Montpellier Wedding
Marcus & Ilezé
How did you meet and what drew you to each other?
How did we meet? Well this is actually one of our very interesting “braaivleis vuur” stories. My twin sister’s boyfriend back then (now husband),Wouter invited us to the cricket club so he can introduce me to one of his friends. They’ve known each other since primary school. My overprotective sister then decided to quickly do a background check before agreeing to the “blind date”. After viewing Marcus’s facebook profile she agreed. As we made our way to the cricket club ,Wouter called to cancel since Marcus is not in the mood for girls anymore….Well , here we are today and he is still stuck with that girl he wasn’t in the mood for.
What drew me to Marcus? Well I have to be honest…It was definitely his looks. And also the way I felt around him…I was just able to be myself around him completely! No mask , no pretend , no walls…JUST MYSELF.
What drew Marcus to me? His response was that he was instantly drew to me because of my bubbly & soft nature. And then my looks! Just listen to how sincere and perfect this man is! I’M DEFINITELY THE LUCKIEST WIFE!
Was your wedding affected by Covid-19 and how?
Yes, our wedding were affected by covid in all ways possible.
We got engaged in December 2018 , and of course the planning took off effective immediately.
We set our date for 2 May 2020 . I remember the day the 1st Covid case was announced in South-Africa…I wasn’t nervous because nothing ever lasts long in SA right? And then…the hard lockdown were announced weeks before our wedding day. We had to postpone for the 1st time. We then rescheduled for 5 September 2020…long story short…we rescheduled again.
As soon as Covid-19 finally got some direction and the restrictions were lifted, we decided to set our new date , 13 Feb 2021. Everything looked promising…but then the December restrictions happened…We were so discouraged…most of the excitement already faded due to all the postponements….we just wanted to get this wedding over with…All these emotions felt sooo wrong because that’s the opposite of what you should feel planning your wedding. We were just so sick of all the disappointment. But then my amazing husband told me that we shouldn’t postpone and just wait…We would eventually see this thing through , come what may. Luckily we didn’t postpone because 1 Week before the wedding the restrictions were eased a bit and everything was able to continue according to plan. We did however decide to do 2 receptions in order to minimize the indoor gathering time. But it was wonderful because we got to have a classy and elegant indoor celebration together with a fun , fairytale outdoor celebration. So we got the best of both worlds!
After all the tears , disappointment and a very long journey we had the best night of our lives and we are finally happily married!
What made you choose Montpellier?
I honestly can’t remember how, from all the thousands of wineland wedding venues, we got to Montpellier. Montpellier was our 3rd viewing and as soon as we saw the little chapel in the winelands we immediately knew…THIS WAS IT! We then went on to have a look at the wine cellar (for the reception) and this was just another confirmation that this was our wedding venue! Everything about this wine farm is just sooo magical. Around every corner there awaits a WOW factor. You literally never stop saying “WOW” as you explore the venue.
The Tulbagh mountains also create this majestic atmosphere.
Lastly, the fact that all the guests were able to stay at the venue was also definitely a selling point.
Tell us about something funny or unique about your wedding weekend
I promise you …the night before we didn’t laugh about this but when I think back now….It’s kind of funny because this type of thing literally only happens in movies…if even.
The night before the wedding , my wedding ring finally arrived from the jeweler after taking it in for resizing….Out of total excitement I just put the ring on and then….my finger started to swell and turn blue….After hours of lots of butter , ice water and hair oil I had to go to a jeweler to cut off my ring. 1 Diamond also fell out of the ring. There was just no way to salvage the situation. So I had to get married with my twin sisters’ ring. Our entire lives we had to share everything, so what is one more day of sharing a wedding ring right? Hahaha that’s my horror story.
How did you experience your photographers service?
THIS WASN’T A SERVICE…THIS WAS A FRIENDSHIP! From the 1st day we met Landi , we knew….This was a lady we would want to form a friendship with. Just her warm ,welcoming and funny personality made every moment so much more memorable.
Due to covid, she was stuck with us as clients for way longer than she initially anticipated …so she had no choice but to become a friend!
She was actually invited as a guest to the wedding. With and without the camera…WE HAD A BLAST! AND THE PHOTOS CAME OUT AMAZING!
Landi…WE LOVE YOU!
What advice will you give other couples still in the planning process?
Don’t overthink! Just do! And as soon as you tick a box, look forward. Don’t revisit your decisions.
Don’t get too stressed and go out of your way to make sure everything goes according to plan! Nothing is the way you play it off in your head and guess what….IT’S EVEN MORE AMAZING!
Take everything in and just enjoy it!
Where did you go on honeymoon and what made it special?
My amazing husband planned(and paid) this very idyllic honeymoon to Andeman and Nicobar islands but due to covid we were unable to fly to India. We did however manage to postpone all the booking, so we will keep this as a second honeymoon.
My husband surprised me with a local honeymoon at the Cederkloof Botanical retreat close to Citrusdal.
This was more magical than I ever thought a local honeymoon could be.
The peace and quiet of a secure cottage in the mountains was just what we needed after this rollercoaster of planning a wedding & we spent absolute quality time together. BONUS….THERE WAS NO SIGNAL AT ALL!
At the end we were actually grateful that we weren’t able to go on our overseas honeymoon. We were able to actually rest opposed to spending hours at airports.
VENDORS:
Venue: Motpellier de Tulbagh http://www.
Dress: House of silk (Closed)
Hair & Makeup: Bianca Meyer hair and makeup artist https://web.
Cake: Soet Cakes https://soetcakes.co.za/
Catering: Malita Joubert Catering https://web.facebook.
Flowers & Decor: My green love affair https://www.
Crockery & Cutlery: All Things Wedding https://
Music: Sound House entertainment https://
Officient: Willie Viljoen at Cape Marriages : https://www.saweddings.co.