Petri and I studied together at Kovsies. We met each other in my first year, his third year back then. Petri left University after his fifth year and went on to work in Namibia, his birth country. We lost all communication for a long time, till I sent him a Facebook message asking him about job opportunities in and around Namibia. Needless to say, the talking didn’t stop at working opportunities and we fell in love.
Petri is a Professional Hunter and absolutely lives for hunting. I also like hunting and it's been something we do together from the start. For the proposal Petri arranged with some of his friends to set up a "fake hunt". The morning of the proposal one of his friends came to tell Petri that they saw some nice Gemsbuck in a certain area on the farm. We got all our hunting things together and drove to that certain place. I have to say I noticed a type of nervousness in Petri for that specific hunt. Well, we reached the point where the Land Cruiser couldn't drive anymore and we started walking and stalking this "gemsbuck".
We got to a point where Petri put up the shooting sticks and also aimed the gun for me. (I thought the antelope is really far, thus I can't see it with the naked eye) . When I aimed through the scope of the rifle I could clearly see a white board put up against a tree, with the words; "Will you marry me?". When I looked to my side, Petri was already on his knee with the ring.
After all the excitement, he took me to a cliff overlooking the most beautiful view. On the cliff there were a table prepared with snacks and champagne.
It was an awesome day that I'll remember the rest of my life.
For me, the whole day was one big highlight. I loved everything of my wedding day, it was perfect and exactly the way I imagined it to be.
Yes, we went on honeymoon. We went on a big road trip all the way from Upington to Knysna, Langebaan and Luderitz.
The wedding look I wanted to achieve for myself was the timeless look. I want to look at my wedding photo's 15 years from now, and still love the way I looked.
I wore a Stella York, all lace dress, a Pandora bracelet, pearl earrings and nude heels. As far as my hair and make-up is concerned, I let my hair done by Nico from Opulence hair studio in Upington, he made soft curls hanging to one side of my face and my make-up was done by Juline Harris from Upington. My hair and make-up was natural and also timeless.
We got married in Upington, Northen Cape and the ceremony was at d'Wingerdskuur, a few kilometers outside Upington.
Our guests stayed in Upington in guest houses and a the closest family and friends stayed at the Riva Resort not far from the venue, for the weekend.
I always believed that you shouldn't change your diet or any beauty product in extreme ways before the wedding. So I just tried to eat healthy and kept going on with my usual exercise routine that consisted of jogging about 4 times a week.
The wedding had a vintage/country theme with a lot of wood, like wooden tables, boxes, hearts and candle holders. The flowers consisted of succulent roses, herbs and pink proteas. We also had some burlap table runners, burlap flags and lights hanging from the ceiling.
The wedding venue is an old barn, so it complimented my whole theme. The table plates had a vintage style and greenish colour which we used along with protea,off-pink napkins.
The table names were written on the main wooden box on each table, which contained the flowers. Each name represented a waterhole/windmill on Petri's family farm in the south of Namibia. (Each waterhole on their farm has a name so farm-planning can be a bit easier.)
The groom wore a stone colour suit, white shirt, leather belt and real leather "Vellies". We bought his suit at Otto Mühr & Co in Windhoek.
The groomsman wore stone coloured pants, white shirts and beidge suspenders. The also wore "Vellies" which Petri gave as a gift to them.
My bridesmaids wore off-pink, long infinity dresses. I wanted the bridesmaids to have dresses they can wear again afterwards. I ordered the dresses from a designer in Pretoria.
Ds. Peet Blaauw from Kakamas.
Petra Knoetze from Petra Knoetze Photography captured our special moments of the day. She is just amazing. I didn't even know she was there and she walked away more my friend than the photographer. She took beautiful pictures, and a lot of them. She really captured that special feelings between me and Petri.
No, I did most of the planning myself.
We used a car that has been in the van Zyl family for the fourth generation now, to be the wedding transport. The car is really special for especially my father, so it meant a lot for me and him to use it. The car came all the way from Van Der Kloof, where my dads farm is located, to Upington for the wedding. Thats a 600km drive.
Melissa van der Colff from the venue, d'Wingerdskuur, prepared the delicious food of the night. The wedding cake was baked by Blanche from Bling Cookies Cake Boutique in Upington. I also had a second cake, because I am gluten intolerant. This cake was baked by Retha Prinsloo from Kakamas.
We had a DJ, Gielie Olivier, who did a great job with the sound that day.
