The reception felt a little surreal. We'd opted for our own table as to be able to eat in peace and not have people bother us with little things while we were trying to take it all in.
There were a few glitches such as us losing microphone sound and the DJ playing nothing on our playlist and starting our dance music too soon but that aside, it went well and we had fun and we didn't fall over in our dance so we were happy.
It was a success overall and despite the fact that even to this day, not one of those family members have bothered to explain or even contact us for that matter, we were very happy.
The entire experience of planning and the actual day would not have been possible without Tamarah, who did the ceremony and was my "Calm down, you'll be ok" person, Melissa who did the invites and kicked my bum into gear in a big way with the planning, Diana who tagged along to everything so that I didn't go alone and bought me the most beautiful veil, Branwen and Nicola who came into everything late but kept everything together for the reception and the day in general, Leandri for her kind words and concern for my sanity in the last few weeks, Trudy who organised our hair and makeup and my nails and toenails and the flowers; My mom, Elaine, who did our overlays and had contagious excitement, Hendri and Tamarah who saved us from having no cake and from doing the sprinkler in our dance, Leslie, my sister, for phoning me a few weeks before to clear up the confusion and making the effort to come as the day would've been empty without her even if the entire family had pitched. Lastly to Adam, Chantall, Hendri, Morne and Nadia for flying up from Cape Town to share our day with us and filling our home with fun and laughter and a relaxed atmosphere before the big day.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Wedding Details - The actual wedding ceremony
As we stood there with the music playing, we had a quick discussion and shuffle of who was walking in first and handed out everybodies flowers - a single red rose.
As I started walking down the aisle with my mom, I noticed the first big issue; My entire family, barring my sister and my mom, had just not bothered to pitch. I'd had one of my cousins tell me that she couldn't make it but the rest had said that they were coming. I whispered to my mom "Where is everyone?" but I was soon feeling much better as I approached Al and he helped me over the mini-moat by the podium.
The ceremony was conducted by my M.O.H, Tamarah as we had been legally married at Home Affairs two days before. It was short and lovely and involved some guest participation too.
Alan winged his vows and they went something like this:
"They say that you should bend the tree while it's still young. The problem is, you're older than me. I suppose then that I'll have to honour you, like an honourable person. I'll have to cherish you, as long as you bring me cherries. I'll hold you at 2am when Kevin (his boss) says that I can go home. I love you with all my heart and promise to do so all my life."
It was my turn next. With trembling hands, I took the paper I'd written my vows on and said:
"I'll love you 'till the sun comes up,
and you hold out your hand for your coffee cup.
I'll love you when you're sick in bed,
or have stubbed your toe or hurt your head.
I'll love you and will always think you're so hot,
and I'll keep all others, in my blind spot.
I'll love you regardless of if we have money,
and I'll laugh at your jokes even if they're not funny.
I'll love you when you're 103,
despite your liking Dragon Ball Zee.
I'll love you more and more everyday,
way beyond when our hair has turned grey.
What I'm saying is that it's you I love most,
I'll love you 'till I die and turn into a ghost."
After that we walked past our guests as they threw rose petals on us and we had our photos taken with the bridal party while the guests went to have starters.
The photographer was really nice in that he took pictures of whatever or whomever we wanted and he let us give ideas as to what we'd like in terms of poses, etc.
In one photo, I had the bridesmaids all gather around Alan and put their hands on him. It turned out to be such a fun picture. It was nice to break the monotony that you sometimes get in wedding pics.
As I started walking down the aisle with my mom, I noticed the first big issue; My entire family, barring my sister and my mom, had just not bothered to pitch. I'd had one of my cousins tell me that she couldn't make it but the rest had said that they were coming. I whispered to my mom "Where is everyone?" but I was soon feeling much better as I approached Al and he helped me over the mini-moat by the podium.
The ceremony was conducted by my M.O.H, Tamarah as we had been legally married at Home Affairs two days before. It was short and lovely and involved some guest participation too.
