Our death-drop at our first dance was incredible! Considering that a) my hubby doesn't dance and b) we learnt our dance in 2 days, being able to pull off our first dance so stunningly AND finish it off with a death drop beyond compare was pretty great!!! Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now (Starship) seemed pretty accurate! Walking in to the venue after we had done all the formal signing to the Star Wars theme song certainly was unusual, but such a perfect representation of us as a couple! (Star Wars pretty much defined our relationship, as Alex refused to date me until I had watched all of them, and now it is our favourite movie saga!). Another definite highlight was being told that we were being upgraded to the Presidential Suite as the Honeymoon suites air-con had given up... Winning right there!. There are so many happy and memorable moments, it is rather hard to choose .... our MC was also amazing! Kept our guests entertained and in stitches all night!
We are leaving in less than 2 weeks for our honeymoon - we'll be going to New York for 6 days, then off to the very cool Universal Studios & the magical Disney World for 6 days. New York has always been my dream destination for as long as I can remember and when Al asked me if I could pick anywhere in the world to go, there wasn't a moment's hesitation! And then, of course, Disney World as we are absolute children at heart (and obviously, Star Wars Galaxy's Edge...I mean..whaaat?!), and Universal because we are the biggest movie nerds (Harry Potter!!)! I have never been overseas, so I cannot wait to share this first-time experience with my hubby! Perhaps not a great time to mention how terrified I am of roller-coasters .. (haha..eek!)
I had no definitive idea of a look to be honest, I'm not much of a make-up girl, the only thing I did know was that I wanted my hair loose, but out of my face. My eye-shadow was a gold glitter, because who am I without a little glitter & sparkle (all my friends will tell you that) and Captive by Mac lipstick, which I had to go shop for, because I was so specific about wanting that shade. My make-up & hair was done by the gorgeous Iza Cloete.
My dress, THE dress...I had a Pinterest board of dresses that I thought I wanted & liked, and in the end, the dress I chose was nothing like any of them! It was a beautiful Enzoani, which was bought and fitted at Brides of Somerset...sweetheart neck-line, the most exquisite train, and to boot, a veil that was simply exquisite! It's true what they say, you'll know when its the dress for you...it was a soul match.
The shoes were yellow gold high-heeled sandals from Plum, ordered online from a random little website as I simply could not get anything similar in-store (the rage at the time was all rose-gold)
As far as jewellery, a simple set of tear-drop tanzanite earrings, in honour of, and which belonged to my mom, who passed the year before
Brides of Somerset is run from a studio with a relaxed cosy atmosphere enabling the Bride to select her gown from a wide range of imported dresses.
I cant say enough about 12A as a venue....it is incredible and perfect in every way. Surrounded by sea and mountains, the quintessential backdrop. We got married in the garden, had our reception in the marquee, and our dancing in the Lions Head room upstairs. The staff are amazing - they make you feel as if you are family, from the moment of your first visit, to the day of your wedding, to anytime you pop in thereafter! And the food, dear heavens, the food..... I cant even begin to describe how divine their food is! Making choices for a wedding menu is near to impossible. Our 12A wedding co-ordinator, Sally, was heaven-sent, her attention to detail and ability to simply makes things run like clock-work is astounding... it felt like she was part of my bridal party.
The Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa with its natural surroundings and breath-taking views is the most romantic and inspiring wedding venue in Cape Town. It is ideal for celebrati...
Ah I'm terrible with beauty regimes... it was pretty much Clarin's serum and moisturizer and that was it. I do strength-training (deadlifts, squats, bench...hardcore stuff) and IIFYM nutrition as a lifestyle, so my coach just tightened that up for the last few weeks leading up to the wedding & voila!
My secret fairy flower godmother... Lol's Flowers and Decor - Lorraine is beyond incredible! She has this crazy way of simply knowing what you want, even when you uhm and ah your way through your vague Pinterest board of ideas. We wanted bright and colourful and beautiful with a splash of gold, and she did that and then some! Her little touches and thoughtfulness just made a perfect day even more so!
Well, this was an adventure... my hubby is about 2m tall, over 150kg and a size 13 shoe. One of his groomsmen is a size 28 waist, about 1,6m, and a size 5 shoe... I cant even begin to tell you how difficult that was to manage! Nevertheless, through persistence, the 5 lovely groomsmen were dressed in Polo shorts (navy), Woolies shirts and Steve Madden shoes. Hubby also had the Polo shorts, Steven Madden shoes, but had his shirts custom-made by the wonder-people at Victor K Couture (who had less than a week to do this!)
Floral Dresses by Forever New. My maid of honour had the same colour print, but a slightly different style - the Cavendish staff were amazing in helping me manage this as I couldn't get my bridesmaids all together at the same time. This was paired with white high-heel ankle-strap shoes by Aldo.
Geoff Jamieson -this was quite special as he was the minister in Alex's church growing up, and Alex had always said that he wanted Geoff to conduct his wedding one day... luckily for us, although retired, Geoff does still do weddings
The incomparable Greg Lumley - he's absolutely crazy but that's all part of the fun, he is so easy to work with and also super efficient! Beyond talented...he's photos are Vogue worthy! Such a pity he has moved to the UK, I'd recommend him to every SA bride I know! But for the UK ones... Do it! He's awesome!
We didn't have a planner, but we had our lovely Sally, who was the wedding co-ordinator for 12A, without whom we'd have drowned. She is truly special!
All food was prepped by 12A (SO GOOD!)
The wedding cake was by Wadescakes. I was dead set against cupcakes (I work for a school, so I simply cant do cupcakes anymore!) so we had a croquembouche-like tower of cake pops of mixed flavours (lemon and poppy, red velvet, vanilla with amarula, chocolate with chocolate ganache), with a red velvet single base layer at the bottom, and then single cake pops around, wrapped with bright ribbons, and fresh flowers for a brighter pop of colour provided by Lol's. It was the most beautiful display....and of course, so tasty and sweet to match!
Melane was an absolute rockstar! From our save-the-dates to invites, menus, seating boards and more. And most of this with last minute notice, between changes in the menu, the guest list and other things. And she designed our invites around our idea of our flowers and decor! Incredible!
Our sound and music was provided by Sound FX entertainment, who made sure we had exactly all the music we wanted, as we are big music fans as well ... From Love Actually down the aisle, to the Star Wars grand entrance, our Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now first dance and all the funky vibes in-between. Mac also provided our mood lighting, and our divine magic bubbles for our first dance
Brides of Somerset is run from a studio with a relaxed cosy atmosphere enabling the Bride to select her gown from a wide range of imported dresses.
The Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa with its natural surroundings and breath-taking views is the most romantic and inspiring wedding venue in Cape Town. It is ideal for celebrati...
