My husband and I had quite a rough year leading up to the wedding, having many loved ones passing away.
We decided to honour each of them by hanging a framed picture of them over the inside pews in our church along the isle.
It was a mix of emotions walking down the isle but at the same time it was a very special and memorable moment for us to pay respect and love to those that we know were with us in spirit. As I am a teacher, we also had my school choir singing the songs in our church ceremony. They sounded like Angels! It made our day that much more special having my students be apart of it.
As I am quite an indecisive bride :) I told my sister-in-law I wanted white flowers and the rest was all up to her. I gave her the reigns of doing all the decor inside our venue. A big and scary decision yes, but she is incredibly creative loves planning a great bash. So I knew I could trust that whatever she did would be fantastic. So one of my biggest highlights was walking into the venue set up for the first time and seeing my fairytale wedding in front me. Everything was absolutely perfect. Romantic and elegant, everything I could have dreamed of and more.
My husband surprised me with a three day minimoon the morning after our wedding at the very secluded Copia Eco Cabins. It was pure bliss, so peaceful and the perfect place to spend our first 3 days as husband and wife without any disturbance of the outside world. 3 Months later we went on our planned getaway over the festive season with 3 days in Porto, Portugal followed by 3 weeks in Madeira, the island where both our families come from. It was absolutely magical to spend out first cold Christmas and New Year together in paradise.
After our engagement the excitement kicked in, I fulfilled my dream of being able to try on as many wedding dresses as I possibly could! From fitting Princesses to A-lines, I fell in love with two dresses designed by the brilliant Cindy Bam. Accompanied by my mom, sister, and sister-in-law they re-assured me that the 2 were both perfect. However, I couldn't wear or afford both :D So myself and Cindy decided to combine the two dresses and create a new dream dress. I had never envisioned myself in a figure hugging dress, but once trying on her designs, she completely changed my mind. I was blown away by her work and couldn't have asked for anyone better to design and create my fairytale wedding dress.
My hair and make-up was done by Zita Ferreira. I wanted something very soft and romantic. With my hair in a loosely pinned up style with subtle white fresh flowers. Zita instantly knew exactly what I wanted, and brought my vision to life with a smokey yet soft beautiful eye and a matted lip.
My small two tier droplet earrings were my "something new", gifted to me from my mom. They were from Lesdene Jewellers in Tyger Valley, they perfectly tied my whole look together bringing in that traditional and elegance feel and contrasting to my more modern dress.
My "something blue" was the garter my sister bought for me in Canada, as well as, the blue ribbon that kept my bouquet together holding my "something borrowed" which was an old locket that belonged to my sister who passed away in April, 5 months before my wedding. As difficult as the day was not having my sister physically by side, having two pictures of her in her locket was a way for me to honour her and symbolise that she was still there sharing my special day with me.
I struggled to find shoes for my special day, so I decided to go with a plain comfortable block heel which my Mother-in-law hand beaded. They were stunning and will forever be very special to me.
Cindy Bam creates luxury gowns that evoke drama and glamour of past eras whilst still maintaining a modern edge.
Our wedding ceremony was held at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. Followed by our reception at Belair Country Lodge in Paarl. Our parents and wedding party filled the beautiful guest houses at the venue's accommodation. And many of the other guests booked in the surrounding accommodations in Paarl.
A few years ago, I started bootcamp classes with the most amazing trainer Lauren McBride (LungeWithLauren). She has been my fitness trainer for the last 5 years so when it came to getting fit in the last 6 months leading up to my wedding, I phoned her immediately and booked my one on one sessions with her. We started training 5 months before the wedding mainly three days a week, but decided to up it to four days a week for the last 2 months before the wedding. She had me looking my absolute best for my wedding day.
A month before the wedding, my mom and I enjoyed a pamper session having the most amazing facial and massages at GojiSpa in Willowbridge. This was a small gift from me to my mom to thank her for everything she has done for me. She is truly the most amazing and strongest woman I know. I also treated and joined my incredible bridesmaids to massages within the week of the wedding day. As a thank you for all their hard work planning my bridal shower and phenomenal bachelorette.
