After 9 years of waiting, our whole wedding day felt like a highlight! But if I had to pick one I would have to say our ceremony was a major highlight for us both.
I have been incredibly blessed to have had two families having a hand in raising me into the woman I am today. It was my greatest privilege to honour three of these people, for all that they have done and all that they mean to me. God knew I needed all of them to mould me and shape me into who He destined me to be. I chose my mom, dad and step dad to walk me down the aisle to honour each of them for choosing me throughout my life. To share that beautiful moment of walking with three of my favourite people, toward my Drew, surrounded by our loved ones, it felt like time stood still. Each step so meaningful and purposeful as I walked toward my new life. Drew was given away by his special parents too, it was really important for us to honour them for raising the man of my dreams. Our ceremony was so personal and meaningful and we felt the showering of God's love and grace throughout.
Just when I thought it couldn't get better than our wedding day, we went on honeymoon! Right up until the morning after our wedding I had NO IDEA where we were going. All I had been told was to pack for summer weather and to take comfortable walking shoes. For months Drew told me we were going to Senegal and after being tagged in the 50th Senegal post on Facebook by him, I really started believing maybe we were.
But in fact our honeymoon was a 1 night stay at Mount Grace in a secluded villa with a 3 hour hydrotherapy spa (absolute perfection after a crazy build up to the wedding day and the day itself!), 2 night stay in Fort Lauderdale Florida and an 8 night cruise in the Caribbean! I must confess that I really had secretly hoped it would be a cruise! It was the perfect honeymoon, just the right amount of relaxation and busyness with limited cell phone reception so we thoroughly enjoyed proper quality time away. We saved our first holiday away alone together for our honeymoon which made it that much sweeter!
I have dreamed of my wedding dress since I was a little girl. When it came time for me to actually choose one I really thought I was going to have a hard time. By chance I came across an advert on instagram for a boutique in Pretoria called Bridal Room. The dress was designed by Oksana Mukha, and the Bridal Room are her only stockists in SA. I studied close by and Pretoria always had a special space in my heart so I thought it would be special to get my dress very close to where Drew and I would enjoy date night every two weeks in Pretoria. As I walked in, on the mannequin was the most beautiful, unique dress I have ever seen. I did try on other dresses to make sure but my heart was set on this one. A year before my wedding I had my dress signed sealed and delivered. Other than deciding to marry Drew it was the easiest decision I made. It was the perfect combination of feminine, sexy and totally different to anything I had ever seen. The skirt was entirely made up of flowers and sheer fabric. I made a few adjustments to it, like adding soft rose colour tulle just to make it a little sheer rather than completely sheer, and the rest fell in place easily. I like to think I have a very unique style and really enjoy playing with fashion, I wanted to be completely true to who I was on my wedding day. I am not naturally 'classic' so rather chose to go with funky and fashion forward style that felt really playful. I chose berry statement earrings from Lovisa to match Drew's suit, with very high platform rose satin shoes embellished with studs from Steve Madden. For my hair and make up I chose a very sleek, simple style as my dress was busy. I love short hair, so I kept my hair in a short, straight bob, with perfectly complimented the playfulness of my dress. My veil was chapel length from White Lily Bridal and I added a gold leaf chain comb as my hair accessory and flowers matching my dress were stitched onto the bottom of the veil so that it looked like my dress just never stopped. And the best part is my dress was actually a body suit and a skirt which meant I could take the skirt off and change into Mamma Mia inspired white satin pants to dance the night away, and I can wear the bodysuit again, planning on wearing it for a date night soon!
Bridal Room is a boutique that offers a unique approach to helping the bride find her perfect wedding gown. With staff having the knowledge and experience to find a gown in the...
Finding the venue that could satisfy all our needs can no easy feat, that was until we came across Inimitable. With its open chapel overlooking a river and forest, glass structures, exquisite natural light, elegance, stylishness and the most talented owners as wedding planners, Inimitable was the perfect backdrop for our Celebration of Love. We were so sure and knew we were in the best hands that we booked it before it had even finished being built! In keeping with our desire for a weekend of festivities, our family stayed over the night of the wedding and we were treated to a delicious breakfast the next morning. We were the 5th wedding to be hosted there and it was such a privilege!
I wanted to feel my best, but I wanted to do it in a sustainable way. I did not change the way I ate consciously, although I did drink a lot more water than normal. Since February I followed Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Guide and trained 3/4 times a week in the last few months. I didn't deprive myself of any foods and this meant that there hasn't been a huge change to this routine after the wedding. I also went for monthly facials/ peels from Skin Solutions which ensured I was glowing, pimple free on the day
Drew looked so gorgeous! His wine, military style suit was so different and so true to his unique personality. He added floral pocket square and bow tie with a navy waistcoat. The groomsmen also wore wine coloured suits with floral bow ties, each one different. It was no easy feat finding 5 wine coloured suits but we were relentless in our search. It was the perfect compliment to the white bridesmaids jumpsuits and the rose colour in my dress. It worked really well with the non traditional feel we were going for!
Even before we got engaged I saw a photo of formal jumpsuits and decided that it what I wanted my bridesmaid's to wear. I always loved the cleanness of bridesmaids in all white and so I chose white infinity jumpsuits from Bibi Rouge. Each bridesmaid chose their own style. For hair and make up I wanted them to keep it very sleek and dramatic to contrast with the white simpleness of their outfits. This was perfectly executed by Gartier Wedding Brand. My bridesmaids looked effortlessly beautiful, I loved our morning getting ready together.
Surfer, father of 5, coolest Pastor around town, Nathan Gernetzky. It was an honour to do our premarriage counselling with Nathan & Jo, to be doing life in community with them and to have them marry us.
I call her our Magic Maker. Shanay Greene is a young, vibrant talented artist who brings love to life. She perfectly captured our love story, she made us feel so comfortable in front of the camera and the pictures she took speak volumes for her ability to capture raw, real, genuine moments. We loved how natural and in the moment she is. Her team and videographers are the loveliest people, they started out as vendors and quickly became guests and friends at our wedding. Photos are all you have left of the day and we are so thankful to them for giving us such beautiful photos to relive our most special day
Our colours for our wedding were ombre blues and white, with touches of berry. Our theme was modern edgy romantic feel, with whimsical/ ethereal touches. We wanted to create for our guests an EXPERIENCE. The day was as much for us as it was for our guests so we put a great deal of thought it to what we thought our guests would enjoy. We planned our wedding for about a year and with Zavion Kotze Event Company as our wedding planners it was such a privilege to see all the ideas come into effect on the day! We were honoured to be one of Zavion’s bride and groom. The ZKEC team take such great care of each bride and groom with such personalised and personal attention to detail. Our day was perfectly executed, even more perfectly than we could have dreamed. We were in the best hands in the industry, and we are so grateful for their love, friendship and extra special touch on our special day.
The food was deliciously crafted by Andrew Draper, the in house chef for Inimitable. We wanted to created a food experience for our guests that was based on the concept of food trucks/ station based food. Our canapes were Mexican themed in keeping with our Wedding Cake shaped pinata that was filled with chocolates in the place of a traditional cake. The canapes were all Mexican themed, and a real hit with our guests. Our flower crown station was filled with bright, colourful flowers for our guests to make crowns, bracelets or boutonnieres.
Our reception food was station based. There was a Meditterean, Asian and Italian station. Dessert was crepe station, with a doughnut wall. Our food was one of the most memorable parts of the day!
Bridal Room is a boutique that offers a unique approach to helping the bride find her perfect wedding gown. With staff having the knowledge and experience to find a gown in the...
