My bridesmaids and I drove down to the beach at the crack of dawn on the morning of the wedding to watch the sunrise and spend some special time reflecting together, preparing mentally, emotionally and spiritually for the incredible and life-changing day ahead.
The ceremony was so special, I will never forget exchanging our vows tearfully in front of all our friends and family, the moment we lit our wedding candle together, and the goose-bump raising singing that flooded the church while we exchanged rings.
My husband and I had promised each other that some time during the night of our reception, we would steal away from the crowd and find a place to sit and reflect on this amazing day. Around 11pm when the party was in full swing, we snuck out to take photos at the church under the light of the full moon, and sat on a bench in the chilly June air, observing the wedding reception and guests from a distance. It was magical and a memory that will last a lifetime.
My husband treated us to a luxurious week at the Beachcomber Shandrani Resort in Mauritius!
This was a complete spoil for both of us as we are usually basic campers and keep our holidays roughing it out at beautiful campsites! It was an unbelievable and once in a lifetime experience, and we felt like absolute royalty!!
On a fairly tight budget, and full time vets, we opted to try and keep things as simple as we could.
Bridal hair and make-up was kept natural and was done by the wonderful Kiss the Bride Hair and Make-up
Wedding dress was the first dress I tried on, bought and altered at Musgrave Fabric and Bridal in Durban. I find it was the perfect combination of simple yet elegant.
Shoes were bought at a random Shoe shop in Brooklyn mall, and lingerie my bridesmaids presented me with on the day, a lacy white number ;)
My sisters (also bridesmaids) bought my pearl earrings for me about 4 hours before the wedding because I had forgotten about wedding jewellery completely, and my parents came to the rescue with a beautiful pearl necklace which they presented me with just before we left for the church!
Our lovely wedding rings were designed and made by Paul Johnson in Cape Town.
The wedding took place at our beautiful little Bethany Lutheran Church, in Margate KZN. It is where I grew up, where I got baptised, confirmed and all our family celebrations have taken place. The reception was held in the church hall, and although it is not a recognised fancy wedding venue, we had a fantastic and beautifully decorated wedding, with all the church ladies stepping in to help!
Izotsha Creek Estate hosted the bridal party for the night, did part of the catering and hosted a big breakfast for all wedding guests the following morning.
Being a full time vet, beauty regimes, although very necessary, fell somewhat below the radar a little! There was very little time to organise the wedding, so beauty treatments basically just included wedding manicure done at Shelly beach Nail Studio the day before the wedding! I try to keep healthy as a rule (eating healthy and keeping fit with running and basic gymming), so this was not really a step out of routine. I did treat myself, my mother and my sisters to a spa day at Rejuveness Spa in Uvongo for a ladies day out a few months before the wedding, so as to celebrate the occasion intimately together.
The colours we selected for the wedding were a blend of burgandy, blush and slivers of gold and hints of navy. The chuch hall was beautifully decorated with warm fairy lights and subtle draping, tastefully done by Shamim at Majestic Hire in Port Shepstone. The chair covers and other items of decor were also provided by Majestic hire, although tables, chairs, table cloths etc were supplied by the church hall venue itself.
Flowers were designed by myself and my mother, and arranged on the day with the help of Interior designer Mandy Massey and the ladies of the church congregation who volunteered to help. The bouquets were an explosion of rich colour with a combination of roses, crysanthemums, gypsophila, eucalyptus, thistle, ivy and grape vines.
We spent a lot of time collecting Mason jars in the months preceeding the wedding, and these were decorated with hessian and lace, to hold candles and flowers.
Lighting was provided by Heartbeats DJ and Lighting (Durban)
The colours we selected for the wedding were a blend of burgandy, blush and slivers of gold and hints of navy. The chuch hall was beautifully decorated with warm fairy lights and subtle draping, tastefully done by Shamim at Majestic Hire in Port Shepstone. The chair covers and other items of decor were also provided by Majestic hire, although tables, chairs, table cloths etc were supplied by the church hall venue itself.
Flowers were designed by myself and my mother, and arranged on the day with the help of Interior designer Mandy Massey and the ladies of the church congregation who volunteered to help. The bouquets were an explosion of rich colour with a combination of roses, crysanthemums, gypsophila, eucalyptus, thistle, ivy and grape vines.
We spent a lot of time collecting Mason jars in the months preceeding the wedding, and these were decorated with hessian and lace, to hold candles and flowers.
Lighting was provided by Heartbeats DJ and Lighting (Durban)
My handsome groom wore a dark navy Country Road Suit, a scarlet tie and socks bought for him by his new mother-in-law ;) and a stunning pair of Aldo leather shoes bought for the occasion.
The groomsmen wore chinos and white shirts bought at Woolworths, and the navy ties at Edgars.
Each wore their own shoes.
Gelique Coutour did a beautiful job dressing my bridesmaids, which was not easy given that they were strewn across the country (and one in Germany!) and had to go purely by measurements sent online, no fittings before the wedding!). They truly are magnificent, amazing service and reasonably priced, and I would recommend them to anyone. Hair and makeup was also done by Kiss the Bride.
Our marriage officer was Pastor Udo Lütge, who has been my youth pastor for many years. Pastor Manfred Müller-Nedebock assisted in the service as well. We could not have wished for a better team to facilitate our special service.
Our day was captured by incredible photographer Sean van Tonder (KZN South Coast). We flew up from Cape Town for an engagement shoot as well earlier in the year, at Oribi Gorge, and Sean did an amazing job catching the moments with beautiful and natural light.
The photo album he designed for us is phenomenal and we are so happy with it.
A photo booth was available on the day by Propel photography (Durban).
A friend of ours made a wedding video combining photos and video snippets of our special day.
No, tight budget meant trying to do as much as possible at our own expense and skill. My mother and bridesmaids and MC took over on the day, and did a fantastic job of it too!
We did not hire a car, rather my uncle and godfather drove me and my bridesmaids to the wedding venue in his burgandy Audi. Still had the crack in his windscreen fixed up for the wedding!
The wedding catering was split between 3 parties. Brigitte Buhr and her catering team did the harvest table and dessert table, the ladies of the church congregation managed and done by Karin Asböck provided the delicious German cuisine, and Gale and her team from Izotsha Creek Estate provided the rest of the mains. The food was divine and the saying "too many cooks spoil the broth" was disproven at this event!
Our wedding cake was baked and decorated by my good friend and bridesmaid, Annelize Rohrs, which was cut and served right after the ceremony together with the harvest table.
Digitaly Agency (Cape Town) designed our wedding website, invitations and stationary, however I must give credit to my youngest sister who took it upon herself to design our wedding newspaper and it will be something I treasure for the rest of my life. It all turned out better than I could ever have wished for.
Tiaan (my HUSBAND!) and I studied together, and have loved dancing together since we first met, at every Onderstepoort jol, at every wedding, at every function we dance our hearts out to the golden oldies and some good old sokkie music (no, Kaptein span die Seile is overplayed and not what I am talking about...) but some of Kurt's latest and greatest gets our feet tapping at the tables and we just cannot help ourselves ;) So no dance lessons, no, just kept it simple and natural. We did have a phenomenal DJ, Rudi Prigge from Heartbeats who kept the dancefloor packed from the second it was opened after our first dance, (which was to Starship's "Nothing's ganna stop us now") until everyone was chased out of the venue (2 hours after provisional closing time) around 2am. It was a magical evening and we never wanted it to end :)
