I wish I could relive every moment because there were so many that were so beautiful and heartwarming, but it flew by so quickly. My brother walked me down the isle because my father passed away a few years ago and when I got to the isle where my father would have lifted my veil, the wind suddenly picked up without warning and blew my veil up into the sky. To me it was a sign that he was there, giving me away.
As so many other couples, our official honeymoon is postponed until we are able to enjoy travel without restrictions. A few weeks after our wedding we took a quick trip to a mountain resort in Mpumalanga to recharge our batteries. We spent the time exploring some of the most beautiful parts of our country. A highlight was the breathtaking views at God's Window.
My Dress was a Milla Nova dress from Vonve' Bridal in Jhb.
Shoes were Polo and my accessories were from Lovisa.
I decided on a soft updo because my dress had such an intricate bodice and thought it would be best to keep my hair, makeup and accessories simple so that the focus was on my dress.
My hair and makeup was done by Studio Luxe Collective in Bloemfontein.
We got married at De Oudekraal Country Estate about 40km outside Bloemfontein. Our ceremony was held on their lush lawns and our fotos taken in beautiful the veld, we were even spoiled with a magnificent Free State sunset.
De Oudekraal has that warm, welcoming farmstyle feeling that my husband and I wanted for our special day.
Most of our guests stayed at the estate for the duration of the weekend.
Our original wedding date was April 2020 but uncle Cyril announced level 5 lockdown just two weeks before our big day. During lockdown and over the next few months I gained my fair share of weight and low and behold when the time came to take my dress out again, it was too small! I had to start training and eating healthy with immediate effect or else I would have to source a new dress. I trained 4 to 5 times per week using kettle weights and doing HIIT workouts. Slimming back down into my dress certainly was the most stressful and emotionally difficult experience of my wedding but with a lot of sweat and tears I managed to reach my goal with two weeks to spare.
In the months leading up to my wedding I went for regular facials and about 4 microneedling sessions to even out my skintone and glow up my complextion.
I had a coffee date with the floral/decor designer, Chanel from BLOM online in Bloemfontein and told her that I love the colours of a sunset and gave her free reigns to do what she does best and make our special day beautiful. I wanted to walk into my reception and be surprised! She exceeded my expectations and every detail was perfect. I walked into the hall and the decor felt like me, she had perfectly executed my vibe.
Dylan from "Lighticle" added the most beautiful fairy lights, fairy light curtains and ambient lighting to give the big reception hall a feeling of romance and intimacy.
The grooms suit was from Woolworths and his shoes were Dune. The groomsmen wore chinos from Markhams with crisp white shirts and burgundy ties from "Knotted Ties"
My bridesmaids wore soft, flowwy dresses in same "sunset colours" as my flowers. Their dresses were made by Gerna de Bruin from Kimberley.
Our marriage officer was Edwin Clarke from Life Church in Kimberley.
Our photographer was Louis Reynhardt from Louis Reynhardt Productions in Bloemfontein.
We had coffee with him a few weeks before our wedding to get to know him and discuss the sequence of events on our big day.
He made us feel so at ease and his photographs speak for themselves. He knew exactly how to capture the essence of us as a couple. I Love our photographs and will cherish them forever.
Marie-Louise from De Oudekraal took care of all the details on the wedding day. Everything ran smoothly and I was able to just enjoy our day without any anxiety.
Being at such an exquisite estate we walked everywhere... Luckily the bridal suite was a short walk to where we waited to walk down the isle.
Our food was prepared by Marie-Louise and her team at De Oude Kraal Country Estate. Our guests still discuss how amazing the food was. It was definitely the highlight our our wedding. We decided to have festival food stalls, but when it came to deciding what each stall would have to offer I let the professionals suprise me once again. For canapes we had pork belly bites, tempura prawns, skaap stertjies to name a few. Later the evening when the dinner stalls opened we had a selection of seafood (crab, oysters and mussels) and a butter chicken curry stall. There were burgers, pizza slices and lamb spit. Rooster koek and rump and a wide selection of desserts.
My wedding cake was made by Dineo Motsapi from Misty Speciality Cakes in Bloemfontein.
My stationary was designed by my bridesmaid and printed by Label Lab in Kimberley.
Our sound was done by Creative Kilowatt and we had a DJ creating the perfect vibe to party the night away.
