The wedding…through the eyes of the Bride {Part 1}

Photos by Radiant Production Studio

Today we start a new feature "Through the eyes of the Bride". Part one will be the intro to our lovely bride...and when you stay tuned you will be able to follow along about what a wedding day was like for this beautiful bride. So without further ado... I introduce to you, Odette, our beautiful bride! :)

Part One:

You are probably wondering why someone would want to write about “The Wedding Through the Eyes of the Bride”?

It hit me when I was in my room the night before the wedding… How am I going to remember what happened at my wedding? Everyone was telling me how fast the day goes, how you don’t get time to eat, how you will not remember what exactly happened etc. and the fact is I was really really worried that it will be true. I wanted to remember it and thought of doing a blog on it and adding photos I actually took myself on the day of the wedding.

Then I decided to pull my lovely cousin, Monique into the mix… first of all, she REALLY helped me a lot with my planning an ideas! Since I started with the planning, she gave tips, links to websites, sent pictures AND she designed my save-the-date and wedding invites. She was also my photo-booth photographer (and a great one I must add). And she has this awesome blog that I referred to rather often during my planning months.

Thus I was going to tell my cousin to do a blog telling brides-to-be how it actually felt on the day of the wedding, only she said I should write the blog.

There you go. The short and sweet of how I got to write my very first blog.

The planning

We (Ruan and I) got engaged in January 2011, after we have been dating for 4 years and 4 months. I wanted to start planning the wedding immediately, but due to some factors, I had to wait a while. That gave me time to start looking at ideas, thinking of what we wanted, who we wanted at our wedding and where we wanted our wedding. Then finally in May 2011 we set the date and started planning the wedding. I am not going to bore you with all the details of what you should plan, when, how, who to use etc. because the fact is I am not a wedding planner and definitely not a wedding expert.

First of all: I was working full time, 7:00 am to 4:30 pm every day, with an hour’s travel to and from work. My fiance lived 2 hours away and I only saw him on weekends. Thus I did not have a lot of time for planning and when I did have time, I enjoyed sitting back and relaxing rather than planning.

But with the help from my family and friends and a lot of helpful hints and tips from wedding blogs, I managed to plan our wedding.

Hints I would give to other brides: make use of wedding blogs, for tips, ideas, contacts, planning tools and it is fun seeing what others interpret as the perfect day. Get a wedding planner (if you need and can afford it), they help with controlling your budget, organizing and thinking of everything, minimize the stress and it allows you to focus on the fun stuff! Have an engagement shoot with your photographer, then you will know what to expect.

 Stay tuned for more updates and photos from this stunning wedding!

All photos by: Radiant Production Studio

Real Bride Q&A!

On 14 April my very spesial second cousin became the wife of the awesome Ruan. I helped a lot with the planning and Odette and I had been sending tons of emails about our ideas before her big day, since I am planning mine too. So when the day finally arrived, I couldn't beleive how time had flown by.

It was a stunning wedding! So much so that I would not have minded for it to be my own!
I asked Odette to share some insights with me on her big day, here is what she said.
(in afrikaans but I have translated the sentences)

Wat was jou beste oomblik? What was your favourite moment?

Toe ek in die kapel inloop en al wat ek sien is Ruan! (‘n baie naby tweede plek vir: Toe ek my sluier opsit en myself in die spieel sien, my hare, grimering, rok, als was perfek en soos ek dit  gedroom het)

When I entered the chapel and all I could see was Ruan! And a close second was when I had my veil on en I saw myself in the mirror, my hair, my make-up my dress, everything was perfect, the way I always imagined it.

Wat was jou slegste oomblik? What was your worst moment?

Toe ‘n by my op my boud steek by die onthaal (Ja, regtig!) en ek nie weer my lipgloss kon kry om my lippe te laat blink nie.

When a bee stung me on my butt during the reception!! (yes that really happened!) And when i couldn't find my lipgloss again to touch up my lips.

Wat is die een ding wat jy wens jy voor die tyd kon geweet het? Whats the one thing you wish you could have known before the time?

Ek het so baie opgelees oor troues en wat om te verwag, dat ek nie eintlik iets meer voor die tyd kon in my kop kry nie! Maar ek sou wou hê iemand moes plastiek sakkies of bakkies byderhand gehad het vir die koek wat oorgebly het en die blomme, want ons moes al die blomme by die venue los omdat niemand iets gehad het om dit in te vervoer nie.
I read so many things on weddings and what to expect that i wouldn't have been able to fit a single thing more into my head! But I wish we had plastic bags or bowls for the leftover cake and the flowers. We had to leave all the flowers at the venue because we had nothing to transport it in!

All photos from guests on the wedding day.

I spoke to Odette again soon after the wedding and she mentioned that as much fun as it was to plan her own wedding, she would have liked to have a wedding coordinater.
Are there any other brides who had regrets about planning their own wedding?

French inspired wedding {wedding tips}

Chani & Wihan got married in April this year. I've known Chani since primary school and with facebook we have been able to keep in contact and often share emails about our love for photography and pretty things.
Chani loves all thing french and I loved how the venue and all the french inspired decor complemented her so well on her wedding day, so I asked if I could post her photos on my blog. She agreed and we even did the whole wedding blog question thingy. She shared some really great tips for brides to be (me!). Enjoy!

