Memorable Moments, I can honestly say the whole wedding was a memorable moment for us. But there is a few moments that comes to mind immediately.
1. My girls, spending precious time with my beautiful bridesmaids. They made me sit back relax and enjoy the journey. it was such an amazing moment to sit on the bed in the bridal suite, have a look around me and see the smiles on their faces, whilst getting ready and sipping champagne, knowing they are here for me.
2. When my mother saw me for the first time fully dressed, makeup & hair done. The photographer instructed my mom to keep herself busy until she calls her. We were taking photos outside when she asked my sister to fetch mom but keep her eyes closed. I can see this playing off in my head, I was waiting patiently for my sister to bring my mom, excited to see my mothers reaction, excited for her to walk me down the aisle. My sister left my mother standing about 3 meters away from me when the photographer said you can open your eyes now. My words when my mother opened her eyes was 'Mommy, how do I look?' & her reaction was priceless, the biggest smile from ear to ear, tears rolling down our face as she walks towards me to embrace me with the biggest hug ever. Her eldest daughter getting married !
3. Ooooh the moment when the chapel doors opened and our eyes meet. I could not stop my tears, heart beating out of my chest, the feeling I had when I saw him. That handsome smile, this is it I am marrying the man that will forever love and take care of me. The most amazing human being.
4. When hubby was getting ready with the groomsmen, having some drinks & fooling around by the pool. Being with his closest friends and family, embracing the moments they have together.
5. Being able to enjoy the canapes with our family and friends (which not a lot of couples can enjoy because of taking couple photos). We were fortunate to have a laugh and listen to the accordionist setting the French vibe. Seeing our guests embracing the love we have for each other, was our biggest blessing of all.
6. Our first dance, this was a moment and a half. Romantic dancing on our first valentines song - bringing back memories of when we first fell in love.
There are so many moments I can list but these are our favorite of them all.
We for sure did go on honeymoon. I did not know where we were going until the day we had to leave and check in at the airport. Hubby planned the whole honeymoon himself and kept it a secret.
He surprised me by taking me to Singapore for 3 days and Bali for another 7 days. It was my first time out of South Africa and for sure the most memorable time of all.
In Singapore we stayed smack bang in the middle of the city at Furama Hotel. We then traveled to bali and stayed in NUSA DUA at a gorgeous hotel Laguna Beach Resort.
Wedding dress, boy did I fall inlove with a few dresses, it made it difficult to choose THE right one !
After about 4 fittings at different bridal shops I had one last fitting at the Bridal Manor, fingers crossed I hope to find it here. Of course I did 5th time lucky I guess. & No dress could make me feel like the last dress I fitted made me feel... Beautiful, elegant, classy and a glowing bride ! I just knew this was the one, this is IT.
Lace, long train, ivory, sweet heart neckline and off the shoulders. No dress complimented me more than this Beautiful Pronovias dress.
Makeup, this was a struggle. As a makeup artist and a perfectionist this was a difficult decision to make. Do I do it myself or trust someone else to do it for me. Well, no makeup artist would know me better than I know myself, I just knew what I wanted and how I wanted it. So yes I decided to do my own makeup.
There are so many amazing makeup artist in Johannesburg I would have loved to make use of them BUT I am so finicky about how I wear my makeup that I really could not see anyone else doing my makeup how I picture it in my mind.
Bridesmaids makeup was done by Kuschke at Royal Tree in Potchefstroom. She did a great job and my bridesmaids looked gorgeous !
Hair was done by Mauneen at Royal Tree & she exceeded my expectations. Everything I wanted, classy up do to fit with the dress.
Bridal Manor is an exclusive bridal shop that specialises in selling imported couture designer wedding dresses.
I got married at the most beautiful wedding venue in Parys - The Nutcracker country venue.
We had this theme in mind for our wedding before we were even engaged, we both knew we wanted romantic, rustic, classy & different but not over the top - French Country & this venue was so on point with exactly that !
Most of my family comes from far so we had a weekend wedding, There was accommodation on the wedding venue for 30 of my closest family members & friends. The rest of the guests had a variety of guest houses or selfcatering chalets to choose from.
