Everything about our wedding was blessed by the beautiful number 2. After having to postpone the initial ceremony twice due to the pandemic, we planned a morning which involved a traditional Anglican wedding ceremony in the stunning Cathedral of St Andrew and St Michael as well as an ancient Scottish handfasting ceremony. My step-father led my into the Cathedral, which was my way of honoring him for his love and support; my biological father led the horse on which I rode to the handfasting ceremony at Slightly Nutty. Everything was so special and joyful. In every single photograph I am laughing and my dear Shaun is trying to hold in his giggles. But, the most amazing part, coming in close second to the tearful speeches that our family members made, was the contribution that each one of our best friends made during the handfasting. Our best friends and brother and sister-in-law each draped a chord over our hands with which my beloved Guide tied the knot around our hands. Each of them blessed us in their own way. Every person who came to our wedding was an integral part of it in some way. My Maid of Honor baked the most amazing wedding cakes that every guest raved about. We are so happy and grateful. It was such a long-awaited, joyful success! Every part of the day.
Shaun and I haven't gone on a honeymoon, but we did go to my uncle's game farm in June to commemorate the day we signed the legal documents three years ago. It was so lovely and Shaun did so brilliantly during the hunt that we came home with a surplus of delicious food. We hope to make it an annual trip as the van Heerdens and family. Honeymoon, for us, will be a yearly reminder of the good things that come to those who wait.
Initially, we wanted to have a Viking themed wedding. I contacted Sade Jansen, the amazing young designer from Bloemfontein, and she and I decided that the colour for the dress would be purple. I chose a mixture of purple cloths and patters and she first worked on designing a hooded cloak with a gypsy feel. This cloak had tassles, velvet fur, lace and chords. In the end a boddice was made into a purple and pink corset with a floral pattern and pink chord. For a skirt we initially thought of a velvet, Medieval looking dress with piped sleeves, but Sade decided to make a more 'wow' ombre skirt, which looked better with the corset. I wore dark purple platform shoes and a small tiara that I used to wear for Irish Dancing competitions. My step-father gave me an engelsrufer with a green center as a premature wedding gift when he first saw me in the dress and I decided to wear it on the day, along with a pair of diamond studded leaf earrings that Shaun gave me for our first Valentine's day together. My friend Luka, the daughter of my mother's life-long friend and colleague, did our makeup and her father, Stephan from Status Quo salon did my hair. Every bit of my look on that day was fairy-tale-esque; I looked and felt like a character from Grimm's Fairytales.
The traditional Anglican wedding took place in the Cathedral of St Andrew and St Michael in St George's street. It was very special. My mother, who is the organist there, played a special arrangement of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. My step-father had made the arrangement specially for Shaun. Friends of ours even played a chinese gong to simulate the canon fire at the end of the Overture. After taking a few group photos, the group moved over to Slightly Nutty where the team at this gorgeous venue had prepared the outdoors chapel for us. Friends of ours, whose kids take music lessons with me, arranged for me to ride in on one of their stunning competition steeds. The beautiful, 25 year-old Bogart carried me so well, with my daddio leading by the reigns. My friends played the Hobbit Theme from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings as I arrived. It was wonderful. The snacks prepared by Slightly Nutty for the brief photoshoot were truly to die for.
I am a full-time music teacher, with other choral directing and online teaching facilitation responsibilities on the side. My dear bridesmaids are just as talented and hard working and we hardly had time to do such prepping together. However, my mother took me to visit Cosmoderm for a manicure and pedicure the day before the wedding.
The flowers and decor were all hand-made. I bought these decorations in 2020, in preparation for the initial ceremony, and using many of what I'd bought, I build up a bit of stock. Using stumps with circular holes in them, we positioned white candles in and around them leading up to the altars of the two venues. Fairy lights decorated the banisters, along with roses folded out of sheet music, with a crystal in the middle. Some of these roses went into the bridesmaids' and my boquet. We also folded ivy leaves around the stumps and tied purple and green ribbons to some of the front row seats in the Cathedral. The beauty of this historic monument contributed greatly to the studding photos we took inside. The priest of officiated over our service, the very Reverend Father Lazarus Mohapi, wore red and gold vestments over his cassock. The team at Slightly Nutty provided tie backs and white drapes. In the light of the Spring sun, the photos taking inside the little chapel seemed to have been taken in snow. My own sound system was used for music at the reception, which took place at our house. Our friends, all musicians and artists, brought portable speakers for music at the outdoors venue.
My husband and his friends dressed like Quentin Tarentino characters in all black suits with black ties. They looked stunning, including one of my best friends, Thina, who was the most handsome of them all with her intense eyes. They bought their suits at Awerbuchs and their ties at Markhams. We wanted every possible aspect of this wedding to be reusable, including the suits. Our wedding car driver and best friend took care of white handkerchiefs.
I wanted my bridesmaids to wear what made them feel pretty. Each wore what they had which fitted with the colour scheme. The scheme consisted of purple (lavender) and green (olive). Black and white were also incorporated. Each looked stunning and unique.
The officiant at the Cathedral was the Very Reverend Father Lazarus Mohapi. The officiant of the Handfasting at Slightly Nutty was the family therapist and spiritual Guide Marie Sonnekus.
Project House Media, a photography and videography company in Bloemfontein, did the photography as well as the video. The manager of Project House Media happens to be one of my good colleagues at work and he was able to help me out, at short notice, with both of these services. We are absolutely delighted by the quality of the photographs that he took for us.
Our friend, Gerhard, did me the honour of driving me back and forth from home, to both venues and back again. He was wonderful company and, seeing as he was also our groomsman, he participated in the handfasting ceremony as well, blessing us with the final chord in our knot.
Natasja, my Maid of Honour, who is also a baker in Bloemfontein who owns and runs Tashalicious, made our wedding cake. Seeing as I'd bought a tiered cake stand along with the other stumps and rose decorations, she made three layers of cake, one for each tier. The bottom layer was a lemon and blueberry cake, the middle layer was red velvet for Shaun and the top layer was carrot cake for me. All three were baked the day before the wedding and were so fresh, the guests were fighting over which flavour is best. The left-overs didn't even last a week. Natasja also made snacks and catered for the kitchen tea a week before the wedding. All her food is to die for; I was so lucky to have her for my Maid of Honour. She was so talented in the making of the decorations at the kitchen tea that I begged some of them off her for the photo booth at the wedding reception.
The initial invitations were designed by myself. I folded envelopes out of old sheet music papers; filled them with dried lavender and inserted a little glass vile with seeds along with a printed invitation. The latest version of the invitation was an electronic copy of the first, with a photo inserted which had been taken at our pre-wedding shoot in 2020.
Our reception took place at home. Shaun and I spent time compiling a youtube playlist consisting of all our favorite tunes, from metal to indie, to film soundtracks to oldies. I set up my Gig Rig and played the music from my laptop. My friends who are also tech-savvy, played and paused the music I chose when Shaun and I arrived and walked over the little drawbridge leading to our front door. I have very handy and skilled friends.
