The day was just tremendous fun from the very beginning till the end. No nerves at all, just great excitement for the day! Was memorable to say our vows to each other, and to cut a beautiful cake, and to spend the day with all our friends and loved ones!
We went on a "mini-moon" for just a short couple days away in the Golden Gate National Park. We are planning to go on honeymoon next year, with so many choices of fabulous destinations we will be spoilt for choice! With the wedding planning all done, now we can spend the time to look for a great honeymoon!
I went for a whimsical and romantic look, with an ivory colour dress and lace overlay. The dress had the most incredible train as well for a breathtaking effect!
My hair and make-up was also natural, romantic and whimsical to complement the dress. The hair was done up in a loose up-do to allow the lace detail on the back of the dress to be seen.
Shoes were a blush colour with floral details to suit the dress. The dress had its own padding and boning for the bust, so no bra was needed.
I had stunning but simple rosegold earrings from a store in Hong Kong. I paired it with a rose gold bracelet. The rosegold colours really complemented the ivory colour of the dress. No necklace was worn, as the dress has so much detail it would be too much to add more jewellery.
Tris Alves is an Airbrush Makeup Artist and Mobile Beauty offering services available in Hartbeespoort, Johannesburg, Pretoria and surrounding provinces.
Oakfield Farm in Muldersdrift at the Homestead Venue! Was a stunning venue, with the most beautiful chapel and gardens as well as the most amazing staff possible. They make the day an absolute pleasure, as they ensure all the guest's needs are seen to and also as a bridal couple you are very well attended to.
They do have accommodation on the premises, although its usually fully booked, but there is plenty of accommodation in the surrounding areas that guests did not have any hassles. The bridal couple have exclusive use of the honeymoon suites on premises for the night of the wedding. We arrived in our room which was super comfortable, and were spoilt with treats in the room, a special gift from Oakfield, and the next morning with a fantastic breakfast brought to our room.
This acclaimed, multi award winning venue is where romance, beauty, old fashioned hospitality and excellence come together a mere 30 minutes from Sandton and Centurion.
Beauty regime was quite tricky to do, as I travel a lot :-)
However, I used the "my fitness pal" app to make sure I kept my weight down (I bought the dress a year ahead so had to make sure I could still fit!), and tried to eat healthy and did a lot of walking.
For my skin, I used some exfoliators and mask treatments recommended by my make-up artist. With travelling to so many different climates, as well as being exposed to the very dry air on airplanes, my skin often felt dry, but using recommended moisturisers helped immensely.
All the tables, chairs, cutlery and crockery was provided by the venue. They supplied silver underplates, silver napkins and large silver oil candelabras. We used the venue's large wooden tables. The venue included its own draping with fairy lights included in the draping. The venue included its own chandeliers as well. A "day-of" coordinator is also included with the venue, who helps keep the day running smoothly and assists with all the setting up of the venue as well.
The decor was related to an aviation theme, with colours being white, silver and blue. I purchased silver vases for smaller flower posies to use on the tables, and bought candles of all sizes in glass votives, as well as stand alone candles to use on mirror plates that filled the tables with colours and depth. The wedding favours were all wooden luggage tags, with world maps laser engraved on the back, and each guest's name on the front. These tags doubled up as name settings for the tables.
I also created my own pewter embossed airplanes, one for each table to fit into the aviation theme. To add to that, we used a paper punch to create small airplane confetti to use on the tables and also used outside the chapel for throwing confetti. Folded paper airplanes and rose petals were used as well outside the chapel that had a stunning effect.
The main table had two large lanterns with candles inside and flower arrangements around them. They framed a giant wooden airplane propeller that the groom's father hand carved with our names on the propeller. The propeller and lanterns were on the floor in front of the main table.
The florist we used was fantastic, with the most beautiful flower arrangements created in white, blue and peach colours (to give some warmth to the overall colour scheme). She had to create 35 posies for our tables as well as the flower arrangements for the lanterns, and the bridal bouquet. She also set up all the candles and table confetti for us at no extra charge. Would recommend Miranda any day of the week!
We also had a wooden airplane planter that we used in the chapel, then afterwards in the reception for the bridesmaids bouquets to be kept and form part of the decor. The bridesmaids bouquets were created from 60 year old map paper folded into half a dozen paper roses. The map roses were all folded by a dear friend with a real talent for origami. Three paper roses were also added to the bridal bouquet to be the "something old".
