This wedding was a fairytale, a dream come true, made possible by our friends, family and suppliers who dreamed this fairytale into life.
A memorable moment of my day was my dad looking at me in awe and saying "you look stunning" as we climbed the grand staircase at Memoire to walk down the aisle. I had a custom made aisle which was centred by winter trees and votives, with my dashing husband standing at the end, It was an emotional moment made more emotional by "shelter" -Dash Berlin paying in the background and giving me all the feels.
I loved, loved our first dance. That was our moment of euphoria. We had been at the Five6seven8 studio for two months prior to our wedding and we had danced to both "Always remember us this way" - Lady Gaga and "Breathless" - Shayne Ward. We had a dry ice machine and a winter wonderland background so this dance looked and felt like a dream, I could have floated away.
My father daughter dance was also very emotional for me, we danced to "Home" by Michael Buble.
I had the best moments getting ready with my bridesmaid and maid of honour, at the Fairlawns Boutique Hotel - (Villa Moji which is also featured on SA Weddings Instagram page.) As we were getting ready, I handed them Forever New earrings that I had bought for them to wear and thanked them for everything they had done for me and told them how I proud I am of the women they have become and we cried, I think of this when I look back at our getting ready photos in our personalised gowns and slippers.
Finally getting to wear my Enzoani Couture wedding dress was amazing! I had my pick of wedding dresses and had flown to London with my sister to get my shoes from Sophia Webster Bridal Boutique on Sloane Avenue so finally getting to wear my slayer dress and shoes made me positively giddy!
I loved our handwritten letters, after the reveal we did a gift and letter exchange. We had co-ordinated some of our gifts and tried to do opposites.
He had given me white box which read "To My Beautiful Wife" on the lid in black lettering and "You are my today and all of my tomorrow's" underneath the lid. Inside the box was custom white satin pajamas from Adore Couture.
He had also given me a custom made box, with a picture from our ceremony which was done at Four Season's The Westcliff and inside were two letters, one to be opened in five years and one for our wedding day. It was very emotional and definitely a highlight of the day.
I had also given him a black box which read "To My Gorgeous Husband" on the lid in white lettering and "I can't wait to walk down the aisle to you" underneath the lid. Inside the box was custom black satin pajamas from Adore Couture.
I also gave him two letters in a custom made box, with a different picture from our ceremony.
This was a day that I will cherish, we had planned and worked really hard to make this wedding possible and with the grace of the man above everything came together.
Prior to our wedding, we had our ceremony at Four Seasons The Westcliff in September. We also had a mehndi night before our wedding reception. We had matching red and gold outfits made in Mumbai-India for this event. I have shared pictures of these two events
We planned to go on honeymoon to the South of France as well as Greece. Our destinations included; Monte-Carlo, Nice, Cannes and then Athens, Mykonos and Santorini. However, due to Covid we were not able to go on honeymoon in June or have our wedding at that time.
We stayed at The Four Seasons - Westcliff hotel for a few days after getting married for a short break.
The COVID cases are still high and International borders are not all open.
I believe the bridal look should be timeless and classic, which is what I was going for. I didn't want to change my hair colour, use contact lenses, put extensions in, none of it. I wanted to be as natural as possible.
My hair was done by Ricky, who has done training with the legendary Georgiy Kot. Ricky is so talented and he is a true hair artist. His hands create magic.
My make up was also classic, done by Tasneem Bamath who is no longer in Johannesburg but travels for certain brides. Tasneem is such a talented individual who has years of experience and undergone training internationally. She is the undisputed queen of make up and I am so honoured that she had travelled up to Johannesburg to do my make up. My make-up trial was so quick and on the day of my wedding I didn't have a stress in the world, knowing that I had her as my artist.
My wedding dress was from Enzoani. It has a double train and is the most beautiful wedding dress that I have ever seen. There is not a single thing I would change on my wedding dress. I had been looking at brands across the board, travelled to every notable designer house, but eventually I found the one. This dress was a fantasy. The first time I saw it, I stared at it for a good ten minutes, I even had to touch each part of the dress to make sure it was real. Bridal Wardrobe in Melrose was able to source it for me along with extra lace, which I am ever so grateful for. This is my favourite Bridal Boutique in all of SA.
