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We met four years ago in a karate school! We have both been very involved in karate; Craig owns a studio and I started working there as a receptionist during university to earn some extra money. It was a definite case of opposites attract!
I'm 24, my husband is 37.
Craig bought us a new house to share our future in, before he proposed! He proposed at home on my birthday... then rushed off to teach a karate class.
I had a hen party, which my bridesmaids organised. It was a Champagne breakfast on a wine farm. Craig didn't have a stag night as he thinks they have a bad reputation!
Hmm. He was terribly concerned about the budget but not much else! He organised the men’s attire and the car hire and left everything else up to me and our wedding planner.
Yes, I got great ideas from the wedding shop and looking at cakes and novelty items for inspiration.
No.
I ordered one or two things online which I had sent to a friend in the UK who came to South Africa for the wedding. You just don't get such great wedding items here in Cape Town.
It was a white and ivory raw silk ball gown decorated with silk roses. It was based on a design called Theo by Justina McCaffrey and made for me by a local Capetonian designer.
Yes, I had my business partner as my maid of honour, a close friend from work as one bridesmaid and the groom's sister as my other bridesmaid. The bridesmaids wore 1920's inspired black dresses with dropped waists and the maid of honour had an empire waist dress with a beaded tulle overlay.
The best man was my husband's best friend from the UK who flew 6,000 miles to be at the wedding. The two ushers were two of his good friends from the bad old days. They all wore classic black tie.
Religious.
St Bernard's Catholic Church.
Silvertree Restaurant in Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in Cape Town, South Africa.
We hired a vintage car, a 1936 Terraplane, to go with our 'touch of vintage' theme.
120 guests. We had a late afternoon wedding with a black tie dinner to follow.
Our theme was 1920's high glamour - so it was very formal. The colour scheme was black and white.
We had big vintage silver candelabras and silver base plates and all decor had strings of pearls and white feathers incorporated, from the flowers to the place names.
Yes, the guests received a white organza feather-trimmed bag with silver coated almonds.
A close family friend did the flowers. The bride's bouquet was of 'antique silk' roses with white feathers and tiny wired pearls. The bridesmaids had smaller versions of plain 'antique silk' roses and foliage. The table flowers were on five-arm silver candelabras and all in white and green roses.
The venue did the catering. We had crumbed camembert and mushrooms with cranberry sauce and yoghurt as a starter, mozzarella and spinach stuffed chicken breasts with vegetables and pear, nut and white chocolate spring rolls with ice cream for dessert.
Our wedding cake was a four-tier dark chocolate mousse cake covered in white rice-paper 'feathers' and tiny hanging silver balls. It looked like a tower of feathers with dew drops on them. It was made by Susan Verwey.
We had a string quartet playing as guests arrived at the church, a saxophonist playing jazz during the pre-drinks and a DJ during the meal who played 1930's music like Ella Fitzgerald, Glen Miller and other big band music.
We had a gift registry with Boardmans in Cape Town.
We stayed at the Vineyard Hotel on our first night. This was the home of Lady Anne Barnard in the Cape and it is one of our historic landmarks. It is also beautiful, secluded and romantic. We went to Hong Kong, Vietnam and Cambodia for our honeymoon which was booked through Suretravel in Cape Town.
Walking down the aisle with my dad and our first dance (it was dreadful!)
The hotel I was getting ready at had another bride staying, and they sent me all of her flowers on the day! I went into a panic because I thought my florist had gone seriously wrong! My husband also realised on the morning of the wedding that we'd forgotten the pre-nup so I had to get fetched from the hotel to meet him at the attorney's office just before my make up was supposed to be done!
Delegate, delegate, delegate. And if anything is not done by the day of the wedding, or if anything goes wrong... leave it! Just relax and get someone else to deal with any issues. It’s your big day and you've worked hard enough for it - so enjoy every moment!
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