Like any bride, she will say that her day was perfect and there isn't a specific moment she can single out above all other. Which in my case, is mostly true... however, when I saw him for the first time walking down the isle, I had never imaged that I'd be as stunned and in utter awe seeing him in such raw emotion and with eyes filled with pure love and excitement like mine. I walked down and had my eyes on lock-down, I could've tripped for all I cared, as long as I had him in my sight. Saying hello, as if we had met for the first time and holding his hand still gives me butterflies. The rest of our day was complete perfection! From our hysterical MC jokes, the loving speeches, amazing food and party of the century, I would not change a single thing and each moment will stay with me forever.
Our honeymoon was out of this world! He was put in charge of finding a destination as a surprise but time was definitely not on his side, so I jumped in and we started researching where we could create our first life long memories as a newly married couple, and we stumbled on Puerto Vallarta, situated in the culturally rich MEXICO! If you want to experience culture, food an warm ocean waters then I'd suggest looking into Mexico. We loved every minute of our honeymoon and would never have dreamed of it being so romantic and adventurous.
Funny story... my father-in-law chose the winning (dream) dress. I never in a million years wanted to wear a slim fit dress, but when I tried it on, it was like a typical crying bride moment of "I found the one".
My dress was extremely sexy, but classy. It was beaded from head to toe, showed off my curves and was a fashion statement in its own, bought at Bride&Co. My dress also came with a beautiful beaded shoulder piece which I wore during the speeches. I paired my jewellery with classic pearls, both necklace and earrings, bought at Lovisa. My shoes were an open-toe nude block heel as nothing else would compliment my dress. I decided to keep my hair in the vintage style like my dress and had a messy/curly side bun, paired with pearl diamond hair clips, done by Rootz Hair Studio. I love makeup and wasn't shy of going all in. I decided on a nude lip with a bold, sparkly eye look, done by Carmen Crous. My entire look was vintage / current fashion trends inspired.
My venue was out of this world! Before we even got engaged, I knew that I wanted to get married at Imperfect Perfection in Pretoria. They are truly gems in the rough and will do anything to create the perfect day. Some of our guests like family members stayed at the venue and friends stayed at Die Bus Stop which is walking distance from the venue. Our venue have stunning rustic rooms available and the Bus Stop is like no other place you've seen! The staff at Imperfect Perfection are the kindest people and are beyond professional. I am still amazed at how perfect each element was, thanks to the hard work and amazing team at Imperfect.
I've always been one to have a religious skincare routine and regularly treat my skin to scrubs or face masks, so our wedding day didn't make a difference. I did however start exercising more to get in shape for not only the wedding but our honeymoon too! A week before the wedding I had gone for a teeth whitening session and still continue with it even after the wedding. And like all brides, I had my nails done the day before at ShineOn Nails.
From the get-go I was in-love with a natural and modern rustic feeling. My Pinterest wedding boards were filled with greenery, white and rustic wood decor! Most of our flowers consisted of Penny Gum, Vurburnum and Gyp. We wanted to keep the tables simplistic, elegant but with a tough of rustic. We opted for white candles filled with moss at the stems, had long beautiful rustic wooden tables with no runners and grey plates. Our main table had the same feeling but we added White O hara Roses which were also used in my bouquet. The venue, supplied us with all the decor or rented on our behalf and also referred us to Alsmeer for all our flowers. The venue had beautiful rustic furniture used on the deck and also in the reception. We used Edison Bulbs to create a warm feeling and it also added to the rustic feeling and the fairy lights was a must for more warm lighting. Our decor was everything and more I could've envisioned!
The groomsmen looked all very 'laid back' and matched with the theme of our wedding. They wore chino pants along with a plain white shirt and leather Bowties from Wanderlust. My handsome husband wore a stunning unique Navy suit from Bride&Co and had a tan leather tie from Wanderlust.
I asked my bridesmaids to choose their own dresses, something they could wear again and that they felt comfortable in, but in a colour of my choice. They found the perfect off the shoulder charcoal dress at The Maiden. My ladies looked absolutely breathtaking!
Our marriage officer is a family friend, Johan Serfontein at Waterkloof AGS.
Carolien & Ben were such a blast to work with! They captured the essence of love, happiness and even our silly moments throughout. They were able to loosen us up for fun pictures, made us laugh in hysteria but also showed the delicacy and love of our new chapter.
Marizaan at Voetpad was our videoagrapher and is such a sweet soul that captured true and raw emotions with an amazing video that we will be able to cherish forever. I got tears watching our video and felt every emotion I had on our day.
Our wedding venue made sure of every single thing at our wedding and even sent us reminders and a to do list of things we needed to buy or vendors we needed to hire. Lene and Noleen at Imperfect Perfection were a dream team and went above and beyond for us!
I arrived early morning at our venue to get ready, in a plain every day car (nothing fancy). Our venue had an awesome old school classic blue car which transported myself and my two brides maids to the isle, it was walking distance away but I wanted to arrive in style non the less. For our photos we used my father-in-law's mean machine side car named Putin, which was perfect for vintage pictures.
Another winner, our venue! They prepared the most incredible food! Some of our guests are still raving about how delicious the mains were and we can't agree more! We had a two tier cake, a doughnut wall and three various desserts which were heavenly, freshly made by the amazing staff of Imperfect Perfection.
A dear friend of mine designed our wedding website, our invites and also labels of our thank you gifts. I printed all stationary like the newspaper and labels at Ink Fish.
We found our DJ at literally the last minute and they were absolute rock stars for their effort and great services, V & E Entertainment. We chose old school songs which no one can resist and also some new age music everyone can dance to. Our first dance wasn't much dancing, we just moved with the rhythm of Stand By Me by Ben E King on a cloud of smoke, non the less, our first dance was so special and I'll cherish that intimate moment for a thousand years.
