This day in its entirety was a highlight. No one, including my bridal party knew what my wedding gown looked like until i walked out of the dressing room. Needless to say everyone was crying.
I'm some what of a tom-boy so looking this amazing (with the help of Aidan J, Nicole Torien and Bronwyn Fisher) was definitely a highlight for all around me.
My dad, who was my best friend, went to heaven in 2009 (a few months before my 21st birthday) and approaching this big day i had many missing him moments so a definite highlight was having a picture of both my parents on an antique photo frame which was attached to my wedding gown - it was my special way of having me walk down the isle together with both my brothers (why choose one when you have two).
My other amazing moment was having my dog, Max, who wore a matching bow tie as the groomsmen (also made by Aidan J), walked down the isle to present the rings to us. To all who know me, i'm an animal lover and i love my dog so having him share my special day with us was the cherry on the top.
Sharing this day with my now husband, who was also very hands on in the planning, was fun with a hint of stress but he was so understanding and supportive and i could have not asked for a better blessing in my life. God is Good! Bless his heart he cried when i walked down the isle and he kept his eyes on me throughout.
We met when i was 17 and he was 18 and we courted for just under 12 years before popping the question. People always ask why did he or we for that matter wait so long, but we both needed to know who our strength comes from and grow in His plan for it to come to pass. Sharing every smile and laugh and embrace on the wedding day was just a reminder of how far we came and how the rest of our lives together will be.
Just as important as the decision that goes into choosing the fabulous wedding ring (which winston chose and it is inspired by our national flower the king protea), i wanted to put just as much effort into choosing something special for him. I opted for unique engraving of table mountain on his ring which he was pleasantly surprised about.
Both winston and i have the travel bug but this time around we decided that because he had not explored the wonderous land of the western cape as much as i have, we would road trip, which was amazing and i would recommend it to anyone.
we started off with spending two days in Roberston on route 62, at various farms and vineyards. Our favourite was Vijoensdrift, as it is located along the Breede River with many picnic spots and even a boat ride to take in the scenery. thereafter, we traveled to Barrydale, with stops in both Ashton and Montagu. Barrydale is an amazing little town with lots to offer and honestly the most genuine people we came across, we stayed at the Barrydale Lodge. We then made our way to Oudtshoorn and stayed at Rosa's B&B. Besides having an amazing venue, she has two resident dogs, and being away from my max, comforted me a bit. after spending time at the Congo caves, the wildlife ranch, the coffee emporium and many other places we made our way to Mossel Bay. This gem of a town has always been a favourite of mine and i wanted to share that with Winston who enjoyed it just as much as i do. We both then decided to head back to cape town via route 62 again with another pit stop in Robertson (guys you need to go lol) but this was only after we visited the Garden Route Game Reserve, which is also highly recommended. all in all, we spent 9 days on the road :)
I am a proudly South African Indian, so this added to our east meets west themed wedding. My wedding gown, which was ivory, was inspired from the traditional sari. This was made by a proudly SA local designer Aidan Jeptha (Aidan J designs) and she did an excellent job right down to the last detail. She showed both professionalism and commitment in completing her first indian bridal wear. Not only did she excel at completing my gown but she also made my bridal party their dresses (which im still trying to get my hands on lol) as well as the grooms satin and lace finished tie and the groomsmen and ring bearer's satin and lace finished bow ties.
My make up was done by Nicole Torien from Amphora, who was so accommodating, passionate and professional. I looked amazing and i felt like a rock star on my day thanks to her. She was also responsible for making my bridesmaids look gorgeous. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for assistance in make-up for any occasion. The extra cool thing is that this was not the first time i was serviced by Nicole. She assisted in another wedding i was in of a close friend of mine and since that day i had always said Nicole would do my wedding make-up.
Due to me wearing a sari-inspired wedding gown, i decided to let my locks hang loose and it was accompanied by a gold headpiece. This was all done by Bronwyn Fisher who was also responsible for my bridesmaids hair.
I am a shoe size 3, sometimes even a size 2 but i was blessed to find a floral heel sandal at Foschini which was the perfect fit for the wedding theme and for being a comfortable height to walk (and dance) on.
For my something new, i received gold earrings from my aunt. for my something borrowed and old, i got to wear my mom's gold wedding bracelet (which has a width of about 4cm) and my something blue was my garter, which i chose from the collection of garters that winston managed to catch at all our friends weddings.
My nails was done by Melissa's beauty bar (in Plumstead) and to compliment this, i had a mini mendhi night for my bridal party and myself. This was done by Wajeeha Mukhtar. This lady has crazy talent, check her out on w.m_henna_tattoo.
I fell inlove with beauty of Monkey Valley Resort in Noordhoek, with a few mins trip to both the common and the beach with the amazing mountain background, the milkwood forest and the rustic feel for this venue, i was sold as soon as we entered the reception area, especially since it is a dog friendly establishment too.
The venue prepared the honeymoon suit for us to check out on the monday morning since we had the wedding over the long weekend. We catered for 85 people and majority of our guests used the resort to spend the night and some even the weekend as well. There are a number of resort self-catering units as well together with full access to all resort facilities as well as the private passage to the beach directly from the resort.
