What wasn't a highlight?
It was the most perfect day, and everyone that was their contributed to that in their own way! I'd have to say that my three favourite parts of the day were:
1. Setting up the entire venue with our amazing wedding party and family the morning of. Everyone worked as hard as they could to ensure that our vision came to life in a few hours. Words can't express how grateful we are for that!
2. Having all of the people we love in one place, all together, at one happy celebration.
3. Justin's speech. Oh my word, his speech!
Justin is an incredibly talented musician, and I knew he would sing to me in his speech, but I thought it would be a cover of a song that is significant to us. But no, it was 1000000000000000 time better!! He wrote me a song, called 'Typewriter' and debuted it at our wedding. I could not stop crying!
He bought a typewriter for when he proposed that played a huge role in the story of our engagement, and it was all about the small pieces that fell into place when God brought us together. The words in the song are something I will always treasure. And our typewriter will always sit on display in our house as a beautiful reminder of God's goodness to us.
Not yet. We're saving up for a trip to Ireland next year.. we are so excited!
We went on a small getaway a month after our wedding to Ballito. We stayed in this beautiful Airbnb - peach and turquoise Cottage. It was right by the beach and had everything we needed. Our host, Olaf was incredible, he went above and beyond to make it special!
I tried on a few different dresses at different bridal boutiques, and there were some truly beautiful dresses, but none of them felt like me! I'm a very creative person and I love being able to express that in different ways - so I decided to get my dress made so that I would know it was unique and i could guide the seamstress in creating something that was ME!
She achieved that ten fold. My dress was absolutely me! I decided on a three piece look:
A beautiful lace-detailed cropped bodice, a flowy, lightweight, high-waisted skirt and a beautiful detachable tulle train with embroidered lace edging. My dress was so comfortable, and perfect to the finest detail! The train made for some really beautiful photographs!
I also sewed my own garter, because I wanted something very delicate and very specific! I loved it so much that I made two!
As far as hair and make-up, I did these myself and had help from Justin's Gonty (Godmother and Aunty) in creating a masterpiece from my hair! I had a beautiful diamante hair piece to tie it all together! My makeup was natural and fresh-faced but still striking enough for photographs. All in all, all the parts of my look worked really well together!
The Stone Cellar, in Heidelberg.
It was about an hour journey to the venue for most of our guests. Even though we were still so close to the city and suburbs, the farmland surroundings felt like a whole new planet. Nothing in sight but mountains and open fields. What amazing backdrops!
I fell in love with this venue after seeing it online a few years ago. So, the weekend after Justin proposed, we went for a viewing and booked our wedding date immediately! It was even more beautiful in person. I am so grateful that we got the venue in the month we wanted. We were overwhelmed with our incredibly blessed we were and provided for.
I'd love to say that I only ate really healthy and exercised every second day. But that would be a total lie! I was so busy with all the planning and organising - which took up all my time! But it all worked out, because the constant running around, planning and creating of decor items kept me moving!
One of my closest friends and bridesmaids, Claudia, took me to Life Day Spa for a morning of total pampering and relaxation, and a whole lot of bonding! And my amazing mom took me to get my nails done the day before, the beautician totally nailed (excuse the pun) my vision for my nails!
We did all the decor ourselves. It was a lot of work, but it was so worth it. It lead to opportunities for us to spend a lot of time with some of our friends and family who were happy to lend a helping hand. The decor was inspired by shades of blush-pink, greenery, gold and lots of white space for that whimsical effect. We created beautiful floral gold wreaths for the chapel walls and pillars in the reception, and aerial installations made of full, lush greenery hanging above all the tables.
We had fairly lights, flower-fulled light bulbs and gorgeous chandeliers hanging from the rafters in the reception hall, and greenery, flowers, jars, string lights and spices along the tables.
And I really just have to honour my mom for all her hard work and effort. She was always helping with everything and taking pressure off of me when I was feeling overwhelmed. She is so kind, generous and just the greatest!
Our venue was very boho, so we decided to not over-dress anybody. All the groomsmen wore navy blue suit pants, with white collared shirts, and light grey braces. They all looked so sharp! Their looks accompanied the bridesmaids so well!
My handsome groom wore grey suit pants and a navy jacket, with the braces and white shirt too. What a looker!!
I've had at least three wedding Pinterest boards going for a long time, dreaming of my wedding day. I really wanted to have all four of my bridesmaids in different dresses with a similar style and different colours in a similar palette, using colours that work well with their skin tones and personalities. This worked SO WELL! They all had very boho inspired looks with a very earthy colour palette. We got each of their dresses custom-made, tailored to each of them perfectly. It was a really great experience letting them decide from a pool of styles, what they'd like. I didn't have a maid of honour, because I wouldn't have been able to decide, but my sister, Sinead wore the most stand-out colour - it was my small way of honoring her for putting up with my shenanigans for all these years!
Vaughn Harvey, a pastor and elder in our church. He and his wife Lorele took us through our pre-marital course before our wedding. We learnt so much and finished feeling so equipped for our marriage ahead thanks to this inspiring couple.
Okay. So this is a biggie!
Justin and I both believe that second to marrying each other, using the talented photographer that we did was the best decision we made. Tyrone K Zerf captured every moment as emotion-filled as they were on the day, in a still photo. We are mesmerized by his talent and eye for detail. He is a photographer who shoots no two weddings the same - he gets to know you, and captures your day by capturing the essence of you. Amazing!
We actually did all of the planning ourselves, and we did a pretty great job, it's absolutely possible if you're capable of 'not sweating the small stuff'. We did use the venues coordinator - Sam Kruger for the day, to keep everything running on time. Our amazing MC's Mike and Nikita Clack really made sure that everything ran smoothly and on time.
I was transported up to the chapel in a beautiful navy blue 1928 Ford Phaeton, it was so vintage, and made for such a retro prop in our photos!
Our breath-taking venue did all the catering. We had a plated starter, plated main (3 options) and an incredible build-your-own ice cream bar. I have to say, and I'm probably biased, but that was the most succulent fillet steak I've ever had!
I am a graphic designer by trade, so I actually designed all of our wedding stationery. It really enabled me to give our wedding one more personalised touch, being able to design something that reflects the two people I know best.
We went for a minimal, floral and whimsical look and feel - it tied in with our venue BEAUTIFULLY. We stuck with the tagline 'deeply. madly. truly.' because it reflects our love for one another. We love deeply, we are totally crazy and we highly value truth.
Our First Dance:
(Ed Sheeran - Perfect)
As the true millennials that we are, we learnt our first dance off of YouTube - it was 100% self-taught. We had our fair share of stepping on each others feet, twisting each others arms and laughing uncontrollably. It felt like a long process, but we managed to learn our dance in three evenings. I can't say we got it 'perfect' on the day, but we laughed through it, and it totally reflected who we are, nice people - but a little quirky.
Music:
We put together an incredible playlist of throwbacks and newer music, all fun and laughs on the dance floor. And I have to say, Justin's 89 year old gran stole the stage at one point, her dance moves were amazing.
In the ceremony, we had three of our best friends leading worship, Sivu, BK and Michael - we have very talented friends. The chapel echoed with the sound of all our voices, it was incredible.
Justin is an incredible musician, and he surprised me with a song in his speech that he had written himself. It was so beautiful and meaningful to us. I cried through the ENTIRE song.
