I want to start this off by saying - Blayne and I officially met at a wedding where I was the Maid of Honour and he was the Best Man. It was the start of a magical and memorable relationship.
Blayne accepted not only me as I was, but my daughter as his own. From day one I knew he was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Everyone has their own love story - but ours is a love story, a fairytale and a true inspiration.
The highlight of our wedding was when Blayne called my daughter Erin up to the alter to join us as we said our vows. During the ceremony he had prepared 'vows' for our little girl which he said in front of all our guests. This moment brought the entire church, including the minister and photographer to tears. He handed her a beautiful silver chain with an infinity heart on, promising to love and look after her each and everyday.
Another highlight I will remember was having my mom and two brothers at my wedding. My brothers who live in Australia with my mother walked me down the aisle. This was the first time in over 9 years we were all together again.
Spending this much anticipated day with our closest friends and family was all that we wished for and so much more!
We spent a few days at the coast and then we cruised to the Portuguese Islands. With the working hours that my husband works, we never manage to go on holiday and spend time together. Our honeymoon was the first time in four and a half years that we spent entirely alone together. It was the most magical time of our lives.
My wedding look was 'Me'. I bought a dress that was plain and yet something no-one ever expected to see me in. I matched my dress with a beautiful 3m long Catherdral Veil. My hair was curled and pinned back with my natural make -up. I changed things up a bit and decided against the heels and went for Rose Gold sneakers. It was a crowd pleaser and my photographer was stunned to see that I was actually wearing them. My husband had bought me a beautiful necklace with a cross on, this was given to me on the day of the wedding.
We got married at Thabong Entertainment and Wedding Conference Centre in Brakpan. Our family stayed the night at the venue and more family at the guest house across the road. Tanya and her team made planning our wedding an absolute dream with little to no stress at all. The venue was absolutely perfect and the right spot for us to start our lives as Mr and Mrs Hilligenn!
We went for a vintage look incorporating Rose Gold, Blush Pink and Navy. We had loads of little extras that were personal to the wedding. It was extremely detailed and just what we wanted. We had newspapers printed with our love story on for our guests to take home. Our entrance was covered with signage and tiles we had made with our photos on.
My bridesmaids never carried real flowers, they were wooden proteas painted rose gold and topped with a pink bow. The groomsmen, groom, brothers of the bride and father of the groom wore buttonholes with fishing lures attached to them.
We had confetti cones for our guests to throw after the ceremony.
Marizelle from Lavenulla Florist is amazing! Everything she did was so perfect! She even made me a last minute throw bouquet because I forgot. Her work is gorgeous!
My groom wore a beige suite, with a pink waist coat and tie, along with the fishing lure buttonhole. The groomsmen wore beige paints, suspenders and pink bow ties with their fishing lure buttonholes. My two ring security boys were dressed in beige pants with 'Ring Security' shirts.
My bridesmaids were dressed by Wedding Wish and Bride and Co. Blush pink infinity dresses with a pink mesh overlay for the skirt. My Maid of Honour were a blush pink dress with a rose gold sequence top. My flower girls were dressed in white and pink infinity dresses while my gorgeous daughter was dressed in a white Cinderella Ball Gown.
We had the most amazing marriage officer, Charlie. He captured our wedding so amazingly and having gone through this journey with him will never be forgotten.
Oh where to start with my photographer. Jamie Van Vuuren. A woman who inspired me and made me realise that size does not matter and that no matter what I can be pretty and feel sexy all the time. Jamie captured my boudoir photoshoot which I gave to my husband as a wedding gift. Being a fuller lady I was so nervous and shy. This woman completely changed the way I saw myself.
She captured our wedding beautifully and special moments we will never forget.
We did the planning all by ourselves, but had the help of friends and family closer to the time and setting up.
Our wedding cake was made by the amazing Tamara Maudlin. This amazing woman goes above and beyond to deliver the most amazing and delicious cakes everytime.
Our cake was a four tier cake each tier consisting of a different flavour.
Peppermint Crisp
Lemon Meringue
Lindt Chilli Chocolate
Red Velvet
Dance Lessons - LOL!
We went for lessons for 6 weeks and all the time I was so nervous about my dress. I could not tell him what the dress looked like so I just had to hope that on the day of the wedding our dance would be great and we would be able to do the lifts.... Hmmm - could we? Nope - turns out that we had to change our dance completely.
Although we wanted to do the dance so badly, our dance was nonetheless amazing.
Our wedding song was 'A Whole New World' (Aladdin).
We had a DJ who managed to cater to our entire party. Raymond was amazing!
