The Nightjar Wedding.
~The log cabin tale.
Where the story began.
We first met when we were introduced by a mutual friend at a bar. Our friend handed me Mark’s business card as some sort of a pick up line but we were both shy and never really said anything to each other the whole night. With the weeks that followed we kept bumping into one another until one night on the 1st of June we were the last people standing after a friend’s birthday. Neither of us were ready to retire for the night so I invited Mark to come to my place and watch movies with me. Mark accepted my invitation. When we arrived at my place we started talking and ended up speaking for hours. We did eventually watch a movie and four days later he took me out on our first date.
Although our initial attraction may have been a physical one, our late night conversation made us realize how much we had in common from our general interests to our similar tastes in styles, music and food of course. Between us there was very little we could disagree upon. For me Mark was the most genuine and kindest person I had ever met. For Mark he loved my honestly and kindness (something we seem to share). He also enjoyed my cheekiness from time to time.
A Proposal as a Birthday Present.
The proposal was masked as my 25th birthday at Meerendal Wine Estate. All of our friends and family were waiting inside the restaurant to surprise us as we walked in. Right before we sat down to eat lunch Mark wanted to make a speech during which he proposed.
The choice behind the venue.
The style of our wedding was rustic chic – most of our inspiration followed the booking of our venue. We were initially interested in a De Uijlenes wedding because it was a beautiful farm venue which offered an outdoor ceremony area as well as a cosy log cabin for the reception. Essentially I think it was the rustic feel of the venue itself that drew us to it because we are simplistic and down to earth people.
Something borrowed, something white.
The dress was hired (somewhat my something borrowed) from Urban Bride. Strangely enough the dress was not supposed to fit me at all since the sizing was too small, but, when I tried it on it fitted perfectly as if it was made for me.
Anja Le Roux did my make-up, although she no longer does make-up for weddings she offered her services because she is a dear friend to me. All of the bridesmaids jumped in to assist me with my hair.
An officiant with a touch of humour.
Andred from I Do Weddings officiated the ceremony. We were referred to him by another officiant, Troy Goldie, when we found out he was not available for our wedding date. We chose him because without having to explain in excruciating detail he had us pegged and understood exactly what we wanted – a well-rounded ceremony that was personalized, relaxed, serious when it needed to be, had a touch of humour to keep things light, and retained our guest’s attention throughout. We also felt that during our ceremony he spoke to us in a way that calmed our nerves and made us feel as though we were having a conversation just between the three of us.
Love and Memories go hand-in-hand.
It’s difficult for us to pinpoint the most memorable thing from our day. To us everything was perfect… Then again, the love that was shared with us on that day from our guests has to be the most memorable. We can personally say that on our wedding day our hearts felt so full that they were going to burst!
Husband & Wife Coordinating Team.
We had an “On the day” wedding coordinator which was included in the venue hire. We found this service extremely beneficial as our coordinator was helpful when planning various details of our wedding. On the day I have no idea what we would have done without our coordinator as she ensured all our service providers arrived on time and that the day ran according to plan. Everywhere we needed her, she was there. Everything we hadn’t thought of, she had.
We would like to highly commend Christien and Nel Schrecker from Husband Wife Team for their incredible service. They assisted with our planning, supplied our décor, made our very scrumptious wedding cake and provided our on the day wedding coordination. They are a power husband and wife duo!
A picture is worth a thousand words.
As the idiom says, “a picture is worth a thousand words” and this is the epitome of Landi’s work. Landi is a talented photographer who is able to capture the essence of a wedding day in a way that words could not simply describe. Our wedding photography was extremely important for us and Landi exceeded our expectations. Her services at our wedding were truly the greatest gift anyone could have given us and we can only compliment her on the outstanding work she did.
There is a special story behind the engagement ring…
In April 2016, 8 months before Mark proposed, the person who was tasked with wrapping up his grandmother’s estate contacted him. According to the gentleman Mark’s grandmother, Lily, had set aside some money which she has specified was only supposed to be released on this particular date 3 years after she had passed away. In her will she stated that the money was for her grandson Mark to buy an engagement ring for his girlfriend Holly. Strangely enough Mark had already begun the process of saving up to buy an engagement ring in order to propose so everything had been perfectly timed. Liliy had only known me for fewer than 10 months, but, she knew her grandson Mark and somehow she knew that someday we would get married.
On The Menu:
Pre Snack / Starter:
Harvest Table with homemade bread, party wheels, biscuits, homemade jams, butter, cheddar cheese, camembert cheese, brie cheese, sweet chili cream cheese, salmon cream cheese, chicken liver pate/snoek pate, vegetables crudities, preserves, assorted cold meats.
Main:
Pulled pork, slow cooked in ginger beer, served with spring onion, coriander, sour cream, Mexican three bean salad, baked sweet potato, aubergine lasagne bake, grilled corn with butter and parsley.
Dessert:
Churros with a chocolate dipping sauce.
On the Playlist:
Rory Batl-Ax Rijkers was our DJ. He played a great selection of music and managed to keep our guests dancing until the reception doors eventually closed at 2am (Mark and I included). As a matter of fact, three guests attending another wedding at De Uijlenes came to join us because they heard us having such a joll on the other side of the farm.
Challenges Overcome.
If we could change anything it would be to have all the speeches in one go instead of doing two here and two there since people tend to all run out for a smoke so you have to heard them all back inside again.
We had the most difficulty with the bridesmaids’ dresses because we wanted to have them made. But, if I could advise anything rather buy dresses for your bridesmaids because this eliminates a lot of potential headaches. The infinity dress is super versatile for any body types and comes highly recommended in my books.
It was extremely helpful to choose a venue that offers multiple services/an all-inclusive package such as catering, décor, wedding cake, venue setup, accommodation, flowers etc. This eliminated having to deal with multiple suppliers and transporting of various items.
Honeymoon tales!
Eat. Sleep. Swim. Repeat.
We spent a week at Emeraude Beach Attitude in Mauritius which was the perfect place for some much needed RNR after months of wedding planning and preparation. During the week we indulged in the buffet, drank unlimited cocktails and lounged by the poolside/beach.
On one of the evenings the resort arranged a romantic four-course dinner for us which rendered us unable to move from our seats.
We also took some time to go snorkeling (which we loved) and took a boat ride out to explore Île aux Cerfs where we met a few little critters.
Wedding Day in One Sentence:
Just as our cake topper said it was truly the “best day ever”
Service Providers:
Venue: De Uijlenes
Photographer: ORGANICTALES
Dress: Urban Bride
DJ: Rory Rijkers
Officiant: Cape Town Officiators