Our welcome sign was a hand-painted canvas that my mother painted. It included 2 airplanes soaring through silver-lined clouds. The table seating plan was a world map poster that had tags pasted all over the world for people to find their seats.
The groom wore a stunning navy blue suit and waistcoat, with a silver tie all purchased at Woolworths. The suit had a blue pocket square for the breast pocket. He also wore an airplane pin of a Boeing 777 on his lapel, as he is a Boeing 777 pilot. As a groom's gift, I gave him Spitfire aircraft cufflinks to complete the look. He also had a Woolworths brown leather belt, and Aldo brown leather shoes.
The groomsmen had Woolworths stone-coloured chinos, and Edgars smart shirts with navy blue collars and blue trim details. To complete the look we gave each of them navy blue suspenders. They all wore brown leather shoes.
As part of their outfits, and just for pure fun, we have them aviator sunglasses branded with "groomsman" on each of them, and one with "groom" on for the groom.
Bridesmaids wore infinity dresses in different shades of blue. Each lady tied their dresses into their own unique style. Each lady got given silver jewellery that suited their styles, and all wore their own choice of shoes and make-up plus hair styles.
In keeping with the aviation theme, they all got given aviator sunglasses that were branded as "bridesmaid" and also one was branded for me with "bride" on it.
The Original Infinity Dress can be worn 27 different ways, making it the perfect bridesmaid dress for all figures!
We had a very unique guy (Simon Phillips) who specialises in wedding ceremonies do our ceremony. He had a lot of humour... a story relevant to life, a message for all our guests and a unique story to tell about each of us as the bridal couple. When we first met him to do our ceremony, we learnt about his history and how marriage to his wife saved him. From that we knew he was an advocate and champion of marriage.
The actual marriage contract was signed with a marriage officer a couple days before. His name was Zirk Theron.
We had the most amazing photographer on the day! We had done our engagement shoot with him in March and had tremendous fun then, but it was even more fun on the wedding day, as he had us so excited from all the fabulous ideas he had for the photos.
You really do have to be relaxed and have a good relationship with the photographer in order to have a fantastic day, as you spend more time with them than any other person on the day. The engagement shoot was a wonderful way to figure out how the photographer likes to work and start building that relationship with them so that you are comfortable on your wedding day.
A family friend also gifted us his service for some videography on the day.
Another guest on the day is a wildlife photographer, but she also managed to take some fantastic shots that give a different perspective on what the photographer may have managed.
Catering was done by the venue itself. Was a stunning menu that had the guests going back for seconds. The vegetarian menu was also very well received with many compliments from the guests.
The cake was the most delicious cake we have ever had. It was a 3 tier cake, with each tier being a completely different flabour. It was so moist and exquisitely decorated, with blue shades (dark at the bottom to much lighter at the top) and topped with small bride and groom figurines sitting inside a vintage Boeing airplane as the topper. The airplane was balanced on wafer paper giving it the idea that the plane was flying. The plane also had a banner towed behind it, saying "just married" and festive bunting behind it wrapped down the cake, and a little groom's top hat at the end of the bunting. It was breathtaking.
The Turquoise Squirrel Patisserie creates bespoke, exquisite and extraordinary cakes and confections for any occasion.
No stationary was actually used! I managed to send out digital invites from free websites. The menu was a large chalk board that I wrote on and decorated which was then placed by the buffet area. The name settings were all part of the guest's favours on the wooden laser cut luggage tags. The welcome sign was painted on canvas by my mother. And the seating plan was a giant poster that we mounted and added hand written tags to.
Luckily for me, the groom is an excellent dancer ;-) he spent a few nights teaching me a nice dance before the wedding.
Sound and DJ services were excellent by the Purple Tomato. They had to set up all the sound for the chapel, canapés and the reception. Music choices were also excellent. They also had to assist with the projector used during speeches. We gave them an extensive music list, that they had no problems with organising for us.
On top of that, at the canapés and during part of the reception we had a fantastic singer perform for us. He kept the guests entertained throughout and really got our party started for the dancing!
The Original Infinity Dress can be worn 27 different ways, making it the perfect bridesmaid dress for all figures!
This acclaimed, multi award winning venue is where romance, beauty, old fashioned hospitality and excellence come together a mere 30 minutes from Sandton and Centurion.
Tris Alves is an Airbrush Makeup Artist and Mobile Beauty offering services available in Hartbeespoort, Johannesburg, Pretoria and surrounding provinces.
The Turquoise Squirrel Patisserie creates bespoke, exquisite and extraordinary cakes and confections for any occasion.
