A memorable moment was definitely walking down the aisle seeing Jean for the first time and his reaction to seeing me. It is such a surreal moment where so many emotions come crashing down at you at once (in a good way). Everything just kind of blurs except for the person at the other end of the aisle smiling back at you.
Our first dance was a wonderful highlight, we decided not to practice beforehand because we didn't want the dance to look choreographed or to be focusing on steps instead of just enjoying the moment and since we've always danced well with each other it just felt natural. It was so much fun dancing with everyone holding sparkles around us underneath the trees, it really felt like a fairytale!
Of course, the speeches from our family and friends is something we will never forget. Jean's best man and cousin wrote his speech a few hours before the wedding, just taking a bottle of wine, pen and paper into the woods for inspiration, and it was such a heartfelt speech that meant a lot to us both.
The couples shoot was something we really enjoyed, it was all so natural and fun, our photographers made us feel like we were really just taking a stroll through the fields and talking to each other making jokes, it never felt forced or fake like so many photoshoots can be.
Dancing and partying with our family and friends was the highlight of the day! Just getting everyone together and having fun sharing so many unforgettable memories.
We decided to do a road trip down the garden route from Greyton back to Pretoria. The day after the wedding we picked up our dog (Tiberius) in Hermanus, where he was staying at a doggy resort for a couple of days because we couldn't have him at the wedding. The first 3 nights we stayed in an amazing Eco Log Cabin outside Suurbraak. It was so beautiful, it had a large patio with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the mountains. It was raining the whole time we were there which just made it better, we could ly on the couches birdwatching through the windows, we identified so many birds with the bird book and binoculars left in the house for visitors. We even made our own pizza in the pizza oven outside and went walking in the forest around the house.
After Suurbraak we drove to Knysna, where we stayed about 20min outside of Knysna on the edge of the Knysna forest in the most beautifully decorated wooden cottage overlooking a dam and forest. The cottage belonged to two floral designers. The entire house was full of the most amazing flower decorations and unique features. We went for walks through their beautiful garden with our dog and even drove to Knysna for cocktails and lunch some days.
I always loved a bohemian look but I still wanted it to be soft and flowy. I am so thankful to have found someone like Jacelyn who's wedding dress designs was the perfect style I was looking for. Jacelyn understood my vision from the beginning and just perfected it. I felt like a fairy princess in my dress!
Our make-up was done by Suzanne from Skoonlief Make-up and she was just so amazing!! I wanted a natural look but not to plain, with colour on the eyes and a natural look for my face. My bridesmaids had darker make-up which I loved! Suzanne recommended a look for each of them and it was just perfect! While she also did my mom's hair we all did each other's hair, being so used to it since living together most of our time at university.
My shoes were so fun!! Who wouldn't want a pair of purple wedges?? They were so comfortable I did not take them off the entire night! I didn't want flat shoes but I knew heels wouldn't work on the grass so the wedges were perfect to party in. I bought them at Truworths. My wedding earrings was a gift from my sister, she bought them in Amsterdam, where she lives. It was small colourfull stones that looked the flowers. The gold diamond ring on my right hand was Jean's late mother wedding ring, he gave it to my friend to give to me to wear on the wedding day. It meant allot and I thought it looked beautiful with my dress.
Our venue was Elandskloof Farm Cottages about 30min outside Greyton, Western Cape. We chose this venue not only for its natural beauty but because all of our guests could stay for three nights! We loved the idea of everyone getting to know each other before the wedding because one night is not really enough to get to know everyone and really bond. So on the day of the wedding, everyone was already so comfortable with each other and had already had such a great time together that everyone was just so much more at ease, not having to make awkward introductions or small talk with strangers. Everyone arrived on Thursday and left Sunday. We Thursday and Friday night having braais in the boma area. We went hiking on the venue and swimming and rowing in the dam by our cottages. The younger guests all stayed down in the valley at the dam while the older guest stayed at the top overlooking the valley.
I didn't really change my fitness routine as I am already an active person, I only tanned more than usual so I would be a nice colour on the day of the wedding.
The wedding did not have a specific colour scheme other than just bright colours! The flowers were all in season wildflowers in various golden pots and holders. I wanted lots and lots of flowers and fairy lights to give a romantic atmosphere. The cutlery was gold with coloured wine glasses to stick with the colourful theme. We hired the wooden tables and chairs so we would have tables that didn't need to have tablecloths thrown over them as that would have taken away from the natural look. We had festoon lighting over the tables and fairy lights over the dancefloor, really every angle of the ceremony area was basically covered in soft lighting. The royal blue couches was a perfect addition to give our guests a comfortable place to sit and talk. This amazing forest fairytale look was created with the big help of Marinda from Saffron Functions. I sent her a thousand pictures of things I loved and wanted thinking it won't look exactly like that but she always exceeded my expectations! The wedding was even more beautiful than I could ever have imagined!!
After deciding on Jean's suit we started looking for the groomsmen's clothes. It was difficult to find a jacket for Jean because of the colour. I wanted him to wear a burgundy jacket to match my dress. Luckily we found one! Even though his jacket was such a unique piece on its own, we both absolutely loved his pants!! The pants were dark navy with little brownish/yellow birds on them that we found at Country Road. The shirt and tie were things he already owned. We wanted the same colour pants for the groomsmen and then we decided on on the green shirts to go with them and the fun floral ties to match the pants but also bring something different to the outfits. The ties we bought online at JC Click.
I made my bridesmaid dresses myself, because I wanted it to be personal and give each of them a dress I knew would fit them well and that they would feel comfortable in. I didn't want them to look the same because I feel like each of them looks good in different styles and colours which also matched the theme of the wedding. The dresses were all in different textured fabrics- lace, satin, velvet, silk. I wanted flowy romantic dresses with bohemian touches. I bought them all jewellry to match their dresses at Lovisa.
Marius Greeff who lives in Greyton near the venue was our marriage officer.
We can not be more thankful for our crazy amazing photographers and videographers!! From step 1 till we got our photos it was an absolute joy to work with these people. We saw their photos online after doing a google search for wedding photographers in South Africa and immediately knew that we wanted them. Their photos are so natural, nothing looks faked or posed, they capture those really special moments that the day is all about, only later you would even know that they took those pictures. They made us feel so comfortable when doing our couples shoot, it never felt like we had to pose of fake smiles or anything. We used Kikitography for our photos and Kikitography Motion for our video.
Marinda from Saffron functions was our wedding fairy Godmother who did all the decor, flowers, food and also helped coordinate the day! Everything went smoothly and she just brought the stress levels down to zero.
Saffron function also prepared the food which was to die for! My grandmother and aunt baked our wedding cake, which consisted of three different layers. Jean attempted to create bobbleheads of each of us out of clay for on top of the cake, he also made our dog which was really cute. My bobblehead did not end up so great but it was pretty funny and our guests enjoyed it.
We decided not to take dance lessons beforehand because we didn't want the dance to look choreographed or to be focusing on steps instead of just enjoying the moment and since we've always danced well with each other it just felt natural. It was so much fun dancing with everyone holding sparkles around us underneath the trees, it really felt like a fairytale!
Our sound was done by a local DJ and the lighting was also Saffron Funtions.
