Reghardt got down on one knee on the 31st December 2018, at the same venue where we got married 2 years later.
Our wedding day was truly magical in every way, like a true vision board that came to life. There are several moments of the day that I cherish, with my favourite being when we shared our private vows. We did not see each other but hearing his voice was the greatest comfort on an otherwise stressful morning.
In the morning, when I woke up, I received a gift box with pearls from his aunty that passed away from cancer. The passing of Reghardt's aunty was weighing heavily on his heart on this day especially as he was very close with her and would have loved for her to share our special day together, so receiving this gift made it a special moment for both of us.
It also made me realise that today is finally the day that I am getting married, no more postponements due to Covid-19.....it was officially THEE BIG DAY.
Reghardt is Afrikaans and I am Portuguese so we decided to mix a bit of both cultures in to get our perfect new type of traditional wedding style. It took a bit of planning and compromising to meet the perfect balanced combination, including the groom learning the traditional Portuguese dance.
Our wedding had a lot of surprises which included not only my wedding dress-by the lovely ladies from Brides of Somerset, but also Jan Blohm which is one of the moments I will remember forever as the groom cried when he saw this surprise.
After an eventful night of dancing, speeches, great food, amazing company and so many memories made it was the best feeling when we woke up next to each other the next morning married, and our life together had officially started.
The groom surprised me with a Safari Honeymoon at Garden Route Lodge for two nights. We are hoping we can eventually have a longer international honeymoon as we lost our original honeymoon plans to go to Bali due to Covid-19
I bought my wedding dress as I was scared to have a dress made. I knew I wanted white lace and of-course some sparkle.
The year 2020 was definitely the year where two wedding dresses trended amongst most brides. I chose to make a bodice for the ceremony which could be removed, creating a second look for the reception which still fitted into the wedding budget.
I have always had long length hair so I was in two minds about what I wanted to do with it because I love both the up-style and down. Romay created this absolutely beautiful up style that suited me perfectly for the ceremony with my bodice piece. For my second look I removed the bodice and revealed the low cut back of my dress with swarovski embellished stones. My bridesmaids get the credit for my second hair look as they let it loose and styled it by placing two gorgeous long sparkly pins in the correct places in world record time, leaving my hair in soft curls semi cover g my open back. This would not have been possible without them.
I normally don't wear make-up but Kari created an absolutely stunning natural look with a touch of gold and a bit of a smokey eye design that brought out my dark eyes. Not only was Kari a make-up artist but she kept me calm right through the day and was quick to do touch up as soon as the tears came.
My garter was made by LenaLisa, who ultimately helped make my vision come true by providing advice and professional guidance as she created the mother of the brides dress.
I completed my look with earnings that the groom bought for me as one of the first gifts when we started the wedding planning process.
Dress: Brides of Somerset
Make up: Kari Stofberg
Hair: Mont Romay
Hair Accessories: Brides of Somerset and lovisa
Lahes: Lintz Lashes
Nails: Minelliart
Garter: LenaLise
Bridal gown: Vows Bridal
Wedding shoes: The Adore Collection
Lingerie: Bras and Things
We got married at Picardi Place in Rawsonville, just over an hour drive from Cape-Town, situated in the Slanghoek Valley. We fell in-love with this venue because this was where our journey started. It was where he asked me to marry him. The venue has a rustic farm style with breathtaking mountains surrounding it. It is situated between the vineyards which creates a relaxed atmosphere. With lush green gardens, it was without a doubt the best place where we decided to place a marquee tent, allowing our reception area to be an open air gallery of majestic views for all the guests to see. The venue also offers guest accommodation. We used the big tree as our focus point of the ceremony. We decided to get married underneath the tree as it reminded us of a family tree and how its branches can not exist if there is no trunk (symbolizing us). We used the rustic style barn as our pre-drinks area which was the grooms preferred style. As soon as you enter the marquee tent it was a completely different style which portrayed more of the bride-clean, sparkly and bohemian classic. Although these were two totally different styles, they came together and complimented one another beautifully.
Our original wedding date was the 25th April. At this time my skin was in a perfectly smooth condition but then we had to postpone the wedding due to lock down and in the meanwhile the N95 masks and surgical masks I had to wear at work caused a severe acne reaction resulting in me having to change my skin routine. The team from skin-renewal in Durbanville (Candice) assisted with this. I had a lot of facial treatments leading up to the day leaving my skin silky smooth and clear.
I was also very strict on myself, sticking to a strict diet and exercising as much as possible.
The venue had a rustic atmosphere but we decided to use the green gardens and the vineyards to our advantage. Best Event provided the stretch tent and To-nettes made it look like an elegant fairytale with fairy lights, candles and orchids everywhere. The main flowers were orchids chosen as myself and my husband absolutely love them. The guests table had a more classic look. White and green was the colour scheme with a touch of gold. The main table had the most beautiful arrangement of pink, whit and green flowers suspended from the roof giving it a modern touch to the classic look and an assortment of candles arranged on the table.
