Woke up very early - saw I had an eye infection in my left eye. Went back to bed with the thought of sorting that one out later on - sleep is more important now.
When the alarm went off to start getting ready my brides maid told me she had been up all night with a stomach bug.
Whats a bride to do - this is disastrous. So you get up, get dressed, wolf down a breakfast and off to the hair dresser. My brides maid dropped me off there and quickly went to a pharmacy to get eye drops and something for her tummy.
After the hair was done we went back to the pharmacy - and got other drops that sorted the eye out in no time at all.
Went to her house to get something she forgot - can't for the life of me remember what it was - my mom phone her and I can hear from her side of the convo that my flowers has also come out a disaster - completely the opposite of what I had wanted. Send them photos of the idea I had and between my mom, dad, brother and sister-in-law, they did a phenomenal job in getting as close to my wish as possible.
Fast forward a few hours...
My dad and brother came to pick us up and take us to the church - never has there ever been a bride that has been so on time for her own wedding that she was actually early... we had to drive to the church using other routes to waste time... oops.
And then it was time for me to walk down the isle to my very-soon-to-be-husband. Gave my dad a kiss before getting covered with the vail. The music started and I basically ran down the isle to great my man, I still remember my dad telling me to slow down, that lasted for all of two steps and the "running" continued. Oh well, oops again.
My dad gave me to my crying almost-husband, gave me a kiss and off we went to stand in front of our family and friends. Got married to a beautiful ceremony by our "dominee" who is very dear to us.
There were a couple of laughs and tears during it all, and it is with fondness that I think back of that part of our day.
Then we had the photo shoot - photographers really make you climb mountains with a wedding dress and fancy shoes, but we got beautiful photos, despite both of us not being fond of any type of photo taking episode.
Then it was party time. The venue was made up beautifully with candles everywhere - thanks mom! The master of ceremony sang us a beautiful song he translated for us from English to Afrikaans - again a couple of laughs and tears. Love this memory. Speeches done, everybody fed, time for dancing.
I love thinking back to my wedding day - I am very happy that we did it, and I will treasure the memories for a very long time.
Our honeymoon was on the MSC Symphonia to the Portuguese Islands and back to Durban.
I went for a more elegant look by choosing an Empire style wedding dress in of white, with soft material that draped to the floor. The most amazing lady, Julie Wedderburn, made the dress for me, and it fit absolutely stunningly.
Jewelry was minimalistic, I had handmade pearl earings, and a pearl set into diamante bracelet. I also had a silwer brooch that was fastened onto my dress. All of the jewelry, including the wedding and engagement rings, was bought at Carin's Jewelry.
My shoes were flat pewter wedges from Kinsgmead shoes.
My make-up was done by my friend, brides maid Charlene Biggs.
We got married in Bloemfontein
The ceremony was in my church - NG Onze Rust
The reception was at The Windmill Casino Conference Hall.
Some guests stayed at the Sun Hotel, others stayed at family and local guest houses in the area.
I went the rustic route with lots of wood, hessian, succulent flowers (woestyn rosies) and lots and lots of candles.
My mom, mother-in-law, father, brothers and sisters-in-law helped to get the tables made up the previous day.
My amazing mom made my Brides maid dress.
Dr. M Terblanche
Tania Allen Photography
From the intimate engagement shoot in a beautiful spot to the crazy dance moves after the wedding itself, it’s all about love.
Aimee Gonsior from The Windmill Casino
My eldest brother drove us in his Mitsubishi ASX
The food was prepared by The Windmill Casino.
I baked my own cake.
The cake topper was made by Rouve Koeke from Bloemfontein.
Bianca Koortzen did the save-the-date and invites.
The menus and table placings I did myself
We had a DJ from Creative Kilowatt in Bloemfontein.
We practiced our dance in our living room - but didn't have any lessons.
From the intimate engagement shoot in a beautiful spot to the crazy dance moves after the wedding itself, it’s all about love.
