Wedding in the Winelands

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Everyone said my wedding was the best wedding they had ever been to. 

I will never forget these words spoken by my mother while I was busy trying to plan mine. To any mothers out there, please take note, these are not words of support or encouragement for your about-to-marry daughter. I was left unsure of whether to congratulate my mother on her obvious success in wedding planning or whether to answer her with the truth... I mean, what guest is going to turn to the bride on her wedding day and say, "That was a crap wedding"!?

Fact is, your wedding day is about you (the bride) and your man (the groom). Never EVER forget that. You make it what you want and stay relaxed because the day you say "I do" to the man you want to spend the rest of your life with, will be the most special of days and it should be about the two of you, not about making everybody else in your life happy.

Actually, for reasons I'd rather not go into, my mother did not come. Neither did my siblings. Neither did one of my oldest and closest friends. All this did was make me especially thankful to those loved ones that did make the occasion and well, the day was beautiful!

12th March 2014: Alex & I flew to Cape Town. Alex had arranged the most spectacular apartment for us to spend. Check out the Residences Cape Town. We were in the 3-bedroom Penthouse ready for guests to arrive the next day. Check it out...

Photo: Residences Cape Town

13th March 2014: My good friend Lindsay, her husband and her mum all arrived while I got to meet our lovely photographer, Monica Dart for the first time. I knew from the work on her website that I had already made the right decision but meeting her, sharing our story with her and talking about our soon-to-be wedding day was awesome. After she had left I felt totally relaxed and confident that things would be just fine!

Now there is a seafood platter!

Shortly after this I met the man who was going to marry us, our Minister. Marius Brand is a very calm individual originally from Zimbabwe, now living in South Africa. The Zimbabwean link was particularly apt given that Alex had been living in Zimbabwe for 4 years and still refers to it as the one place he can always happily settle to live.

It soon became apparent that I needed some more paperwork if this marriage was ever going to be legal! A trip to the British embassy was arranged for the next day and so we headed to Cape Town for a big plate of seafood at Sevruga. 

14th March 2014: Not without drama. I went to the British embassy where they told me there was nothing they could do for me! Fantastic... what now? Due to get married the next day and the whole thing was looking to be just an expensive ceremony with no actual legal marriage!! So, I dashed to Protea Hotel to pick up my Dad & his girlfriend then I dashed back to Alex (who had prepared my affidavit for notarising), then I dashed across to the post office in Century City and thankfully I met with the nicest post office manager in the world! I explained my situation and she was so happy for me getting married the next day that she notarised the affidavit, wished me the best of days and never charged me a thing. She was lovely.

Now... time to go get married. 2 cars full of people and luggage, and onward to Franschhoek! We received a warm welcome from Marie-Louise and all the Staff at La Petite Dauphine. This place is magical and no words will ever be able to thank Marie-Louise enough in everything she did for us, planning our day without either of us there to help. She did fantastic! I highly recommend her for Wedding planning!!

The boys went off on a wine tour while we girls went for a bit of pampering at Camelot Spa. After being (more than) a little bit wound up and nervous this was the best idea yet. I soaked in a salt bath. 15 mins in the bath is equivalent to 4 hours sleep. Genius! Then I had my nails done beautifully before emerging to find Lindsay and her Mum had prepared a champagne lunch surprise. Totally relaxed. And then this...

Hahahaha! That's right - I had been lacking a hen do but I could rely on my AWESOME Maid of Honour to save the day. She kitted me out in an "I LOVE PHUKET" tshirt (wonder why!) and a pink wig (no comment) and we had an evening of laughs. The boys even joined us after their day of wine-tasting. You can imagine the state they were in!

15th March 2014: There were a few sore heads but it was time for the big day. At this point, Monica Dart's photos capture the day better than any of my words....

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

 All photos fantastically taken by MONICA DART

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

It never stopped. After the ceremony there were more photos, more champagne, more nibbles and then we took ourselves under the Old Oak Tree for an evening with wonderful food, more drink, and some hilarious speeches!

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Special thanks to all those lovely people who did join us on 15th March 2014. You made our day all the more beautiful. Thank you.

Photos: Monica Dart Photography

Photo Blog: Alex & Kerry's Wedding (Monica Dart)

Location: La Petite Dauphine, Franschhoek, South Africa

Flowers & Ceremony Arrangements: (to be added)

Wedding Thai Style - am I married?

Here I am at the beginning of June, wanting to update you on my exciting life in Phuket, Thailand. I have remembered to come back to my blog - impressed??

Truth is, May was a quiet month consisting of marathon training, more marathon training and even more marathon training. I am sat at my office window now with my left leg up on a chair because it has been killing me. I find myself thinking to more exciting Mays gone-by. I don't have to think far back... 22nd May 2011 marked the one-year wedding anniversary of a couple of Mik & my closest friends, James & Ning. I never blogged it then and I should have so here it is... A Thai wedding where I may have even ended up married myself!

As background, Ning (who you see 2nd from the right, sitting next to me) was born in a small village near Loei in the Isaarn (North-East) area of Thailand. As is Thai tradition, when she agreed to marry James, the ceremony was back in her home town among family, close-friends and the entire village! Mik & I were most touched and honored to be invited along, with our roles tenuously explained to us as 'kind-of' best man and maid of honour.

We went with the flow... so here I am in my traditional Thai 'wedding dress' (yes, the confusion certainly began here!) and Ning's sister is preparing my hair and make-up.

 

It all began about 0530am! Preparations were made for the monks arriving from the local temple - this included lots of food arriving! I seem to remember the monks arrived about 0700am and the proceedings began.

There was a lot of chanting by the monks while James, Ning, myself and other members of the 'congregation' knelt on the floor with hands and fingers pressed together as though in prayer. At certain points during the chanting we were meant to reply but my Thai being somewhat embarrassingly useless meant that I just tried to look the part rather than get everything right verbally! At this point, James & Ning also gave alms to the monks directly.

In the above picture you can see the Head monk is chanting and, with what looks like a bunch of flowers in his hand, he is tossing water at us all. This followed water-pouring by Ning & James which is a very important part of the ceremony as this is the point where they are officially made husband and wife, and their marriage is blessed.

Next up was the big feed - quite amusing to see the community drinking bottles of 'Chang' beer at 0800am! I waited until about noon before I could stomach it. All good fun :-)

Then we returned to Ning's family home for the presenting of gifts and the dowry, before we - Ning, James, Mik & myself - were asked to be seated in a line so the village community could come to tie the pre-blessed string to our wrists and donate money for our futures together.
Yes... This is where the confusion really hit. Why were the villagers giving money and string to Mik & I??

The final step was for James to parade the village before entering the family home and sweeping Ning off to the nuptial bed as prepared by the 'elders'. Enough said ;-)


All being told, this was a wonderful day, a wonderful experience and something unforgettable. I was made up to be a part of it. As for whether I am now married to Mik or not... Who cares? It did lead 3 months later to a ring being presented with the words, "Well, the string won't last forever". Awwwww...