How do you pick your most memorable moment from such an amazing day?
We had a small wedding of 50 closest family and friends and I would not change it for a thing. I lost both my godparents before the wedding and we had doves fly to remember that they were still celebrating with us. We had an amazing dessert display instead of just a simple cake and between time spent with everyone and my dad pretending not to cry while walking me down the aisle, I would say our whole day was my favorite.
We were lucky enough to go on a honeymoon after we were told we could not go to Mauritius. Our honeymoon was delayed by a month to change our plans and move it to Zanzibar but it was worth it. We were only there for 7 days, but we made them count. We went diving, island hopping, saw the massive tortoises, visited prison island, walked through Stone City, did the famous Spice Farm, and took in the sun on the beaches and by the pools. We had live entertainment every night which made the hotel stay so much more exciting.
We love old and outdoors and we are definitely not a big fan of flowers so we went for the rustic feel.
We chose natural colors like green and brown and navy with a touch of burgundy. the venue we chose was the right fit and they understood what we wanted from the start. Deciding on a wedding dress is harder than they let on, so instead of choosing one I had my main dress for the dinner, an overskirt for the alter, and had my mom make me after dress for the "kuier". It was worth every change.
I looked at so many venues to try and find the right one, but when we walked into Imperfect Perfection it was exactly that - Imperfectly Perfect. We love old and outdoors and we are definitely not a big fan of flowers so we went for the rustic feel.
We chose natural colors like green and brown and navy with a touch of burgundy. the venue we chose was the right fit and they understood what we wanted from the start. Our guests arrived on Friday for a "get to know each other" braai, stayed for the wedding, and then slept over again for the Sunday goodbye breakfast. It was a great idea because on the wedding day everyone already knew each other and had a great time together.
HAHAHA what beauty routine... who has time for all of that also.
I am a very simple woman who does not like maintenance, so for me it was easy.... every day was the same. No-fuss and no issues.
We were lucky as our venue arranged for everything and made everything perfect, the little things we added we made our self which added the personal touch. We wanted our table names to not make anyone think they are preferred so we chose "the language of love" to describe those we love and what they mean to us. It made for fun conversation.
The navy suit and burgundy undercoat my husband chose worked so well with his stunning looks. the groomsmen were dressed in burgundy suits and navy undercoats, which we bought for them to show our appreciation. The dads were dressed in charcoal-colored suits that fitted both their styles and made them look very fancy.
I always gave the choice to them with regards to what they wanted to wear as long as they all looked the same and were comfortable. They fitted a number of dresses and decided on a two-piece (top and skirt). We needed to combine it with groomsmen's suits, which was more fun than you would think especially since they had to remake the skirts with the right colors. In the end, they looked stunning and we also bought the outfits for them, which is a score.
Our venue referred us to a marriage officer (Braam Klopper) as we were not sure who to use, but from the first meeting to the ceremony, he understood what we were about and how we wanted to receive our message as well as what we wanted our family and friends to hear. So, after changing his program a little (due to me forgetting my vows) the ceremony went better than we could have imagined.
We decided we did not want the formal pictures and videos and all for our wedding as we are a very informal couple. Pioneer Studios captured our day perfectly and made the guests feel comfortable while having fun. We did a video guest book instead of the normal writing which worked great as our guests had time to tell us a story.
The venue did all the planning and coordination for the day, which was great as we did not have to worry about anything.
With all of us sleeping at the venue there was no need for transport, but the one thing which was amazing is the venue had an old Borgward Isabella in light blue which drove my dad and me to the bush chapel, which was very special for my dad.
The venue prepared the food and everybody could not stop talking about how tasteful it was and they ensured there was more than enough for everyone. Our wedding cake top was made by a lady I know and always use (Biani) and had vanilla, mint, and red velvet inside. The rest of our cake was made out of our favorite Krispy Cream doughnuts.
My friend (Sharon du Toit) designed all our stationary and we were so happy with them, they matched our weeding look, venue, and the idea of what we wanted to create. I take my hat off for her because being a perfectionist I don't think it was very easy for her, having to make it perfect, but she did it with a smile every time.
We chose to have a friend of ours (Christiaan Baartman) play music at the reception as well as be a DJ during the whole night. He created a perfect vibe for our guests while we were taking photos. He sang songs throughout the night as well as playing music that people were dancing to from young and old. We chose "Love and Marriage" - the Adams family song to enter the reception that matched our personalities and made our guests laugh. After the cake cutting, we opened the party with a final entry where we changed into our comfortable clothes and I put the dress on my mom made, and we danced onto the dance floor with "kom ons raak vuil soos wit skoene" and our sneakers.
