Oh where do I begin. Our wedding started of with a cold gray morning and turned into a day brighter than the yellow sunflowers surrounding us. I can still remember, as a little girl, how I would dream about my wedding day and can I tell you, it was better than I ever could have dreamed of. Our wedding was small and intimate and every single guest had a part in making our day so special. We walked barefoot and danced in the sand with the sounds of the waves in the background.That was the day I realized how much love and care is around us and how lucky we are to have that as a couple.
It was a real fairy tale and even though it feels like the time flew by in a jiffy, I will remember every single moment. Our day was filled with happiness and told a story about who we are as people, as well as a deeply in love couple.
Both my husband and I love South-Africa and all its magic very much. So we decided that we will rather get to know our beautiful country than spending to much on a short trip over-seas.
The morning of the wedding we said our goodbyes and we were off on our road trip with the aid of our wedding playlist playing in the background. Our first stop was at the Stellenbosch Hotel. The room was extraordinary with a antique feel and cozy setting. The food was to die for and we had a great experience in the beautiful town of Stellenbosch.
The next day we were off to our second destination. The Century City Hotel. This hotel was the complete opposite, with a modern corporate design and very sophisticated setting. We staid here for two nights and had a great experience. We ventured off to explore the beautiful city of Cape Town and all its wonders. Cape Town has a very special place in my heart as I was born and raised there. I have millions of memories of my childhood there and it was great to have my husband experience it with me. Cape Town will forever be my home.
As I shed a tear for leaving Cape Town we were on our way to our last stop. Knysna, in the middle of the mountians and the ocean and forest all around. Neither of us have been there so we decided that was the place to go. We arrived at the Bamboo Guest House, where we were very happy to be after the long drive. And I am happy to say this was the best decision we could make. As we walked up the wooden stairs to our room, we were greeted by a black friendly cat, as to say "welcome home". The design of the room complimented our personalities perfectly, with a Moroccan theme and a fireplace in front of our bed decorated with petals and comfy bedding. Knysna was one of my greatest experiences, with nature more beautiful you can ever imagine and everyone is friendly. We stayed here for five nights and had an amazing time. We definitely felt a great connection with this town and we will definitely return for a reunion.
This was it for us and we were on the road back to Johannesburg. Our experience was so mystical and satisfying and we are so happy we made the decision of staying and exploring our own amazing country.
Well I am a very natural person and that was exactly what I wanted for my special day. I incorporated all my favourite things and it turned out beautifully.
My Hair: I wore my hair loose with a fairy type curl and a flower crown made of sunflowers and daisies as those are my favourite flowers.
My Make-up: Natural
Dress: My dress was white with a antique feel and it was handmade by my mom. She made it with beaded material and a satin dress underneath.
Shoes: I had white shell patterned(as I love the ocean) foot jewelry crocheted by my aunt
Jewelry: This was my something borrowed. I had a antique bracelet from Ireland, silver teardrop necklace and flower patterned earrings witch I got as wedding gift.
We found the perfect place called Ganzekraal Holiday Resort on the West Coast. We made use of the lapa witch looks out on a beautiful private beach. The venue is surrounded by wooden cottages where most of our guest stayed in for a few days.
Well I really didn't do any thing extreme and truthfully didn't realize I should actually do something till very close to the wedding.
I did some yoga at home to get my fitness in action and drank water, water and more water. I booked myself in at the hairdresser for a trim just to freshen up my hair. I did my own nails and pampered myself with a relaxing bath the day before. On the day I had little time as I had to organize and set up as far as possible. A good breakfast with some fresh fruit and a glass of champagne was the perfect recipe for a stress relief and a energized feel.
Because the venue only offers tables and chairs I basically had to do everything else myself. With the help of my aunt and many other family and friends we did a fantastic job.
Most of the decor we did ourselves and rented the rest from Grandstyle Hiring. Our decor was very mystical with sunflowers, daisies and eucalyptus. Our ceremony was on the beach. We had wooden benches leading up to a white arch decorated with flowers and white material. In the isle we had green and white wine bottles, each filled with a single sunflower hanging from wire hooks.
Our flowers we ordered from Shane's Flowers. They did all the flowers so beautifully and even offered to help with the decorating. We were so happy with their service and thanks to them everything looked amazing.
Our tables were a colour range of brown, green, white, and gold with the flowers complementing all those colours. We had wine bottles with candles and votives with small candles spread over the table. Each table had two pictures of my husband and I as kids. The main table had fairy light hanging behind our seats.
The kids table had beach containers filled with sweets and bubbles for some entertainment.
After the ceremony the beach was rearranged into the dance floor, with the arch as the entrance and the hooks were placed in a circle with lanterns hanging from them.
We had many extra decor that that was handmade and really made our wedding look like a perfect "pinterest wedding", if you know what I mean.
If I can sum it up it really looked and felt like a fairy land.
My husband had two best men and one groomsman. They wore beige chino pants with long rolled up white shirts. The wore it with green suspenders and a sunflower pin. We had seven boys who were assign for throwing the confetti and one being the ring barer. They wore jeans with white golf shirts and beige suspenders. All of whom were barefoot.
I had four bridesmaids who wore olive green flowing dresses and sunflowers in their hair. I had three flower girls. My mom made their dresses from beige/gold chiffon and satin material with turned them into beautiful fairies. All of the girls had boutiques and went barefoot.
Our marriage officer was Ds Willie Viljoen. We were very impressed with his service and he gave a extraordinary ceremony that suited our personalities perfectly. He has a modern approach and he was very friendly. We were very happy we had him as our marriage officer as he made us realized how important our love for each other really is.
We were very lucky as we knew someone very well who took amazing photos. Our photographers were Marius Bester and his beautiful girlfriend Liezl working in a great team. They really went out of their way with taking our photos. They gave both my husband and I a disposable camera for us to capture "our" special moments. They had the most creative ideas and the photos came out better than we could have ever thought.
I did not have a wedding planner. With the help of my aunt and many family and friends we organised the hell out of it! It did take a lot of hard work and planning but in the end it was all worth it. It just made the whole day more personal and intimate.
We did not have any wedding transport as we staid at the venue from a few days before. From where I got ready to the ceremony was walking distance. So we walked straight from there to the alter.
We ordered platters from Party Platters. It was the best idea to do this for a beach wedding and everyone loved the food. We had a big variety and they really did a great job. It tasted amazing! We had doughnuts as dessert and for drinks we filled class bottles with stickers of us on them filled with ice tea, for the ceremony. After we had champagne, wine, beer, ice tea, juice and coffee.
My husbands' only demand was to have a chocolate cake. He wanted chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. We ordered the cake from Oppie Koffie in Tyger Valley. Wow! You know the famous chocolate Matilda cake? Well our cake was that, and so much better. We decorated the cake with wafers and chocolate shells on top. It looked and tasted amazing.
I had a certain idea the invites but needed the help of someone to do the designing and print them out. Luckily my mom in-law knew a girl perfect for the job. Alecia de Villiers. She did an awesome job and made them better than ever. With that she helped me with the cards for the gifts and also did a perfect job.
Well even though the time flew by, we had a great night. We rented the sound equipment from JJ Sound who too did an amazing job and gave the friendliest service. I set up our own playlist with all our favourite songs and included a song request in the invite so everyone could hear their special song. We opened the dance floor with Lady Gaga's Acoustic Bad Romance song as she is our favourite artist of all time. And yes I convinced my husband to feel the same about her;)
We never practiced but it was so magical. With all the fairy lights shining on us and the ocean in the background. So romantic and special.
The party did not last all night but it was a day well spent and everyone had a awesome time! We will never ever forget it.
