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This groom went all the way to Dubai to pop the question!

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Weltevreden Estate Wedding.

~The Secret Garden Chapter.

Brad & Tayla is the perfect example of fate bringing the right people together. A simple tweet to go hike Lion’s Head turned in to the most beautiful romance. Read their story below and get a glimpse of what I saw on their beautiful wedding day.

Destination – Fate.

Tayla and I both moved to Cape Town 5 and a half years ago. Tay from Durban and I from Johannesburg. We first started chatting on Twitter like real Millennials. I still remember the first time I saw Tayla in person and remember thinking – “She is way out of my league”. Luckily, she hasn’t realized this yet!

Dubai – The City of Gold, Diamond and Proposals.

In December 2016, we planned a cruise around the UAE, visiting Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman. Little did Tayla know, that’s not all that was planned! It was the 25^th of December and I needed to find a way to get Tay dressed up. I managed to convince her that it was family tradition to dress smart for Christmas which seemed to work and so, off we went, in 30+ degree weather, on a tourist bus and looking very out of place. We booked a trip up the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. We wondered around and around, admiring the view (actually while I tried to find the perfect backdrop) and eventually I got down on one knee and proposed.

Weltevreden Estate Wedding.

We wanted the style of our wedding to reflect the abundance of natural beauty our venue, Weltevreden Estate had to offer. We decided to stick to a neutral colour palate of greens, whites, greys and silvers to compliment the Cape Dutch architecture.

We chose Weltevreden Estate as it encompassed everything we had envisioned for our day. The gardens at Weltevreden Estate are stunning, which allowed us to have a beautiful outdoor ceremony. The venue had a vintage-feel, due to its Cape Dutch architecture but still a hint of modernism, which was a perfect fit for the style of wedding we were planning.

Rose Moltena Couture.

When I first went dress shopping I wasn’t set on a particular style of dress. I did, however have a designer in mind. After trying on numerous dresses at various wedding boutiques across the Western Cape, I decided to book an appointment with Rose Molteno. From the minute I entered her show room I fell in love with the simple yet elegant bohemian style. All of her dresses were fascinating, and it was evident that she puts tons of love into each and every design.

Flawless Hair and Make-up.

Leandre van Rooyen was the hair and make-up artist for me and my bridesmaids on the day of our wedding. She was absolutely fantastic and far exceeded my expectations!

The moment.

Bride: The most memorable moment of the day for me, was walking down the aisle towards my future-husband. That is the moment when all the nerves and excitement started kicking in, and the moment when I realized that this is our day and the beginning of the rest of our lives together.
Groom: Taking Tayla’s hand at the altar. I was in complete disbelief that this was my wife standing in front of me and how lucky I was.

The harpist and flutist from Zest music complimented the serene environment. The duet played at our ceremony and canapés.

Our Marriage Officiant.

Our officiant was Basil Sparks from Durbanville Baptist Church. We choose Basil as we look up to his wisdom and his ideologies surrounding marriage. Basil delivered a very meaningful message during our ceremony that has really stuck with us.

Photographer Research.

We searched high and low for a photographer that suited the style of photography we were looking for, for our special day. Tayla has always had a great interest in photography so she knew exactly what she was and wasn’t looking for in a photographer. When we found Landi we knew she was the one! We booked our photographer before we booked our venue!

Rings are eternal and so are Tattoos!

Groom: I stalked Tayla’s Pinterest with the jeweller but already had 2 styles in mind. Eventually, with the help of Grand Diamonds, the perfect style and stone was chosen.

Bride: Brad wasn’t all that keen on wearing a traditional wedding band and even considered getting a tattoo! We found Brads ring at the Canal Walk Wedding Fair. Brads ring is made of black tungsten and rose gold.

Weltevreden Estate Caterers.

Weltevreden Estate did all of the catering for our wedding. For starters we had waldorf salad, caraway beetroot, crème fraiche & orange segments and Maple & pumpkin pie. Mains were served as a buffet and included a variety of catering options to suit everyone’s dietary needs. For dessert we had panna cotta, vanilla & roasted white chocolate sponge, strawberries & cream and our salted caramel wedding cupcakes from Tessa’s Bakery.

Alcoholic and non-alcoholic punch was served at the canapes. We ensured that there was enough champagne to go around during the speeches and each table was set with a bottle of red and a bottle of white wine from Somerbosch winery in Stellenbosch.