There is not a single moment of our wedding day that was not a highlight or memorable moment.
Waking up early in the morning with my two flower girls and Junior Bridesmaid who slept in the suite with me, and getting ready with my closest friends and new sisters was the perfect start to my day.
Having my mom and new mom-in-law help me put on my dress was such a special moment that I will cherish forever. Along with this was seeing the look on my dad's face the first time he saw me in my dress when he came to fetch me before walking me down the isle.
Making our way from the bridal suite to the chapel was a short walk and before I knew it I was faced with the beautiful stone chapel, with all our family and friends waiting inside to witness our commitment to one another in love.
A childhood dream for my wedding day that I always shared with my dad was to walk down the isle to Cannon in D played live by a string quartet. Standing at the chapel doors and watching my bridesmaids walk down before me suddenly made it all real, and then Dad and I had our moment: we walked, arm in arm, down the isle to Cannon in D played beautifully by a Classique Strings, string quartet based in Johannesburg. I couldn't hide my smile and excitement that I was about to marry the man of my dreams. Before I knew it, Dad gave me a kiss on the cheek and shook Greg's hand. He officially handed me over.
We said our vows, exchanged rings and shared our first kiss as Mr and Mrs Alexander.
We then signed the marriage register, the last time I signed any document with my maiden name.
We went on to take photos in the most beautiful setting with our family and bridal party, before heading up to the top of a mountain in a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud (another childhood wedding dream come true) to take our couple photos. We weren't alone during this time because (obviously) we were surrounded by photographers, but this couple photo session on the mountain top was so special and intimate. Perhaps it was because it was our first real calm moment together without our family and friends around.
From here, the fun and celebration began. We entered our wedding reception venue (which literally took my breath away); said a few toasts, listened to speeches, ate and then just danced the night away.
There is not one thing I would change about my fairytale wedding day.
Yes, we left the morning straight after the wedding. We rushed to the airport to board our flight to Singapore, where we boarded a ferry to an Indonesian Island, about an hour away from Singapore, called Bintan. We spent a week at the beautiful resort, exploring the beach and swimming and snorkeling in the sea. After a week of relaxation after the wedding stress, and finally having an opportunity to spend quality time together, we spent a few days exploring Singapore before heading home and starting our life as Mr and Mrs Alexander.
My wedding look was romantic with just the perfect amount of princess.
My hair and make up was done by KarenB Makeup and Hair. It was a low upstyle with roses framing the bun and a braid to the side. My make up focused on warm neutrals with bronzes and gold. Karen is so passionate, talented and knowledgable..she really knows which looks work and how to suit looks to individual brides.
My lingerie was really simple, a bridal pair of bottoms from Bras 'n Things in Sandton City. My garters were handmade and given to me as a gift by a family friend. Since Greg's dad was Scottish, my garters were made especially for me by a lady that has been a part of my life since I can remember, Deirdré Van Dalen. She handmade two garters (one for me to throw and one for me to keep after the wedding) in the Alexander Tarten. This was a truly special touch for both Greg and myself.
My jewellery consisted of diamond simulant teardrop earrings with a matching necklace from Lovisa, accompanied by a subtle diamanté bracelet from Foschini.
My dress was a 2017 St Patrick design from De La Vida Bridal Couture. It was a sweetheart neckline with sparkles on the bodice, extending into a 7 layer ballgown effect where my dress flowed with soft ruffles.
My third and final childhood wedding dream (over and above the string quartet and Rolls) was to get married in a pair of Jimmy Choo. I was fortunate enough to be spoilt with two pairs for my wedding day as a gift from a very close family friend and mentor, Staff Sithole. My wedding shoes were a pair of the Ivette range of Jimmy Choo in Dusty Glitter Platinum Ice colour, with a matching pair of Romy Flat pumps.
I have never been as close to feeling like a real life princess as on my wedding day.
The most beautiful venue in the Pretoria North/Brits area... Cussonia Crest Wedding Venue.
We stumbled on this venue by pure accident, but when I saw the beautiful and majestic stone chapel it took my breath away and I knew it was the right venue.
While there is accommodation at the venue, it was enough to only sleep our bridal party (we did have a rather large bridal party). However there are plenty of accommodation venues nearby and shuttle services to and from can also be arranged.
There wasn't really a bridal beauty regime. I did try to gym, but working fulltime as an educator and studying parttime really took up a lot of time aside from planning the wedding, so I had to stop my gym routine about two months before the wedding.
I have a deep love for chocolate and dessert, and basically anything sweet. So one month before our wedding (21 August) I promised myself that I would not indulge in any chocolate, dessert or sweet treats until our wedding date. Ever wondered how long a month truly is? Just make a commitment like this...
We also made sure to visit the oral hygienist before the big day and decided to do teeth whitening too. It was really fun to do this with Greg because we would literally just sit on the couch and laugh at each other until it was time to take the whitening plates out.
The ladies from Fingers & Toes in Randburg went the extra mile for us too and closed shop for one whole day in order to pamper myself, my bridesmaids, my mom and mom-in-law and made every effort to ensure that our nails looked beautiful after a relaxing and deserving Mani-Pedi.
I had my eyelashes done at Fabulash in Illovo two days before the wedding. Cecelia is so gentle that I fell asleep while having my lashes done...it was the most relaxed I had been in months!