Flowers: To-netts
Decor:To-netts
Furniture: To-netts
Tent:Best Events
Dance floor: Best Events
‘Live your dream wedding with To-Nett’s’ For more than 30 years our inspiration has been our clients!
Reghardt wore a navy blue suit which he had bought by Carducci accompanied by a crisp white shirt from Polo and a burgundy tie, I gifted him with a tie clip with an engraving on it (he looked so handsome!). The groomsmen hired their grey suits from Eurosuit, and wore it with crisp white shirts and navy ties. All the socks were by Polo, ties from Coffieties and shoes by Tread and Miller.
My favourite colour has always been burgundy, possibly because it reminds me of red wine so my two best friends wore this colour knee high criss cross thin strapped evening gowns. My two loving sisters wore blush pink. We had a tight budget with their dresses but we managed to find dresses on sale at Forever New. I wanted them to feel great and let the dress compliment their bodies, allowing them to be comfortable in it. Each one of them wore a hair piece or earnings that were rose gold and had a bit of bling in it. They all wore plain nude block heels from Mr Price which is simple enough that they can wear it again. The decision behind the block heel was based on the fact that the ceremony was in the garden.
My flower girls are my sisters little girls, both 7 years old. They were dressed in lovely white dresses that I found at the bargain store. They had matching pretty sparkling shoes. I think their dresses matched them so well as they swirled, twirled and danced the whole night long. The older flower girl is my Godmother's daughter, she wore the same Forever New dress as my bridesmaids and it absolutely stunned me as she transformed into a beautiful young lady in her outfit. She looked so mature wearing heels for the first time.
I am absolutely blessed with the most beautiful bridesmaids. The amount of support that these 5 ladies have given me and guided me and absolutely spoiled me as a bride just proved how lucky I was to have had them beside me on my wedding day.
We choose to use Zark Goosen and Beverley Froon from Eyelikephotography to capture our big day. We chose them because of their natural, moody photography style. They are the best couple in the business. They are more than just photographers, they have such a calming presence about them and they are honestly one of the nicest humans to be around. They assisted in so much more than what they were actually supposed to do. They blew us away with their wedding photos. The quality and quantity that we have to remember our special day for many years to come is phenomenal as they captured each special moment so perfectly.
Having a full time job and planning your own wedding is tough. I had a wonderful Godmother and bridesmaids who helped me with planning most of the wedding. I spent hours on pinterest brainstorming ideas and asking my bridesmaids if it would work.
I had the honour of also working with the Wedding fairy as my on-the-day wedding coordinator who made everything run smooth. She was such a blessing, I literally did not have to stress about anything at the venue because she handled it so well.
Our pre-drinks followed with a harvest table made up with freshly baked bread, spreads, condiments and so much more. Luckily for us the venue packed a picnic basket for my husband and I so we could also enjoy it while we were away having our couple photoshoot done. The food was prepared by Jaco from Picardi Place who is also the owner of the stunning venue. It was so delicious, I even had a SECOND plate!
For our mains we had pork neck with roasted vegetables fresh from the farms garden, roasted potato salad with spring onions. A bulgur wheat and lentil salad topped with a fresh caramelized red onion dressing. For dessert we had delicious carrot cake which was juicy and tasted marvellous.
Our wedding cake was made by Lameez Adams from Just Baked who is a well known baker. We chose a classic red velvet cheesecake as it is both of our favrouites and reminded us of our first official date we went on. Lameez also created our dessert station that had an array of miniature desserts. Was just so much goodness in one place.
We met this lovely lady at a wedding expo, Henriette Borcherds. She created marvellous designs for our wedding that complimented the decor theme. She made the menus for the table as well as the vinyl sticker for my sentimental mirror that welcomed the guest. As the guests entered the marquee they got a champagne glass with their name on a swirl stick.
The ceremony program was made and designed by me as well as the guest gift tags.
Like everyone says there are some things that make a wedding great and one of them is the DJ. Lucky for me, choosing the DJ was the easiest choice of the whole wedding because with DJ Arries you are bound to have a good time. He incorporates various genres of music and adheres to requests such as my wish to include my Portuguese families traditional dances.
I surprised the groom with one of his favourite artists of all time-Jan Blohm, who was AMAZING at keeping the guests entertained!!!The Groom was beyond speechless and emotional with this surprise. I can remember turning around and looking at all of the guest faces as they where so shocked, asking "Is this really him?' Like we had our fan moment he entertained the guest during the pre-drinks.
‘Live your dream wedding with To-Nett’s’ For more than 30 years our inspiration has been our clients!