Our events co-ordinator, is a blessing and she surely went out of her way to accommodate us.
The resort was also responsible for the catering for the wedding and wow!!! the food was mind blowing, and dont get me started on their breakfast.
both winston and i didnt have specific regime per say, we still kept active with our trail running. I did however pay a visit to my dentist for my teeth cleaning.
both winston and i didnt have specific regime per say, we still kept active with our trail running. I did however pay a visit to my dentist for my teeth cleaning.
Our ceremony took place outdoors, at the Ravine. We made use of gold tiffany chairs from Jack and Jill hiring and the canopy, which was wooden, was decorated by Ashley Newman with the use of a burgundy and gold silk sari together with flowers which created the fusion theme.
Our reception took place at the Treetops venue, which receives loads of natural light and has tall wooden beams and tables. So Winston and i decided to keep things minimal and enhance the wood by having many meters of fairy lights, and burgundy organza runners on the tables together with our flowers which consisted of the following:
king proteas
pincushion proteas
chrysanthemuns
eucalyptus
various succulents placed in a glass (the glass was branded by our very own logo created by my Winston. These also served as our thank you/take home gifts). These succulents were sourced from House of Succulents who did an amazing job with the use of many different types of succulents and adding to the colour of our day.
The flowers were supplied by Pinky's Flowers who together with his wife was truly a blessing.
however, the task of putting everything so magnificently together was done by Ashley Newman.
This is a hobby for Ashley but don't let that fool you, he has done so many weddings he is a pro! He is absolutely professional and he is great at capturing and enhancing your vision of the day. Winston was so impressed with Ashley! But his talents don't lie just with decor. Ashley was also responsible for creating our 3 tiered wedding cake which consisted of dark belgium chocolate mousse as well as white chocolate and lemon poppy which was then wrapped in white chocolate and covered in burgundy and gold lace decor. WOW this cake was so yum!!!
The groom and the groomsmen wore navy suits together with a pale blue shirt and a tie for the groom and bow ties for the groomsmen.
The suits were hired from Mr. Suit Hire.
The shirts were bought from Woolworths.
The tie and bow ties were made by Aidan J and was a combination of burgundy silk and burgundy lace.
They all wore various shades of blue happy socks and finished it off with a honey coloured brown shoe.
To add to the look and special-ness of the day, i had wooden cuff links made with the wedding logo and date on one side and their respective names on the other side.
A surprise was planned for the groom on the wedding day. He was presented with a box which consisted of a new watch (or time piece as winston refers to it) which was engraved with something special from me to him.
I was blessed with 4 bridesmaids and 1 maid of honor and to be fair they all did want to wear saris and i just couldn't let them lol.
I wanted them to fit into the indian fusion theme so together with Aidan J we designed but Aidan made a two piece dress for them which also consisted on a long sash which i later draped into a sari for them for the reception.
The tops were burgundy in colour and consisted of burgundy lace and the skirt which was shaped as a flowing A-line was navy in colour and was tailored to have pockets in them (someone had to carry lipstick and pins lol). The long sash was navy in colour but it had the edging done in burgundy. all of them looked absolutely stunning.
Their hair was in a low up-style with curls as well and their make-up consisted of smokey gold and nude eye with natural highlights on their faces and a burgundy lip.
Our marriage officer was one of our pastors at our church. Ps Eddie Hendricks of Good Hope Christian Centre.
Our day was captured by Andre and his company called Cookie Film Factory Productions. We met him at the wedding fair held in Canal Walk in February 2018 and after looking his work and be impressed with his photography and videography packages we enlisted his services for our special day.
Both him and his partner knew exactly what they wanted and were very accommodating in capturing everything from the very beginning till the end. We were not use to being videoed but their presence was welcoming and calming which helped us both feel very secure and comfortable. We would highly recommend their services.
We did not have a planner. Winston and i with the help of Ashley Newman got this special day to be quite memorable.
Both Winston and i got ready at the venue so transport was not really necessary.
As previously mentioned the venue, Monkey Valley Resort was solely responsible for the catering.
On the menu we had honey glazed chicken, peppered beef, so many different types of roasted veggies, a chickpea curry, tiramisu and lemon meringues. I can honestly say that we had no fault with the food it was tasty beyond our expectations.
We did bring in an item to compliment the indian fusion theme, which was vegetable breyani (so yum!)
Again, Ashley Newman was responsible for our masterpiece of a cake.
We chose the dark belgium chocolate mousse layer to cater to Winston's chocolate mousse cravings and the lemon poppy with white chocolate to compliment it. This was then wrapped by an edible burgundy and gold lace finish.
Our save the dates was designed and printed by Winston and i :)
And our invites which followed a navy and gold theme was designed and made by a company called I DO in a Box.
They were very accommodating in allowing us to explain our theme and ideas for our big day and how that could be incorporated into the invite without giving everything away.
This company was also responsible for the design and printing of our on the day programs.
One of the most important services was rendered by DJ Catt, Mark Adams, who went over and above our expectations for creating a magical atmosphere and a party scene like no other, especially during the reception. He definitely allowed us to make loads of memories to all the tunes he played.
A phat shout out to Stuart Martheze (Stuart M) together with his team of musicians for playing music throughout the serving of canapes.