 

Tell us your story, how you met, fell in love and got married!
We met at a mutual friends' house party during our matric year. A few weeks later we were at my best friend's house - he's friends with her brother - when Vincent (best guy friend since I was 4) got in an accident. I got a little freaked out when he came back and he was full of blood, so I went for a walk - Vincent asked Wihan to follow me and check that I was okay. We ended up walking and talking for 5 hours about everything: family, school, our past, where we grew up, our likes, dislikes. And that was the night I started falling for him - hard :)
It took a few weeks to convince him that I really did like him - I was popular and outgoing, he was shy and a little dorky - but on the 9th of Feb he asked me out at break. I'll never forget, he said: "Will you be my girlfriend? I wanted to wait till Valentines Day but I couldn't wait that long!"
August 9th will be our 6 year and 6 month dating anniversary
He proposed the year after school, and we wanted to get married straight away, but then the reality of me supporting him during his studies dawned on us and we decided to wait until he was done with his studies. Last year was his final year and we could finally set a date!


How did he propose?
We spend our December holidays down at Gouritsmond (4hours from Cape Town). My family has been going there since my mom was in high school so it's a really special place for us. On the 9th of December (our monthaversary - hehe) I woke Wihan up so we could watch the sunrise, but it was completely overcast so we couldn't see anything. He promised that he'd wake me later that holiday so we could watch the sunrise.
The day after Christmas he woke me up early in the morning and told me we were going for a drive - we got in the car and he drove me down to the rocky part of the beach. We sat there (me still wearing my pjs) until the sun started coming up. As soon as the sun started peaking over the ocean, he went down on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was perfect!

What was your favourite part of the wedding day?

I loved all of it! It's very hard to choose one specific moment, but I'll mention two of my favourite parts:
1. The moment before the church doors opened right up until I was standing next to my groom. There are so many emotions going through you at that moment: seeing your dad next to you nervous and on the verge of tears, your maid of honour (or in my case maids of honour) and flower girls all nervous and excited, walking down the isle and seeing all your guests smiling and some sobbing, and seeing the look on you soon-to-be husband's face... It really is too much to handle
2. Our first dance. We had been going for lessons for 3 months and we both loved our dance, the song, everything. It was just so special to have all our guests watch us take the floor and Mr and Mrs. I loved seeing how nervous my husband was but how much he was enjoying it.

Did you do any DIY projects?

I did quite a few: the table names, seating charts, signs ie "sign me" which was put up at the guest book table, "Mr & Mrs" which was pinned to our table, "history" which hung over the stand with all the old wedding photos of family members. The scales used in the centre pieces are all old family scales.

 

 What was the style/theme of your wedding?

The theme was Vintage French, but it was a very informal French and not the "uppity" French with glassware and crystal etc.

Any tips on being budget friendly?

We saved on a few things that we felt really weren't necessary: we didn't hire a DJ (saving of about R5000) and instead I created playlists on my iPod and we plugged that into the sound system in the chapel and reception hall. It added to the fun as anyone that wanted to request a song could just go search it on the iPod. Of course I had a WIDE variety of music and different playlists for during dinner and after for dancing; then we didn't have a cake but had dessert instead (which was included in the buffet meal option we took); we supplied one bottle of wine and one bottle of champagne per table, other than that it was a cash bar.
At the end of the day you have to realise that it is YOUR day and spending a fortune catering for the people that are joining you in celebrating is ridiculous - they're not there to be served, but rather to enjoy the day with you.

Anything you wish you knew before your big day? (any tips for future brides)

* Get a nice hanger to hang your dress on - you might not think it's a big deal, until you see your dress hanging there on a wire hanger and realise how much it spoils the photos
* Get as much sleep as possible - I was still doing DIY projects until 11/12 the night before and then I couldn't sleep after 3am! By 9pm I was super tired but partied on till just after 11. Our guests stayed up till past 4am though!
* During dinner, ask the servers to put some take-aways in a holder for you and your husband - you're too nervous and busy greeting everyone during supper to really eat and enjoy the food, and when you get to bed you realise you're starving
* Keep the following handy: Handy Andy (for spills on the dress - consult the designer beforehand of course), safety pins
* Anyone will tell you that the day goes by quickly, so enjoy every minute! As you're walking down the isle, pry your eyes away from your groom for a few seconds and look at all your guests - you might not get a chance to greet each of them later during the day
* Ask the photographer to take photos of your guests as well during the ceremony (and not just of you)

This is just a suggestion but we had a "stay-over" wedding - those guests that wanted had the option to sleep over at the venue (at their own cost) and have breakfast the next morning. I think that's one of the reasons why our guests had such a great time.

What songs did you: walk into church with ; walk into venue ; do you first dance to?
Church entrance: Lenka - We Will Not Grow Old
Church exit: The Proclaimers - Then I Met You
Venue: The Proclaimers - 500 Miles
First dance: The Goo Goo Dolls - Better Days

Vendors: Hair; make-up; venue; dress; photographer; cake; etc

Hair: Lizelle from Headfirst (0126621545)
Make-up: I did myself with a little help from a friend that did beauty studies
Venue: La Petite Auberge in Witbank (they supplied all the extra decorations that we didn't bring/make as well as catered - the food was DELICIOUS!)
Dress: Lise Design (bought it at her March sale for R2000!)
Photographer: Quintin Mills
Flowers: The Green Chameleon

 

 

Thanks for sharing Chani. ♥