Being a wedding fanatic, I always dreamt of planning my own fairytale wedding. One of the highlights was definitely being personally involved in the planning and setup of our wedding. This way everything was as we wanted it.
Another highlight was bringing the families together as our parents grew up together when they were young. Instead of feeling the awkwardness of two families becoming one, we had the honour of having it feel like a big family gathering.
Walking down the isle and knowing that this is the one God chose for me and the privilege we had to find each other and the blessing of becoming one in Christ must have been the biggest gift and highlight of the whole journey.
We decided to stay local and visit places we do not go often and do things we do not do a lot. We stayed in Sea Point for two night, visiting and experiencing the Water Front, Aquarium, Grand West, we road bicycle and enjoyed ice cream along the beach.
We also visited Hermanus for a few days exploring all the fun activities such as canoeing, local music and searching for whales :). We ended our honeymoon in our favourite holiday destination... STILBAY, where our families usually spend Easter time.
Thr wedding dress is the one thing every little girl dreams of. I was no different. I am a very romantic person so lace was unnegotiable. My wedding dress by Bridal Aisle consisted of french lace at the top with a bit of sparkle and Chantilly lace at the bottom straight through to the train. My lace back was constucted by the talented Monique Penwarden from Brackenfell, who also altered it to perfection. It was rounded off by a plain vail.
My look was completed by pretty lace shoes, rose gold and pearl earrings and bracelet and a rose gold and pearl hair clip. My garter was maid from my late grandmother's pearl necklace and dress material.
Getting married in Stilbay over Easter Weekend had its own challenges as most service providers were unavailale, but God sent amazing people on our path, willing to make our day the best ever. I have always been a natural woman, not much bothered with make-up so I wanted to look natural. Ivette from Salon Be-autiful did my amazing smokey eye make-up with rose gold touches and Charlene form Hair Lounge styled my hair into an elegant upstyle with a rose gold hair clip.
We got married on a lovely horse farm called Jongensdal in the middel of Stilbay and Jongensfontein. I always wanted to get married on a farm and he wanted a beach wedding so we found a awesome middle ground. Both these towns are dear to us as they are where we spent our Easter holidays, before we even knew each other. We and our bridal party could stay at the venue prior to the wedding and the evening of. All our guests stayed in either Stilbay or Jongensfontein, making it a little beach holiday for all of them.
The colour scheme of our wedding was rose gold, white and burgandy, complementing our brick farm venue. We had over 150 candles, creating the perfect romantic ambiance. We sources our flowers from Bunches for Africa and Robyn Rose in Cirtusdal. My talented mother in law took the vision I had and made absolute masterpieces for the church, reception and bouquets. We had 300 roses at our wedding... Absolutely stunning.
We had the hall draped with fairy lights, stille leaving the bricks exposed to keep the effect. We added rustic elements like ladders with flowers, old suite cases wooden signs.
In celebration and remembrance of our late grandparents, we created a photo and candle area at the pre-drinks. The pre-drinks area was oitside underneath a marquee tent and wooden tables and chairs, filled with yummy snacks, a photobooth (Happy Snap) , popcorn station, lawn games (Little Paws Party) , a canvas guest book and live trekklavier music.
The groom looked charming in his navy suite from Truworths Man and his brown belt and shoes and burgundy tie. The groomsmen provided their own outfits which was complemented by navy suspenders and burgandy bow ties by Men Street.
The bridesmaids looked beautiful in their burgandy dresses imported from China.
We had the privilege of having my uncle as our marriage officer. This made our ceremony very personal and special.
We were absolutely blessed with our photographer, Lizaan, from Photo Studio. She made us feel at ease, brought out our creative side and she was completely professional. She did an amazing job with our photos and we can't wait to work with her again.
We had a photobooth during pre-drinks, Happy Snap, who created a festive atmosphere.
I am a qualified wedding coordinator and have my own business, Stey'nlove Weddings & Events. Therefor I planned our wedding and we did everything ourselves, with the help of family and friends, making this a team effort.
Our ceremony and reception was at the same venue so we decided not to have wedding transport. We walked down the farm road, creating great photo opportunities.
Rusticana Guest house in Riveradal catered for our wedding. We decided on a festive bread table for pre-drinks and starter. We also love traditional "boerekos" so we had a buffet style main course, consisting of lamb, gammon, chicken pie, sweet pumpkin, broccoli and cauliflower with cheese sauce, rice and roasted potatoes. For dessert we had little peppermint crisp tarts, lemon tarts, strawberry cheescake glasses, steri stumpi's with personalized lables and wedding cake.
Our wedding cake was a gift from the family and consisted of carrot cake and chocolate cake wit vanilla and sour cream frosting, decorated with flowers.
We had newspapers witb a the necessary information about the wedding as well as sparkles for our first dance. This was designed by Fiona Steyl from Fiona. Inc.
We also gave coasters to our guests as thank you gifts, designed by Woodn Treasures.
All our wooden signs, post box for our gift cards and table numbers were made by Classic Laser and Frames in Worcester.
Because both of us love to dance, we wanted a dance wedding. We did not go for dance lessons as we wanted our wedding to be as natural as possible.
Our DJ from Just for You was amazing. She played a mix of modern songs and golden oldies.
