There are honestly too many to choose! Our wedding day was just totally magical.
Leading up to the day, I was SO nervous, because we'd decided to do all the decorating and flowers ourselves. But it turned out to be one of the most memorable parts of our day. Coming together with friends and family and the feeling of everyone putting so much love into helping us was just surreal.
On the actual day, getting ready with my best friends and family was just incredible. It was something I'd wanted since I was a little girl, and it felt like a fairytale. My dad seeing me for the first time in my full dress and make up was THE MOST amazing feeling. He's been my favourite man my whole life, and seeing the look on his face made my heart swell.
Another huge highlight was seeing my Dale waiting for me at the end of the aisle, and seeing the look of pure happiness in his eyes when he saw me. It was so special.
Finally, our wedding day was seriously the most fun I had ALL of 2020. Though that bar wasn't very high. But we honestly had such a good party - I think there were maybe only 2 - 4 people inside at any point throughout the night, the rest were dancing and mingling outside and it was just incredible.
Yes.
Although 2020 tried really hard to ruin our wedding plans, we did go on a short, local honeymoon. We went to Shamwari Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape. We got an AMAZING deal, and it meant we could visit the most incredible, 5 star game lodge, when we would never have been able to otherwise.
It was spectacular.
Originally, my mom was going to make my dress. One afternoon in February 2020, we decided to go look at Tying the Knot Bridal Boutique to see what styles I liked. We ended up finding the most incredible dress, which was on sale at their end of season sale, and I couldn't leave it behind. It was the PERFECT dress for me, fitted me perfectly and was exactly what I was looking for. I also got all our gowns from Tying the Knot and they were amazing.
My hair and make up was done by the incredibly talented Peach Cronje (http://www.peachcronje.com/ @peachcronjemakeup) - she did an amazing job. I had had a terrible year of fighting with acne which had FINALLY cleared up but I had scarring which made me uncomfortable, and she just made my makeup look effortless and flawless. I'm so grateful to her for making me feel confident on my special day.
All my jewellery was either gifted by my mom and sister, or loaned to me by my bridesmaids. It made it so special and sentimental. My wedding and engagement rings were made by the ultra-talented Claire of Botantica Jewellery.
We pride ourselves in giving every bride a truly unique and intimate fitting experience.
Die Woud was seriously the greatest decision we made around the wedding. It was the first venue we went to see, and as soon as I'd seen it I knew I wouldn't want to get married anywhere else. I always wanted a fairy wedding in the forest, and this was just perfect.
The food was delicious, the day-of planner, Leandre, was the GREATEST service provided by the venue - she was just so helpful and kept the chaos completely under control on the day.
Overall, Die Woud was absolutely amazing.
Die Woud is in perfect harmony with nature nestled between established oak trees and majestically tall wattle forests.
So I struggled with acne most of 2020, which was awful. It was a constant insecurity for me leading up to the wedding. Luckily, I found an amazing dermatologist (Dr Lapiner at Tash360) and laser technologist (Angie, also at Tash360) who really helped clear my skin and reduce my scarring. I'm so grateful to both of them.
About a year before the wedding a started to really love fitness when I joined F45 Woodstock, and just kept up with that. Nothing particularly different because of the wedding itself, but I was so glad I felt fit and strong for the wedding so I could literally dance the night away.
Because of my skin treatments, I wasn't able to get a tan before the wedding. So I got a spray tan from the VERY talented Kerry (@capetown_renewskin) - she did and amazing job and the colour was so natural.
Flower, decor and lighting was all done by us. My mom and I spent months before the wedding collecting glass vases, table runners, candles and fairy lights. It was a really special time for me to get to share all my ideas with my mom and bring them to life.
Flowers stressed me out until about 6 weeks before the wedding, when a friend (@marypaintsweddings who ADORES flowers and is so talented and creative) came to the rescue with spreadsheets and organisational skills I just didn't have. She helped me with what and how much to order, and she set up our beautiful arch arrangement. The vases and hanging flower installations in the reception venue were an absolute mammoth team effort on the evening before and morning of the wedding, and I wouldn't change it for the world!
All the furniture was set up by Die Woud. Their team is so efficient and their setup is gorgeous and fitted the whole theme/feel of our wedding so perfect. I wanted people to feel relaxed and enjoy themselves, and it did exactly that.
Dale (the groom) and his groomsmen all got their waistcoats from Eurosuit in Canal Walk. The groom's jacket was also from Eurosuit. Then we decided to go with chinos instead of suit pants, so we got those from Woolworths and Edgars to match the colours correctly. The ties and pocket squares were all from Eurosuit and matched my bridesmaids dressed perfectly.
My bridesmaids were in a 2 / 3 split. One of my bridesmaids was my sister, and she is NOT a dress person. So she matched more closely to the groomsmen, and wore dark grey chinos, a white shirt and a grey waistcoat which she had made by a small tailor shop. She looked amazing. My other two bridesmaids wore infinty dresses from Bride & Co in a beautiful dusty mint green. They were in Zimbabwe until the week before the wedding, so alterations were interesting, but we made it work!
Ronnie Cawood - a long time friend of Dale's family was our marriage officer. He made it so special and it was very sentimental to have a family friend officiating.
Our photographer was Talita Van Greuning (@inkawinka). She was incredible in every way. I stalked her for 3 months before booking her, knew I wanted it to be her and never asked for a quote from anyone else. She captures raw, un-posed, real moments so beautifully and I'm so thankful to have found her.
We also had a videographer, Jacques Nel (Imaginaria, info@sunsetsavant.com). He was unreal and brought such an amazing energy to the whole day. He was calm and unassuming, and he really seemed not to be able to pull himself away from the action! We can't wait to see what he captured, and we had such fun working with him.
Cape Town based Wedding and Elopement photographer, documenting love in its most honest forms.
We only had a day-of planner, which was Leandre Louw from Die Woud. She was AMAZING and completely worth it. I don't know what I would've done without her. She really made sure everything on the day was perfect and stress free, and she put my mind at ease so many times leading up to the wedding. We LOVE her!
Die Woud provided all the food for the wedding, and it was absolutely delicious! People remember the food at a wedding, and this was definitely a highlight.
My mom made our wedding cake, which was really sentimental and something I'd always wanted. It was perfect.
Die Woud is in perfect harmony with nature nestled between established oak trees and majestically tall wattle forests.
I designed all the stationery myself based on the colours and feel of the wedding. We had all the placecards, menus and the order of events printed at Orms and they did an incredible job in record time!
Sounds for the whole wedding was done by Patrick of Essential Music. He was so professional and honestly played the best music. He kept EVERYONE on the dancefloor - all generations, all music tastes, he had everyone covered and it made for such a great party. We had so much fun.
We pride ourselves in giving every bride a truly unique and intimate fitting experience.
Cape Town based Wedding and Elopement photographer, documenting love in its most honest forms.
Die Woud is in perfect harmony with nature nestled between established oak trees and majestically tall wattle forests.
