Wedding Date: 11 October 2008
Wedding Venue: The Secret Garden, Pietermaritzburg (www.secretgarden.co.za)
Cake
Our engagement story
Well, the year we got engaged (2006) we were together for 7.5 years and living together for 4. It was my 23rd birthday and the whole day, Charl sms’ed and mms’ed me the cutest messages. It was so sweet. We went to his gran’s house for supper. She nearly gave away the whole surprise. We were watching EGOLI just after supper and she told us about this couple that got engaged on a plane and then the plane crashed. She said the ring fell out the plane and all the passengers died. The next thing I know, Charl asked if I had enough airtime on my phone. I asked him why and he said because you will have to phone your family, while putting his hand in his pocket to get the ring. I then said to him: “Don’t do this to me.” Because I thought he was joking. He then said ok, if I don’t want to marry him, then he’ll just keep the ring. Of course I said I did and he gave me my beautiful ring. I immediately started phoning my parents and sisters. It was a very special evening.
Decor
Our beautiful day
It all started at 5.20 on Saturday morning. We got up and my stunning bridesmaids ran a bath for me. Afterwards my sister started with my nails. I had a very nice surprise at 8.00. My bridesmaids had arranged a breakfast with all the ladies attending my wedding. It was very nice to be able to chat to all of them. This was arranged instead of a kitchen tea. After a stunning breakfast, we left to go to the hairdresser, which took longer than we had expected and when we arrived back to the B&B, the photographer was already waiting for me. I started panicking because I was running late. My sister did my make-up and I loved it. It looked so nice and natural. Then I got dressed. A couple of tense moments where I was in tears and smudged my make-up, but my sister was at hand to repair the damage.
The photographer took some beautiful photos of me and my bridesmaids. Then we were ready to go. PANIC: I couldn’t find my garter. Almost forgot to put it on. Off to the chapel to meet my love.
Arriving at the Ceremony
Here comes the bride!!!
The ceremony was stunning and lots of tears fell freely. I had put hankies on a table in the foyer of the chapel beforehand and this worked so well. It was a very emotional 30 minutes. As we walked out, the guests blew bubbles and some excellent photos were taken which included at group shot of everyone there from the chapel’s gallery. Off to the Secret Garden for the reception and pro pics.
Kiss the bride
We had such fun having the photos taken. The gardens at Secret Garden are stunning.
Charl & Leigh
After some family photos, we entered the venue on It’s a kind of magic by Queen. My brother-in-law’s speech was amazing. My dad made a point of including DH’s gaming addiction into his speech. DH’s speech brought me very close to tears. I had to swallow very hard not to cry. It was unreal. He even quoted the words to our first dance song, I belong to you by Anastasia, which was very special.
First Dance
The rest of our evening was filled with lots of laughter. Our guests enjoyed the food, had LOTS to drink and were on the dance floor most of the time. We had the best time ever. The funniest thing, and one of the most special, was that we were the designated drivers and had to cart our very drunk family home, putting them all to bed (or at least helping them take their underwear of and getting them into a shower) before putting ourselves to bed. But this was excellent. We were in giggles for about an hour afterwards.
The best day of our lives so far, with lots of memories and special moments (even “dronkverdriet”). Now, eagerly awaiting the next ‘stage’ of our life together.
Tips for brides-to-be:
Before you leave for the ceremony, take some time to yourself.
Accept that there will be problems and high emotions on the day. Make sure you have someone level headed to deal with the problems and take lots of RESCUE. LOL.
Take some time at the reception for you and hubby. Take in the atmosphere and enjoy how much fun everyone is having.
How has married life been so far: I must say, not much different. Accept that we talk about stuff more often, like planning our finances and stuff. I am really enjoying TTCing though. LOL.
Recommended suppliers
Venue: The Secret Garden (www.secretgarden.co.za)
Everyone still comments on how great the food was. The venue is beautiful.
Photographer & Videographer: Zhark & Nelene le Roux (husband and wife)
They were excellent. My album is stunning, I have all the photos on CV and every time I watch my DVD I cry. They added the perfect songs to the “video”. This just makes it more special. Unfortunately they did their last wedding shoot 3 weeks after our wedding. They are now working for God and spreading his love and message to everyone. They are wonderful people.
DJ: Eddie Peddle (Steady Eddie) (soundzone@telkomsa.net, eddie@soundzonekzn.co.za, www.soundzonekzn.co.za)
He kept our guests on their feet all night. Everyone had so much fun. We played exactly what we wanted to hear. His wife helped so much with getting everyone ready when they were needed. Also very special people.
