15.12.2019... The best day of our lives, the day that we had the privilege of our dream wedding unfolding. They say that no wedding day is absolutely perfect but that depends on what "perfect" is in your eyes. Getting to marry your best friend in an absolutely breathtaking venue, surrounded by your closest friends and family sounds pretty perfect to me. From the morning of our wedding until leaving with the last of our guests, our day was nothing short of incredible. The love that was shared, memories made and happy times will be an everlasting highlight. Being announced as Mr & Mrs Whittaker was also pretty amazing...
We decided to thoroughly enjoy our wedding and time with our guests leading up to and just after our wedding, as it was a destination wedding. We are hoping to plan a wonderful honeymoon this year.
The general look that we were aiming to achieve was whimsical, elegant and detailed. My wedding dress was just the mixture of lace and drama that I had always dreamt of. After a few adjustments and tweaks here and there, it was exactly what I had in mind. The many layers of different fabrics and textures told a similar story to that of our love - a collection of many different memories and adventures, all coming together as one beautiful art form. Accessories were kept relatively simple so as to not draw attention away from the intricacies of the dress. We made use of a hair jewel that elevated an up-style and brought something different. My make up was done to maintain the elegant feel that we were trying to achieve, with a palate that complimented the whimsical element of our day.
We were fortunate enough to host our wedding at Zimbali Lodge within Zimbali Costal resort on the KZN North Coast. This gorgeous venue boasts sea views with a tree house feel. A truly enchanting venue that allowed our vision to come to life without over-complicating our decor. Some of our guests did stay within Zimbali and others were scattered around Ballito.
Leading up to the wedding, there were so many things to think about but having wonderful service providers do make it so much easier. Regular classes at my local Planet Fitness kept me motivated and working towards my goals. Although health and fitness are a constant in my life (as much of the time as possible) , the challenge of stepping it up for the wedding was loads of fun. Hair maintenance and getting just the perfect color was a breeze for my wonderful hairdresser. She made me feel so relaxed and planned appointments months in advance with a detailed plan - we had this one down. As for spa treatments, us ladies were spoiled by Mint Up nail & Champagne bar ( finally nails AND champagne at the same place, yippie!). We were left feeling lovely and relaxed in preparation for the big day.
Zimbali Lodge offers couples the opportunity to turn their wedding day into a fairy tale fantasy.
Our decor was in the hands of one very talented lady (and her awesome team) that just understood and took on our vision from the very beginning. Due to the fact that we were planning a wedding from far away, our communication was mostly made up of phone calls, mood boards and random pictures. I cannot explain the venue that we walked into... it was as if Sandy had climbed into our dreams and executed exactly what we had imagined. We had a lot of hanging elements comprised of natural greenery,white and baroque pink hints of color and some of the most divine proteas we have ever seen. These cascading arrangements were skillfully placed in suspended geometric elements, completed with glass balls in within the arrangement.Alongside these structures were exposed globe lighting features which brought an industrial-chick feel to the venue. Our tables were covered with floor length grey table cloths and scattered with random vases, candles and hints of rose gold. Geometric shapes and romantic lighting set the mood for the evening. We had some soft and romantic draping in just the right places with cascading fairly lights. We also made use of clustered lighting which created such an interesting lighting dynamic.
Our dapper groomsmen wore a light fabric navy blue suit with white shirts and brown shoes and belts. In trying to stick with our beachy location, we wanted the guys to be light and comfortable whilst still looking tailored and neat. The suites were bought from Designer warehouse in Sandton and had the freedom to choose shoes and belts that stuck to our color scheme but that they loved (and will hopefully use again).
Our beautiful bridesmaids dresses were made by a very talented lady named Laurelle. In the beginning, infinity dresses were not even a consideration for me but after seeing how beautifully made here dresses were, it was an easy choice. We decided on a light baroque pink dress with a tule skirt overlay. This maintained the whimsical element of our wedding , while the ladies had the freedom to decide how they were going to put their unique twist on wearing their dresses. These dresses looked beautiful on the day and the girls loved how comfortable and easy these dresses were to add their rose gold jewelry to. The girls also had free reign on their choice of shoes, provided they stuck to our color scheme (more or less). Didn't they look lovely?!
We had the utter privilege of being married by one of the nicest people we have ever met, Mr. Robert Jobling.
Where to even start describing Laura and Malcom (Matt) from Laura Jean Photography... the dream team. Our journey with Malc & Laura started at my besties wedding a few years ago. Whilst having my make-up done for that wedding, Laura asked when I would be getting married.... who knew a few years later she would be photographing our wedding. The calmness and fun that Laura and Malc bring to a wedding is infectious and if they lived on the opposite end of the world, I still would have made a plan for them to photograph our wedding. Together, they brought a mix of creativity, fun, heartfelt moments and really did capture the true essence of our wedding. What made our photographs even more special to us is the fact that they let the day unfold so naturally , so with every picture, you remember that exact moment. Looking back now, I get tearful looking at our photos because they display the raw emotion that everyone was feeling on the day - what a gift. I also called Malcom "Matt" for about 90% of our entire wedding process... I have no idea why I just couldn't get it right! Sorry Malc (Matt)...
We didn't have a "planner" as such but our decor lady, Sandy from Sweet P took the reigns on this one.
Our menu was comprised of delicious dishes ranging from teriyaki beef salads to tiramisu and everything in between. Catering was done by Zimbali Lodge and had something to suit every palate. Our wedding cake was skillfully made by Penny from "She loves Cake" - it was both beautiful and absolutely delicious (as was all of the food).
Most of our stationary we did ourselves but we did have the very talented Dean from Ruddy Rocket designing our wedding invitation and wedding website. This turned out to be a very user friendly way to keep track of our guest list.
Our reception was a true celebration of our love and every single guest that had a part in our journey. Our guest list only comprised of 75 people which meant that we could spend time with our guests and celebrate this wonderful day. With speeches from our nearest and dearest , came tears which were shared by most. Our DJ, Grant Rust, got the brief and understood exactly how to manage the atmosphere and cater to all different tastes in music. Dinner, dancing and drinks were shared by all - we hope our guests had as much fun as we did. We decided to take dance lessons (although my husband professed to know exactly how to dance) with Fred Astaire in our area and we ended up absolutely loving our " date night lessons" . The first dance that we had loosely planned for the wedding was difficult to execute as we would have liked to due to a broken clip on my dress... we had fun making it up anyway though... The wise words of our instructor were resounding in our minds at that moment " don't worry guys, no one knows what it is supposed to look like anyway " - well thank goodness for that!
Zimbali Lodge offers couples the opportunity to turn their wedding day into a fairy tale fantasy.
