Our wedding day was the most spectacular beautiful day of my entire life!
We were so blessed that every single moment and detail was perfect and unforgettable.
For me the most unforgettable moment was standing outside the chapel with my father and hearing the instrumental trio start to play Aladdin's A Whole New World, the song we chose for me to walk down the aisle on, from inside. So many emotions welled up inside of me as I prepared to make my entrance and walk towards the gorgeous wonderful man that I would soon have the wonderful honour of calling my husband. And then, when we entered the chapel, it's as if the whole world, everything and everyone faded away and all I could see was Jaco - words cannot describe the feelings I felt... it was incredible!!
We drove to a nearby pecan nut grove after the ceremony for a magical couple's photoshoot to capture our moments as husband and wife. The weather, the scenery, the sunset behind the mountain and the ground covered in autumn leaves made for an incredible shoot that we will never forget.
And, of course, having the wonderful opportunity to share our special day with all our family and friends was amazing! We truly and honestly couldn't ask for anything more. The day was perfect and unforgettable in every single way!
We were so extremely fortunate in this regard, since we got to go to Romania for 2 weeks!
It was an absolutely unforgettable experience, from the hotels we stayed in (as newlyweds, we received nothing but the best treatment), to the food, the people and the places we visited. Incredible!
We can hardly wait for another opportunity to see more of such an amazing country.
The theme of the wedding was simple, formal elegance.
All the details, from the venue with its breathtaking views over the Magaliesburg mountains, the decor and flowers, to the music trio that played during the ceremony and the pianist that played during the reception, came together like something out of a fairy tale. And I, of course, felt like a fairy princess in the most beautiful ivory lace dress, with my hair half up, half down, my nails a soft pink, and my make-up simple, yet elegant. My sparkly silver shoes, pearl earrings and silver bracelet perfectly completed my look.
Wedding dress: Olivelli Bridal Boutique
Designer: Ella Rosa by Kenneth Winston
Jewellery: Lovisa
Make-up, Hair & Nails: The Chateau
Videography: Capture Productions
Photography: Marinda May Photography
We got married at Green Leaves Country Lodge in Hartbeespoort. Their Tuscan Venue perfectly suited the look and feel we envisioned for our wedding. We fell in love with everything they had to offer the moment we saw it.
And they did not disappoint on the day. Everything (to the finest detail) was magical and perfect, just like we asked.
Some guests stayed the night at the venue. Some other guests stayed at various guesthouses in the area.
The theme with the decor was love birds and trees. This was reflected in every element from the wedding invitations to the menu design, guest favours, cake and cake toppers, ring box, guest "seating chart" and "guestbook".
The majority of the decor and flowers was done by Green Leaves's in-house decor and flower specialists, NDM Events. Samantha did a stunning job putting it all together and incorporating everything I asked for.
The lasercut decor elements (Bride and Groom hangers, a stunning custom designed ring box, envelope box, name/table placement love birds, love bird cake toppers and a "Mr & Mrs de Wet" main table stand) were made by HDK Wedding and Bridal accessories.
The table decor was simple and elegant - white and glass with a touch of blue.
The flowers were gorgeous arrangements of white tulips (my absolute favorite), white roses and blue delphiniums set at the bases of white twig trees in the center of each table. Flower filled baubles hanging from the tree branches and candles in glass vases completed the look.
The decor element I really liked was our guest "seating chart", which also doubled as our "guestbook". Outside the reception hall we had a large white tree with wooden lasercut birds with our guest's names and table numbers hanging from the branches. The guests took the bird with their name on to their table where they could write a message for the bride and groom on the back and hang the birds back on the twig trees in the middle of the tables. Rereading these messages (now hanging from the branches of the same big white tree in our living room) is really really special and a wonderful reminder of that day.
The groom and his two groomsmen wore simple, elegant black suits, with white shirts and powder blue ties that matched the bridesmaids' dresses. The groom's suit was purchased from Levisons and the groomsmen purchased their suits at the Oriental plaza. Their ties and shirts were purchased from Twill.
My two gorgeous bridesmaids wore stylish and elegant powder blue floor-length dresses that were made for them by a seamstress friend.
The two flower girls wore similar dresses, made by the same seamstress.
All of them looked so beautiful and exactly how I had envisioned!
We were blessed to have our marriage officiated by the groom's father, pastor Bella de Wet.
Our perfect day was forever captured by the amazing husband and wife teams of Marinda May photography and Capture Productions.
We first met and got to know Marinda when we booked her for a couple's photoshoot in March 2017. We fell in love with her photography and loved the way she made us feel so comfortable in front of the camera.
So, when the time came to choose a wedding photographer, we had absolutely no hesitation in choosing her again, knowing that she would do an absolutely fantastic job!
Jeanette (a family friend, the owner of Capture Productions, and all round awesome person) and her husband were in charge of our videography. Once again, all we can say is wow! They did such an amazing job capturing everything, even the smallest details.
We did not make use of a wedding planner. I had just finished my PhD studies in November 2017, and took the first six months of 2018 off to plan my own wedding.
Green Leaves were in charge of catering the whole event, from the pre-reception eats and drinks after the ceremony to the 3-course plated menu at the reception. The food was of absolutely exceptional quality!! Everyone enjoyed everything tremendously. In fact, we still get complimented on the Chocolate fondant dessert that was served.
The wedding cake (a delicious, stunning 3-tiered 3 flavoured cake covered in white fondant and decorated with beautiful blue flowers) was made by Alicia Olwagen from Pink Eventz. Alicia also made our guest favours - beautiful and delicious love bird and heart shaped flooded iced sugar cookies.
We sent out electronic Save the Dates and invitations, which were designed and created by myself and the groom. Therefore, we did not have much stationery, only the menus on the tables really. These were designed by myself and printed at a local printing store.
Walking into the softly lit reception hall, with the pianist playing one of our favorite songs (Fireflies from Owl City), and seeing all the details we spent so much time planning so perfect in front of us, was magical.
Having the grand piano and pianist playing throughout the reception was the absolute perfect touch to create the elegant atmosphere we wanted. The piano was hired from The Piano Man and the pianist is our very talented church organist.
We did take a few dance lessons with Carina from The Dance Factory in Alberton, who choreographed a special dance for us. We danced our first dance to a piano cover of Vanilla Twilight from Owl City.
The sound was done by one of the groom's friends.