At the Nutcracker country Wedding Venue, we offer our guests a unique weekend or midweek getaway. Ideal for those seeking a different experience an hour and 30mins outside Johannes
As a bride you want to look and feel your ultimate best not just on the day but every other day leading up to your wedding day.
Hubby & I got ourselves a personal trainer 3 months prior to the wedding day. Innocent at virgin active kept us in shape and assisted us in eating healthier. This was difficult but we turned it into a lifestyle.
I have always been big on a girl needs to look after herself so this has been and always will be my routine on a monthly basis. Sit in the Meyersdal Nail and Beauty salon for a full day doing my nails, doin my hair done, getting a tan on and being treated to a mani and pedi.
I got my eyebrows microbladed by the best of the best Annebell at Allure defining beauty about 3 month prior to the wedding purely because I wanted everything to be on point.
Our decor was classy, more is less and none of the wooden chairs or tables matched one another. Exactly what we liked about the venue.
Samantha at wedding flowers and decor from parys did our flowers and decor. She did a great job in turning our dreams into reality.
Our colours for the wedding was rose gold, dusty blue and white. Tables decorated just enough to leave people speechless.
Our wedding colours were soft and elegant I told Braam (Husband) that this is the colour I wanted the suit to be and left him to make a decision.
He then knew what he wanted, 3 piece beige suit, a jacket with 2 buttons and the right cut to the pants, white shirt and dark brown accessories. (The struggle for the right 3 piece, 2 button jacket was real) but Eurosuit in Boksburg sorted him and his groomsmen out without a doubt best service received.
The bridesmaids wore different designed dusty blue one piece top, a skirt to match and a rose gold lint wrapped around their waist. Made by peaches and spice to compliment each bridesmaid in a different way.
Elder Coetzee was our marriage officer. Such a sweet and genuine person.
The photographer - SHE WAS AMAZING !!!
Elize Mare was the photographer to my aunts wedding and when I saw my aunts photos I fell inlove with her work. She is professional, on time, sweet, funny and you can see she really loves her job and going out of her way to make us feel comfortable.
Elize then did our engagement shoot and yet again we were over the moon with our photos and would not want to miss the oppertunity in having her part of our wedding day.
She did an amazing job in capturing the best moments of our special day.
We had no planner, it was all up to myself and Braam to plan our wedding. We decided to do it ourself purely because we wanted to be involved in every little detail going into our wedding planning. Enjoying every moment of one of the biggest moments of our life !
The chapel and reception was all on one venue and did not need any transport.
The talented chef Paul-Henry from the Nutcracker made all the food and my beautiful naked Amarula infused cake.
At the Nutcracker country Wedding Venue, we offer our guests a unique weekend or midweek getaway. Ideal for those seeking a different experience an hour and 30mins outside Johannes
Socrates at Pure designs, designed our stationary and printed it. He created exactly what we had in mind, he went the extra mile in making sure we are happy with everything.
I am a proper afrikaans farm girl, who loves her afrikaans music and oh hubby is just quite the opposite. He does not really know a thing about "sokkie/vasdans" and he really is not keen on learning. I can say it was a fun an interresting way to bond even more. We practised our first dance the Thursday before the wedding. BUT it did not go as smoothly as we thought it would. Thursday night when it was time to start practising our dance we realise there is no signal, I could not play the song, yes I did not download it. My luck we had to practise a first dance on a song that is not even close to the one we had to open the dance floor with. I can honestly say that the first dance went better than the practise round 2 days before.
We had the best DJ from MSM Productions in Potchefstroom he did the lighting and sound. The DJ kept everyone on their feet till about 03:00 in the morning. He knew how to entertain the crowd with the right music and vibe.
As for our guests, they put the cherry on the cake. They topped our wedding off by making our wedding more memorable than anything. Without our guests sharing their love, sharing their happiness and excitement with us the wedding would have been ordinary. We could not have a better crowd filled with family and friends to celebrate our wedding day with.
At the Nutcracker country Wedding Venue, we offer our guests a unique weekend or midweek getaway. Ideal for those seeking a different experience an hour and 30mins outside Johannes
Bridal Manor is an exclusive bridal shop that specialises in selling imported couture designer wedding dresses.
