1. I spontaneously woke up at 5am the morning of my wedding and felt like doing what I do most mornings, go for a run. I put on my running shoes without waking anyone and jogged out on the dirt road leading its way through the Paardenberg farm.
I dont know if it was the early morning sunlight, the crisp air dusk threw upon me or the crunching sound my running shoes made as it hit the gravel but the overwhelming of my senses almost brought me to tears as i knew this wasn’t just another day this was the day I give away a piece of me and become a piece of someone else.
I started saying a little prayer thanking God for everything my senses could recieve, the light, air and sound and i thanked him for this life and leading me to this place and time. A sense of complete and utter piece came over me and i knew this was going to be a good day.
I ran along the dirt road where all of our close family members stayed and with sunrise i knocked on each and everyone of their doors ensuring they were awake for the most amazing day that lies ahead.
2. My husband and I said a prayer minutes before we said i do without seeing each other and only touching hands.
3. My fathers expression when he saw me in my wedding dress for the first time.
Yes we went to the Magical Maldives South Ari Atol island and stayed in the beautiful Lux Resort and Spa
I wanted a timeless classic look. One that i first saw as a child on one of my grandmothers wedding pictures. I would say 60’s classic with a sleek finnish describes my look best.
Dress: Shoulderless sleeves, with classis lace. A tight fitting boddess with mesh for elegance and a long sleek train for a dramatic effect.
The veil: Matched the lace perfectly with a 60’s touch.
The shoes: I picked autumn colours to brighten up the outside wedding and picked the most beautiful burgundy suede shoes to match the theme as well as the bridesmaids dresses. The best way to describe them is that they were the colour of passion.
Jewelry: i wore very simple jewelry to keep the look classic. I picked only some teardrop earings for dramatic effect and wore the watch my husband gave me as a wedding present engraved with the verse “May God keep watch over you and me to ensure we keep this promise when we are not in each others sight”-Gen 31:49. Its not common to wear a watch as jewelry on your wedding day but because of the engraving i wanted to wear it so that those words have life in its meaning.
For hair: I wanted royal hair. Every hair in its place dripping with elegance.
Make up: i wanted a dramatic look and because i didnt wear jewelry and had extremely classic hair i had space to play with the make up.
We got married at Beloftebos on the Paardenberg Farm in Stanford. Because me nor my husband is from the area or in fact from Cape Town. Everyone travelled 3 days before amd stayed for a mini vacation
As mentioned before i love running and have always excercised but a wedding is great motivation to really push your limits. So my husband and i enrolled for a Ironman which took place a month before the wedding which was great preparation. We also signed up for the Two Oceans marathon two days after our wedding to celebrate our marriage. I followed a training program for the ironman where i had to complete each individual distance for each event in the ironman over a week. So i would break it up into swimming one day, and three sessions of biking and running together for the remainder of the days.
I followed a ketogenic diet for for 5 months before the wedding.
I did laser hair removal for bikini and underarms.
I started Opalesence teeth whitening 3 months before the wedding.
I did hair treatments 2 months before the wedding.
I did microblading 2 months before the wedding.
I really wanted to complement the venue with the theme i picked as there was a message i wanted to relay to our guests. The message was : There is freedom in unconditional love.
The freedom was symbolised by the beautiful outside venue of Beloftebos. The forest and trees and complete greenery makes you feel nothing but free.
Because of all the nature surrounding Beloftebos i wanted the dramatic effect to come from colour so i opted for burgundy which stood out so beautifully in the green.
The decor was dramatic from a velvet draping around the arch to draping flowers from porch swings.
I wanted a very personal touch to the decor as well as love is personal and the people who witness such a declaration are all personal to you. So i lasercut underplates with my initials and date so guest could have a keep sake.
I gave mini lovebirds sal and pepper pots as wedding favours, once again a symbol of freedom and the salt and pepper signifying the relationship between husband and wife in a marriage.
They wore burgundy tule and lace dresses with A line skirts from a local market in South Africa.
Reinhart van Zyl from Alberton Lewenssentrum
Jane Ulla Photography captured our special day together with Calvin Kritzinger from The Wedding guys.
We have a really special relationship with Jane. Her brother and my husband were roommates when they first moved to Dubai
We had a on the day coordinator that facilitated the flow of events on the day but all the planning and preperations we dis ourselves.
I arrived in an old classic Topless Jeep
George Schempers designed and printed our stationary
We practised our dance in our apartment living room with our pajamas and wedding shoes for 2 months before the wedding
We had a DJ/ Artist Francois Louw which was absolutely phenomenal. He provided the sound and alot of the lighting came from the decor, fairylights, candles etch
