The whole day was filled with special moments and memories but the two moments that stood out for me were definitely my dad's reaction when he saw me all dressed up and ready to go for the first time and the second special moment was when I saw my fiance at the time and now husband, Gareth, trying to keep his emotions at bay when he saw me walking down the aisle. It had been a highly debated subject prior to the wedding on whether or not he will actually cry...AND HE DID!! Another special memory was when I got to dance with my 90 year old Grandpa on the night of our wedding, what a champion he is!!
Because our wedding was a destination wedding for most of our family and friends, we decided to not have a honeymoon directly after our wedding, but rather stay with friends and family (that were able to stay), for the week after our wedding. We are hoping to have more of a honeymoon later on in the year or possibly next year only.
I would like to think of my look as being classy, yet relaxed. My wedding dress had the right amount of lace to give it that romantic, vintage, classy look but the low back and mermaid style made it appropriate for the beach setting we had. I didn't want my hair and make up to be anything out of the ordinary, so I went for a very natural look, with bronze tones and my hair kept very simple, with a half up style, with lots of loose curls. As much as I love heels, I wanted to be as comfortable as I possibly could be on my wedding day, and since I knew we would be taking photos outside on uneven grassy hills, I thought what better shoe to choose than a ballerina pump with lace trimmings.
I was spoilt by my husband with various gifts throughout the morning of the wedding (he had organised with one of my bridesmaids, to give me gifts he had bought every couple of hours prior to the ceremony - #veryromantic) and one of the gifts was the jewellery I wore - pearl earrings, a pearl necklace as well as a pearl bracelet. I was surprised at how well the jewellery matched my dress, despite him not knowing what my dress would look like - and yes, I am a sucker for pearls and he knows it!!
We got married at the Morgans bay hotel in Morgans bay, Eastern Cape. Most of our guests stayed over at the hotel and various BnBs in the area.
I can't really say I changed much prior to the wedding in terms of my usual regime, however, I did have a spray tan to even out my summer tan I had developed. Other than that, drinking plenty of water and exercising most days of the week was what I did.
I had made majority of the decor myself with regards to the table centre pieces. We went with a rustic, vintage look with pastel colours to fit in with the beach theme. We had mint green, aqua blue, ivory, rose gold and grey elements with pearls and hessian to round it all off. My flowers rounded everything off with a variety of pink, green and white flowers done by Sarah May
The groom wore a royal blue suit with a floral tie and brown shoes - suit was hired from Best Man suit hire, ties and shoes from Woolworths
The groomsman all wore cream colour chinos with brown shoes and floral ties
Our marriage officer was Pastor Johnathan King from Crossways Church
The special moments were captured so well by our photographer Stephanie Norman and Michael Beyers Videography!! These two work well together and really are so talented with their equipment!! We opted to have drone footage as part of our package, and this just added that special something to our wedding video as the scenery in Morgans bay is just spectacular. These two vendors captured so many special moments that would otherwise be forgotten and they make you feel so comfortable in front of the camera
The reception was set up in such a way that the dance floor was in the middle of the room with all the table surrounding it. We had a Dj from Dynamic sounds responsible for the music but Jason Gladwin (a local artist), played a few sets for us which really added such a special touch to our wedding. The reception was lit up with a few candles as well as hundreds of fairy lights in the roof. Our first dance was something special as we had done a few dance lessons prior to the wedding. We didnt want the typical slow first dance as we felt that it didnt represent us as a couple, so we opted for an up beat Mambo dance and the dance lessons paid off on the night, as we smashed it!!
Jason is a descriptive and vivid songwriter, often touching on the fragility of life and relationships.
Jason is a descriptive and vivid songwriter, often touching on the fragility of life and relationships.
