Since November 2017, I worked on a grooms "wedding day survival" box. This box was filled with things I knew hubby to be would appreciate and use. All items in the box were tagged with a cheesey message to highlight the use of that particular thing eg. A personally embroided handkerchief with a tag saying:"for you to wipe your tears with when you see me walking down the isle" and happy socks with a tag saying:"to make you happy and keep you from getting cold feet".
I handed over this box to the groom the night before with strict instructions to the best man for the box to be open only the next day before they prepared themselves. On wedding day while in the ladies Shelley I heard a scream & immediately ran to the guys cottage to find out what was happening. Lol to my surprise it was a scream of joy from husbae, for the timepiece I put in there. Towards him finishing opening & reading all the corney tags he broke down in tears.
The next best moment that day was when I saw him waiting for me at the end of the isle. His eyes filled with joy and soo much love and adoration. Then he she'd tears as my brother handed me over to him.
Our 1st kiss was also a highlight with him not wanting to let go of me. Had me laughing as I blushed from shyness.
Our 1st dance was everything I dreamt of and more. The fog added that special touch to the dream as we danced away to the voice of Beyonce singing At Last.
We took a weekend to have a mini honeymoon in Capetown. Weather wss nice & warm and even though we'd been to the cape before it was an experience to be there as Mr & Mrs. Unfortunately I had exams the week to follow so didn't have much time to lay back and relax.
I'd always planned that we'd take a week and head to Maldives or the Seychelles but well... time didn't allow. So we swore to each other that we'll take a 3weeks baecay/honeymoon to tour Mykonos or Santorini, Paris and one other destination on one of our anniversaries.
Well of course every girl wants to look like a disney princess on their wedding day, lol so i went for a sweet but romantic look for my wedding.
Seeing that I was having a bush wedding, I wanted a flowery fresh and almost organic look. Which is why I had my makeup be calming and the relaxed. Natural and dreamy. Had a girly updo with a braid across my head for that rustic African feel to my hairstyle.
Of cause I had to look dreamy and Cinderella like so I chose a ball gown. Plus it made my figure not become an issue. Hence I fell in love with the Caramel masterpiece I bought from the Bridal House, situated at Gift Acres Complex on Lynnwood. The dress, named Elizabeth, has hand made flowers hand sown on the brazier top, which fit right into the theme. Being an unconventional bride, I didn't want a white gown but wasn't into a colorful gown either. Hence the Caramel was perfect plus it complimented my skin tone.
The Bridal House, is a wedding dress boutique based in Bryanston & Waterkloof, and is home to an exquisite range of wedding dress collections.
We got married at Zambezi Point wedding venue located on Zambezi road towards Cullinan.
We used the lushesly green and earthy Bush chapel for the matrimonial and had the reception in the African Boma into the evening with a bon fire.
I ensured I used Sorbet face masks every 2nd week for the 3 months before the big day to have my skin in good condition. Of cause also had a lot of water to keep hydrated for healthy skin.
I had detox drinks almost every morning and night to keep my bowl movements regular and keep me from gaining any weight. Cucumber, ginger, garlic, lemon and honey were my best friends for a while. But didn't want to loose much weight since hubby loved me as thick as I was.
The wedding theme was rustic bush. So we had most deco pieces centre around wood and gold.
We had round tables with an off white table cloth and a brown organza overlay ruffled up in the middle. We had wooden trees (brown and white on alternating tables) with fairy lights around them. There were candles and small white flowers scattered around the centre piece on top of the overly. Underplates were gold in the centre and wooden on the sides. We used gold Tiffany chairs. The whole boma was decorated with fairy lights to create a romantic atmosphere.
All the flower and deco arrangements were done in house by Zambezi Point.
*laughing out loud* Never thought I'd share this but well... while searching for favors, I decided to head to China Town in the Main Reef area. While there, i saw a shop selling suits and men's accessories. My surprise was how affordable they were. Lol and I though this was perfect, considering how difficult it can get to get men to caught up cash. I made an appointment with the guys and we got the grooms men 2 piece suits in the perfect colour for R500 & ties with a pocket square and lapel for R120.
The grooms suit was tailor made by RVK. Reason I chose them was because of one of my brothers', who happens to loves suits and has a fashion page on Instagram. He has a few tailor made suits by them. They came recommend and favourable since I knew of their work.
My bridesmaids wore champaign off the shoulder, a-line, knee high, high-low flowing dresses.
I had gotten the design from a pic on Instagram. We got my mother's friend who is a tailor to make the dresses.
Having had grown up in St John Anglican Church in the Morelete diocese, I felt it necessary I have my Reverend officiate our marriage. Rev Ndlovu officiated our marriage.
We had the privilege of having an awesome photographer by the name Karina from JC Crafford Photographers to capture all our special moments on that day.
The videographer was a guy named Richan. Both suppliers were from the venues list of suppliers.
We hired a photobus from JC Crafford as a photobooth to add a playful element for the guests. Plus they got printouts of their wacky, cool and fun pics.
I was a hands on bride and did all the planning myself, with assistance from my sister from time to time.
The bridal party slept directly opposite the venue at Green Olive guest house so they used a groomsman and a bridesmaids car to get to the venue.
I was transported in my father's Grand Cherokee SRT to the venue.
The venue has a wow package, which is an all inclusive package. This made planning easier as the venue sorts most of the suppliers for the wedding day.
The package included the food, which was prepared by an in-house chef at Zambezi Point.
Our cake was made by Jade who is also on the supplier list of the venue.
Sweet Sounds entertainment was responsible for all the music for the day as well as mood lights for the dance floor. They also supplied a fog machine for our 1st dance. DJ Mlu kept us well on our feet.
I would've loved to go for dance lessons but due to time constraints and distance, with my fiance at the time being a vaal resident, it proved too challenging. Apart from that, hubby wasnt keen and said going for dance lessons would be over planning. He preferred we "roll with the moment".
The Bridal House, is a wedding dress boutique based in Bryanston & Waterkloof, and is home to an exquisite range of wedding dress collections.
