The highlight of my day was definitely walking down the aisle and seeing the expression on my soon to be husband's face. He looked at me like I was everything he has waited for and I knew then that this man will love me for the rest of my life (and so will I).
Other than that we really enjoyed our reception. We come from families who love dancing and had the perfect DJ to complement this. As a result, the whole evening was spent on the dance floor with some golden oldies and fun "sokkie" music.
My husband kept our honeymoon a secret. I was told to pack bikinis and summer clothing. He was able to ask all the relevant parties at the airport to also not give our destination away. So there I was sitting at the boarding gate, waiting for the screen to show our destination. Eventually Mauritius popped up! I was so excited! We went to the Ambre resort on an all inclusive package. It was absolutely beautiful. Our honeymoon consisted of many activities such as stand-up paddle board, a catamaran cruise, touring the island, paddle boat, and my favourite - parasailing. I was terrified at first, but seeing the island from above and soaring above the ocean was magical! Our resort also included various daily activities and live shows at night. We were able to make friends with couples from France and England. Our evenings were filled with laughter, karaoke, and dancing. My favourite part of the honeymoon was chilling on the beach with my husband. The worst would definitely be me forgetting all my bikinis at home! Needless to say, we had to purchase one at a not so lovable price.
My desired look for my wedding day was elegance and class. I wanted to look like a modern day princess. This was achieved by my A-line Blue by Enzoani dress that was a dark ivory colour and had soft lace on the bodice. The skirt was soft and had a sheen to it. My hair was made up in a loose bun with a plaid on the side. To complement this elegant look was my makeup which was done in glowing brown and golden tones. Both my hair and makeup were done by Marilee at Mooi Nooi Hairstylist and Make up Artist. My shoes were ivory mid heel peep toe shoes with a crystal bow on top, from Anella wedding shoes. I wanted to keep my accessories to a minimum to fit with my elegant look and therefore only wore crystal and pearl drop earrings from Bridal Wardrobe. The last piece was my white lace underwear which I bought from Cotton On.
It has always been my dream to get married in an old church. We were fortunate enough to have this dream realised by getting married in Die Toringkerk in Paarl, Western Cape. The inside of the church looks like royalty with its brown wooden frames and magnificent organ taking centre stage.
Our reception was held at the beautiful Kronenburg Estate. The venue has a large garden with a dam and a backdrop of scenic mountains. The building is crisp white with contrast charcoal details. This created the perfect blank canvas for our decor and created a clean and minimalistic feel. What we loved most about the venue were all the different areas for the reception. It has a large hall as the main area, with large glass doors to the outside stoep that also has a roof. You can therefore see the scenic mountains while inside. There is a separate bar area through wooden doors as well as another stoep at the entrance of the hall which is more private and warmer. Our venue was therefore not only beautiful, but also really functional and this was proven with the amount of fun our guests and we had on the day.
Our guests stayed at various guest houses and farms close to the venue.
With majestic mountain views and beautiful sunsets, it is ideal for a day never to be forgotten.
When it comes to my face, I have always been a firm believer in never sleeping with make-up. I therefore remove it every night with basic Johnsons Make-up remover. I also apply a Sorbet day cream every morning.
Closer to the wedding, I used Spa de la Veille for my waxing and a facial treatment. I was really impressed with their beautiful spa, friendly staff and the facial treatment itself. It was a facial on a whole new level and truly made me relax and made my skin feel soft.
I exercised 3-4 times a week by jogging, doing the Insanity Exercise Video and Mountain Biking with my then fiancé.
The colouring of my hair was done by Marcelle at Pizzazz Hair & Makeup. She has been my hairdresser for many years and always know exactly what I want.
My last focus was to drink more water on a daily basis.
The groom wore a stylish navy suit and white crisp shirt from Eurosuit. His outfit was completed with a silver base and white dotted tie that was bought from Woolworths. His silver cufflinks and tie clip were bought from Polo and to tie the outfit together he purchased brown dress shoes from Dune and a brown belt and navy and heart socks from Tread and Miller.
The groomsmen also wore navy suits and navy ties that were purchased from Woolworths. They had to get their own white shirts and brown shoes to complete their outfits. As a gift, silver Polo tie clips, a brown belt by Ahead USA and navy and red socks by Tread and Miller were given for the rest of the outfits.
My bridesmaids wore soft pink "flowy" dresses by Hoiden Bridesmaids. The dresses were full length with a see through fabric being draped towards the neck. Their looks were completed with dusty pink block heels from Woolworths and rose gold crystal drop earrings from Forever New that I had gifted to them.
We used Anél Nortier Photography for our photos. We wanted to have a soft and intimate look to our photos, and she suited this look perfectly! Anél made us feel extremely comfortable from the get go. She is such a friendly person and knows exactly what to do to get the perfect shots. We were overjoyed when we received our photos and coffee table book from her.
Our wedding video was done by Twenty Twenty Films. Max and Lara worked perfectly with Anél even though they did not know each other. They are both wonderful people who made us feel so relaxed on the day. We are waiting for our video but know that it will be absolutely gorgeous. We went for a cinematography look, which they do perfectly. We are so excited to see our video.
Lastly, we made use of Hart Shots Photography for our photobooth. They have done my grandmother's 70th and my borther's 21st and so we used them for our wedding as well. They are excellent in what they do as they provide a whole table full of props and give the guests a printed out photo strip with a magnet so that they can add it to their fridges. What we liked most is that they did a wooden cover guest book for us where they have printed extra photo strips of each photobooth photo and asked the guests to write messages at their photos. They are also really affordable and are lovely people.
No, we planned everything ourselves with large planning support from my mother. She stood in as our wedding planner, which really helped us to stay calm throughout the process.
The Bridesmaid car was my parents white BMW X5 E-Drive. It was classy and finished off with a ribbon on the front.
For the Bridal couple car, we were lucky enough to borrow my uncle's car which is an old school BMW in black, with white leather seats. The car was extremely classy and looked beautiful on the photos.
All our wedding stationary were done by my close friend Esthé Fourie. She designed a geometric logo for our wedding which was a heart and an M in one (M for Maré). We had black, white and dusty pink invitations that we printed at home on paper bought from Jimnettes in Pretoria East. Our table names and menus were also printed at home. Esthé designed a beautiful newspaper for us which we printed at Minuteman Press and I designed our own table seating chart which was printed at Minuteman press as well. Our table seating chart consisted of polaroid images of me and my husband on the beach holding table numbers, and the guest names below it.
We had a String-Duo perform for our guests while we were taking photos. They played the Cello and Violin while our guests were having canapés on the front stoep. Annerie Senekal played the Cello and brought a friend that played the violin with her.
Our DJ was DJ Gideon from DJ Dean SA. His music was spot on in terms of what we wanted and like. We and our guests were on the dance floor the entire night. We loved every song he played and could not stop dancing. He was an excellent DJ and brought along all the equipment needed.
With majestic mountain views and beautiful sunsets, it is ideal for a day never to be forgotten.
