uncle is a marriage officer and Jayson's grandfather is an elderly in the church, so both of them together conducted our ceremony. It was so special cause Jayson's uncle, married his mom and dad too.
I have a passion for photography and have for many years, so for me, it was a complete no brainer.... the one and only, who i have been following for years, JaniB Photography was my girl!
She understood Jay and myself from day 1. We not into those cheesy "staring into each others eyes" types of photos, so we did bridal pix in 25min and got back to our guests! She did an amazing job! Got some incredible shots - we didnt even know she was taking!
Ive been dreaming of and planning this day for 37yrs.... i didnt need any help :)
Our transport wasn't an issue, we spent from the Friday at the venue, hosting a pizza evening for the bridal party and family on the Friday night, so i went up early, in convoy, with my bridesmaids on the Friday morning...
Malita Joubert was our caterer. jayson and i did a tasting at Montpellier about 3 months prior to the wedding.... thier food was out of this world and again, another no brainer! We opted for a large 300g steak, veggies and rosemary and garlic roasted wedges as our main. Our canapes was an enormous harvest table and our desserts were mini desserts of creme brule, peppermint crisp tarts and a pancake station with nutella, merangue, lemon curd, ice cream nuts and all sort of other yummy toppings!
My cake was made by a family friend, a 3 tier double chocolate cake, with cascading smarties down the side (Jay's favourite)
All my printing was done by Emmerentia at "Oh Yay" her work is amazing!
Jay and my stance from the beginning of the organizing, was that we wanted to have a good party! We have wild friends to say the least... Our DJ came highly recommended by a wedding photographer friend of mine, Kathryn Lawrence, so we ended up going with Music2TheMax - Brendan was incredible and at 23h45 we had to make the call to extend for another hour, because not one person had left the wedding yet or gotten off the dance floor - he kept us going all night! He went way over and beyond for us, coming up on the Friday to set up some ambient music for our pizza evening held in the farm's barn.... then also leaving equipment with us to use while he wasn't even there. And collecting it from our home during the week after the wedding. He was great!