In August 2019, I flew to London with my sister specifically to try on my Wedding Shoes from Sophia Webster. I had to have those famous butterflies fluttering on my ankles and the "Wifey for Lifey" on the soles. Once I saw these shoes online it was love at first sight, it was never going to be any shoe other than Sophia Webster. We don't have a Sophia Webster in South Africa, our only option for luxury shoes are Jimmy Choo's. But, I wanted Sophia Webster's butterflies! I emailed the boutique ahead that I was flying in for wedding shoes, when my sister and I landed in Heathrow, within an hour we were at Sophia Webster. The rest is history. #WifeyForLifey
My garter was made by Kathleen Barry in Cape Town, which is the place for hand made luxury garters. It was absolutely beautiful and she had even rushed my order. What a kind soul and what great service.
The only jewellery I wore was tear drop earrings, which was from Bridal Accessories SA. My dress was off shoulder so tear drop earrings were the perfect complement.
My lingerie was from Bling Happiness which is a local business that imports bridal negligee and was absolutely superb. Bling Happiness also designed and custom made an Armani Satin bridal gown for dressing, I wanted to try something different and add a sentimental touch to my gown, so we went back and forth with her in-house graphic designer over months, The gown had "Bride" on the back followed by rose gold butterflies fluttering and a thick belt with landmarks and icons of all the places my husband and I had visited together in the past five years, this was printed on the two edges of the belt, to celebrate the journey of our incredible love story.
Bling Happiness also designed the gowns for my bridesmaid and maid of honour and our personalised slippers.
I stayed at the Fairlawns Boutique Hotel - Villa Moji from the Friday leading up to my Wedding. Villa Moji at the Fairlawns Boutique Hotel really is luxury at it's finest, the private entrance, the private pool, lounges at the pool, sitting lounge, dining room, study and all the space it comes with, made this weekend next level for me and was the best place to stay for the wedding weekend. My getting ready photos were so different and staying at this hotel was one of the best choices we made. I loved every moment here.
Bridal Wardrobe is the leading stockist of all Enzoani Collections in South Africa and caters for the modern bride who wants to be at the forefront of the latest designer trends.
Set among lush acres of landscaped gardens you’ll find Fairlawns Boutique Hotel and Spa, an urban sanctuary right in the heart of Johannesburg.
We got married at Memoire Wedding Venue in Muldersdrift.
We also stayed over at this beautiful venue.
This venue has everything, a separate entrance for the bride to enter from a grand staircase, a bridal suite, beautiful gardens that makes you feel like Alice in Wonderland! This is such a beautiful wedding venue.
You don't have to get ready elsewhere unless you choose to, you don't have to travel to a different location to take photos. It is absolutely perfect. When you plan a wedding or visit many wedding's you learn a lot and I can genuinely say I chose the best venue possible aesthetically and practically.
I am a huge lover of Korean skin care products and I buy alot from Ko-glo beauty which is an onine store situated in Johannesburg. I also love the Tony Moly Sheet masks.
A week before the wedding I used the Mediheal Collagen Impact mask which I feel shows immediate results.
I also purchased the Petitfree Black Pearl and Gold Eye Patches which I used every night for a week up until the wedding which really helped with my dark circles.
I waxed my face at Sorbet a few days before the wedding and I used the Aloe Sheet Mask after waxing to ensure I would not break out.
I also use the Huxley Glow Awakening Cream which is a brightening antioxidant moisturiser. It protects the skin from environmental stressors, I use this absolutely every night, it is magic in a bottle. This can be purchased from Dermastore which is situated in Cape Town.
Our decor was dreamed up by both myself and our decor artist, Esmie, who I consider to be a dear friend. This wedding was meant to take place in June and we had envisioned a winter wonderland. Nevertheless, I had a Winter Wonderland in Summer. With COVID, it's adapt or die and Esmie made everything look even better than I dreamed.
The decor included a custom made aisle, that would be wide enough for my train, as my Enzoani dress had a double train.
Esmie even came to my dress fitting to measure the train to make sure that the aisle would be big enough. The aisle had plinths on either side with winter trees, candles and votives, it was absolutely beautiful.
Esmie co-ordinated with Socialight to make sure the lighting would have an ethereal feel and give the feeling of a winter wonderland. She also organised all the furniture, lounge pockets for the garden area, the specific chairs I wanted for my guests as I noticed that a lot of weddings have one main table with comfortable and high end chairs while the rest of the guests sit on plastic or tiffany chairs. I wanted madison chairs for every guest and Esmie made it happen.
Esmie also had my stage made, had the corners draped in white chiffon and created flowers arrangements encircling the edges. Everything we did, we wanted it to be original, we wanted to be the first to try new things and we wanted to set trends, from the photo booth to the decor, to the flowers, to my shoes. We wanted to be original.