We had a September wedding, and so our focus was spring and flowers. This beautifully complimented and softened the strength of the stone chapel. In the chapel we had petals sprinkled over the isle floor with a single pink rose with navy and pink ribbon tied to each isle chair. The chapel had a lot of greenery inside and guests were given handmade confetti cones (that my bridesmaids, mom and mom-in-law helped me make) with rose petals inside for throwing.
Our flowers were done by a very close family friend and her mom, who worked tirelessly the entire week leading up to the wedding to ensure that everything looked as beautiful as we had all hoped it would be, and it truly exceeded our every expectation...thank you to Wilri and her mom, Barbera, from Cats and Roses for all your hard work and beautiful eye for décor.
Our guests then enjoyed refreshments and canapés in the beautiful gardens of our venue, Cussonia Crest, with Classique Strings playing in the background. After this, our guests were lead into the reception hall by my cousin, Jason Esterhuizen, playing Ed Sheeran's Perfect and The Flower of Scotland on the Bagpipes, in honour of Greg's late father, as well as his Scottish heritage. The outdoor area was softened with fairy lights "floating" in the sky. This resonated with the fairy lights and draping inside our venue.
Our colour scheme was pink and navy. We decided to use long rectangular tables with a runner of various shades of pink and cream roses down the middle. In between the rose runner were lanterns with candles lit inside and varying heights of small wood/log stumps with t-light candles, supplied by Surina from Plant en Palm Verhurings. In front of each chair was a wooden/log underplate wiith a clear glass underplate on top of it. In the centre of this was a navy napkin, folded around a printed menu, with handmade name cards (also made by my bridesmaids and close family friends) that were made from corks and small paper roses. Next to this was our handmade thank you gift with fudge inside for each guest.
Our dance floor was fairly big and we had a personalised vinyl in the centre with our monogram and wedding date on it. HennaK, a company situated in Pretoria helped make this vinyl, as well as our welcome sign and a whole load of personalised and branded goodies for our bridal party and parents.
My groom wore a navy three-piece suit with brown Pringle shoes. His tie and pocket square was a pink tarten, which both complimented our colour scheme and his Scottish heritage.
The groomsmen all wore grey two-piece suits with brown shoes. They also wore a dusty pink/purple tie and matching pocket square.
Their cufflinks were given to them as gifts, and their suits were made by a local tailor.
The guys all looked really smart and handsome.
My bridesmaids wore beautiful long flowing dresses with a sweetheart neckline. There were two different shades of pink: one slightly darker and one slightly lighter. They wore block heels from Cotton On, and their jewellery was a gift purchased
from Lovisa.
Their dresses were bought from Sew Couture, right next door to De La Vida Bridal Couture, where we purchased my dress.
Their hair had beautiful soft curls which hung down to compliment the flowing style of their dresses, but styled back out of their faces. This also allowed for their beautiful earrings to be shown off.
Here at Sew Couture we believe it is our sole purpose in this world to bring your vision alive
Our wedding ceremony was conducted by a very close family friend, Michael De Witt, who delivered our blessing, the message and prayer.
We then had Pastor Willie Van Staden, a marriage officer, officiate our exchange of vows and rings and signed the marriage register with us.
Karla Dussing and her team from Snowflake photography captured our special day.
Karla and her entire team were the most incredible people to work with! Karla was there for every phone call and every message, even when it had nothing to do with photography. During the stressful wedding planning process, Karla was more than just a photographer, she was a friend! With Snowflake Photography, Greg and I could just be ourselves in front of the camera which is a chemistry we never had with any other photographers. Apart from that, the absolute eye for detail and art in her photography is so unique and the entire Snowflake Team has such a special gift for capturing truly special moments that my husband and I can live over and over again.
Among my studies and working fulltime as an educator, I planned the wedding with the help of my husband, my mom, dad and mom-in-law. We also asked a really good family friend, Wilri Els, to help because she has a keen eye for décor and events planning. She and her mom, from Cats n Roses, also single-handedly did all our flowers for the wedding. We are so blessed with such a selfless and supportive group of family and friends.
Ferdi from Spirit of Ecstasy helped us out with the most immaculate and beautiful Rolls Royce Silver Cloud. This was truly a dream come true and such a special moment to share with my husband.
Our venue prepared the delicious food and dessert for our wedding.
Our 6 tier wedding cake was handmade and designed by my cousin, Lenné Oberholzer. Each tier incorporated an element of our wedding, whether it was hand-painted flowers from our wedding website and invites, incorporating all the colours in our chosen colour scheme, or an element of my dress design. Each tier was also carefully designed to represent a wish that she had for our marriage, such as the grey marble textured tier which signified strength and unity.
All our stationery, including the menus; order of service; name tags; thank you cards and marriage advice cards were designed and created by me. I absolutely love playing around on my laptop and really enjoyed the fact that I could add a special touch of me in each of the stationery items. Of course, I ran every decision and design past my husband, and we decided on the final products together, although sometimes we did need to consult our parents for a third opinion.
We decided not to take dance lessons as we wanted our dance to be natural and about us, not put on a show for all our guests. Our first dance was so intimate and romantic, and even thinking about it gives me butterflies.
Our DJ service was Fame Productions, and they provided uplighting for our venue too, which softened it and added to the romantic look.
Here at Sew Couture we believe it is our sole purpose in this world to bring your vision alive