I had a full set of lashes applied by Lizelle Gouws, who has been doing my lashes for the past 4 years. She is fantastic and always does an amazing job. Thank you so much Lizelle.
My sister-in-law decided and planned the inside of our wedding venue. It was a beautiful, romantic dream with an overflow of white flowers and glass.
We had alternating table settings, one high setting and one low setting.
The high setting had 2 high glass boxes with frosted vinyl table numbers on each box supporting a bouquet of stunning fresh white flowers on each, as well as small posies of white flowers in between, surrounded by enchanting candles in glass vases.
The low setting had a beautiful garland of white flowers accompanied by candles along the sides. With clear perspex table numbers standing in the middle of each flat garland. Lit up by hanging naked bulbs above the table.
Above the bridal table, we had hanging metal rings and spheres that were accessorised with white flowers. It was such a beautiful statement piece.
Our flowers were done by Carol at Dolce Flora. They were absolutely stunning and made the entire day come to life.
The glass vases were made specifically for a special day from a local pet shop :D
The perspex table numbers were done at Ietz van alles.
Spheres were hired from Happinest Decor.
Lights were done by Lekker Trou
My husband and his groomsmen all wore black suits with black shirts.
The groomsmen suits were from House of Monatic, while the groom bought his suit from Fabiani in V&A Waterfront.
The groomsmen received their leather black bow ties and pocket squares during the lead up to the wedding as a gift from the groom. While the groom wore the same leather accessories in grey instead of black.
They all wore black personalised socks from Nick Harry and accessorised the look with silver anchor cuff links in memory of a dear friend who passed away from Cancer on 14 February 2018.
WEEF is a gentleman’s leather lifestyle brand - all handmade in Cape Town, South Africa and exported to the rest of the world.
We had a completely different idea and style for our bridesmaids dresses. But when looking for fabric we came across a stunning rich deep purple/maroon velvet. And we sold on the spot. With such an elegant fabric, we wanted the texture and colour to shine, so we decided to go with a very plain and simple corset style, sweet heart top with a tight fitting bottom and thigh high slit. The "less is more" really worked well. And they all looked absolutely stunning on the day.
Father Micheal van Heerden, from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Durbanville, was the priest who officiated our marriage. He was truly amazing as he knows both Kyle and I personally as well as our family.
The incredible Sarah Silva (Mint Tea Photography) and her amazing boyfriend Braydn Hopking (Mint Films) were our Photographer and Videographer capturing our special day. They both did a phenomenal job capturing every special moment. Braydn managed to capture every essence of our wedding in our 6 minute highlight film. They made us feel so comfortable during our couple's shoot on the day and their energy and personalities were absolutely fantastic. We couldn't have been happier with both of their work.
Highlight film link: https://vimeo.com/310651306
We decided to do something very different and not traditional for our food. During canapes, we had waiters walk around with four different kinds of pizzas. Our guests could grab a slice of pizza while catching up with friends and family, or while they were playing the lawn games we had available on the day, while sipping on champagne that we had "on tap".
For our main meal, we had 3 different food trucks. Holy Macaroni provided our guests with four different types of macaroni and cheese, Mon Amis served butter chicken, seared tuna steaks and bbq pulled pork wraps. Jack Rabbit served the most amazing burgers. We had no set dinner time, so our guests were free to decided when and what they wanted to eat. When they were ready, they could hop on over to the food truck and order their meal.
For dessert, we had a selection of sweet treat as well as, waffles on a stick and ice cream rolls made by Hashtag Rollin.
Our wedding cake was made by my uncle. It was a chocolate ganache cake with cream cheese icing. It looked fantastic and tasted even better.
My sister-in-law designed and took care of all the stationery and printing. Our designs had falling flowers and leaves incorporated across all the stationery. Everything was so beautiful. From the clear perspex seating chart to the table settings where each guest had their name along with the cultural origin, inherent meaning and spiritual connotation to add a very personal touch.
Stationery: @design_by_paulina