WeddingTunes did my beautiful gloss white dance floor and Esmie has our names put in the middle.
It would be fair to say Esmie handled absolutely everything. I will be forever grateful to her as she is the engineer of my dream. There is a reason she is featured on Mzansi and achieved the success she has.
We offer wedding design, styling, flowers and decor hire. Every wedding is different, so we always create a design that will suit your personal style or theme.
My handsome groom wore a black tailor made Tuxedo made by TailorMe. This has satin lapels, satin buttons and a satin stripe down the pants. It was a 3 piece tuxedo with a waist coat.
Included in the box I had given him, I gifted him cufflinks that said "Groom", socks that said "Incase you get cold feet" on the left leg and "From your bride 20.12.2020" on the right leg and boxers that said "Groom" on the left short and "Property of the bride" on the right.
The cufflinks were from That Bloke.
The socks and boxer shorts were made by PolkaDot Box in Cape Town, who so kindly personalized this for me before she went on maternity leave.
The box was made by BoxBoutique.
For The Busy Bride! Box Boutique offers a simple gifting solution for a variety of occasions.
My bridesmaids wore a champagne holly cowl dress by Forever New, earrings from Forever New and nude Shoes from Forever New. It was a classic look, they looked so beautiful. They both had their hair done in a low chignon bun by Ricky and Tasneem also did their make up beautifully.
I was lucky enough to have the illustrious and international, Ryan Graham fly in to do my photography on my big day. Christoff from Verve films also flew in to accompany him and did my videography. Both suppliers are based in Cape Town.
Ryan has a way with bride's, he makes you feel so beautiful, he makes you comfortable, he brings you to life through his lens. I am so honoured that he did the photos for my wedding, the first thing I chose when I planned my wedding was Ryan. I would have changed my date based on his availability, that is how much I revere his work. Christoff is not just beautiful to look at, he is also such a joy to be around.
We used QuikPix photo booth for entertainment for our guests. The photobooth was next level! It is a Hollywood lit up mirror which takes shots of guests. It is touch screen and an operator assisted each guest. The photobooth is led by twin red ropes and a red carpet. There were props, print outs and online hosting on our custom winter wonderland background.
Esmie went beyond decor, she planned every single detail of my wedding.
We offer wedding design, styling, flowers and decor hire. Every wedding is different, so we always create a design that will suit your personal style or theme.
The food was catered by a local supplier, a friend of the groom’s dad.
The cake was lit up by soft lilac lighting on a podium with crystals designed by Esmie.
The 4 tier winter wonderland and classic white cake with blueberry filling, was made by the famous Kelly Jayne. Kelly really is the best in the business, her cakes aren't just beautiful, they are delicious.
This amazing mother and daughter duo have been featured in many magazines and have won prestigious awards like 1st place in the 2014 Good Food And Wine Show Wedding Cake Challe...
My Husband dabbles in graphic designing even though he is an engineer by profession. He designed most of our stationery and had it printed as well, he kept within the winter wonderland theme.
We took lessons for two months at the Five6seven8 studio, it was very taxing but at the same time rewarding, romantic and memorable. Alyssa Steyl is the most amazing dancer I have ever come across and she choreographed a dance for us that was really special. Our Sound was done by Wedding Tunes and lighting was done by Socialight.
We had a DJ and a wedding singer which was both booked through Wedding Tunes.
Our wedding singer, Warren Garvie, is a South African ginger Ed-Sheeran! He plays the guitar and his voice is heaven. I couldn't have had a better wedding singer. I am so grateful for his talent and his presence at my wedding.
As you start the final phases of the preparation of your wedding day, wedding dance lessons come to mind. At Five6seven8 our focus is Your Wedding Dance, from bridal party...
Set among lush acres of landscaped gardens you’ll find Fairlawns Boutique Hotel and Spa, an urban sanctuary right in the heart of Johannesburg.
Bridal Wardrobe is the leading stockist of all Enzoani Collections in South Africa and caters for the modern bride who wants to be at the forefront of the latest designer trends.
As you start the final phases of the preparation of your wedding day, wedding dance lessons come to mind. At Five6seven8 our focus is Your Wedding Dance, from bridal party...
For The Busy Bride! Box Boutique offers a simple gifting solution for a variety of occasions.
This amazing mother and daughter duo have been featured in many magazines and have won prestigious awards like 1st place in the 2014 Good Food And Wine Show Wedding Cake Challe...
We offer wedding design, styling, flowers and decor hire. Every wedding is different, so we always create a design that will suit your personal style or theme.