Alan winged his vows and they went something like this:
"They say that you should bend the tree while it's still young. The problem is, you're older than me. I suppose then that I'll have to honour you, like an honourable person. I'll have to cherish you, as long as you bring me cherries. I'll hold you at 2am when Kevin (his boss) says that I can go home. I love you with all my heart and promise to do so all my life."
It was my turn next. With trembling hands, I took the paper I'd written my vows on and said:
"I'll love you 'till the sun comes up,
and you hold out your hand for your coffee cup.
I'll love you when you're sick in bed,
or have stubbed your toe or hurt your head.
I'll love you and will always think you're so hot,
and I'll keep all others, in my blind spot.
I'll love you regardless of if we have money,
and I'll laugh at your jokes even if they're not funny.
I'll love you when you're 103,
despite your liking Dragon Ball Zee.
I'll love you more and more everyday,
way beyond when our hair has turned grey.
What I'm saying is that it's you I love most,
I'll love you 'till I die and turn into a ghost."
After that we walked past our guests as they threw rose petals on us and we had our photos taken with the bridal party while the guests went to have starters.
The photographer was really nice in that he took pictures of whatever or whomever we wanted and he let us give ideas as to what we'd like in terms of poses, etc.
In one photo, I had the bridesmaids all gather around Alan and put their hands on him. It turned out to be such a fun picture. It was nice to break the monotony that you sometimes get in wedding pics.
Summary of wedding details - Beforehand prep
I have not yet posted details about how our wedding went because I was hoping to accompany them with pictures which just seem to take so long to upload lately. Perhaps I'll add the pics later.
In the morning, I first had to fetch my dress from the cleaners as it had only been cleaned the day before. We then headed for where we were having our hair and makeup done. I had decided to go last and so in the interim, I sent Bran, who was having her and makeup done seperately from us, smses of things I'd forgotten that Alan needed to bring. To say I sent her about 20 smses is probably an understatement. We'd forgotten the garter, I'd forgotten to pack clothes and my toothbrush for our stay at the venue and the list just went on and on and on.
That aside, while we waited I wrote my vows, in rhyme of course, stretched, practiced our dance a little by myself and drank coffee and ate Woolies crunchy biscuits and paged through magazines to help the other ladies to find nice hairstyles.
Al, in the interim, was rushing around like a mad person buying a new garter because he couldn't find mine, ensuring that he had everything on the multiple sms list and picking up the cake, which cracked with all the bumps on the roads. Just a slight crack but this worried Alan a lot and amused his family to no end. The cake still looked amazing and apparently it tasted fantastic too. Oh yes, before hiring a private person to bake your cake, some bakeries have amazing cakes and better prices, so compare.
Eventually after my hair and makeup was done, we realised that we were running about half an hour late and so off we raced to the venue, all of us, barring Bran and Nicola who were already at the venue, squashed into my little Chevy Spark. Upon arrival, the car guards refused to let us in the gate and insisted that we park in the long grass and walk from there. If you had never seen a bunch of ladies protest, then this would've been a sight to behold. Eventually they clicked that we weren't just guests and let us in.
We'd decided on "All I ask of you" from The Phantom of the Opera to walk down the aisle to a few minutes before and so Alan smsed the DJ and he started the music...
In the morning, I first had to fetch my dress from the cleaners as it had only been cleaned the day before. We then headed for where we were having our hair and makeup done. I had decided to go last and so in the interim, I sent Bran, who was having her and makeup done seperately from us, smses of things I'd forgotten that Alan needed to bring. To say I sent her about 20 smses is probably an understatement. We'd forgotten the garter, I'd forgotten to pack clothes and my toothbrush for our stay at the venue and the list just went on and on and on.
That aside, while we waited I wrote my vows, in rhyme of course, stretched, practiced our dance a little by myself and drank coffee and ate Woolies crunchy biscuits and paged through magazines to help the other ladies to find nice hairstyles.
Al, in the interim, was rushing around like a mad person buying a new garter because he couldn't find mine, ensuring that he had everything on the multiple sms list and picking up the cake, which cracked with all the bumps on the roads. Just a slight crack but this worried Alan a lot and amused his family to no end. The cake still looked amazing and apparently it tasted fantastic too. Oh yes, before hiring a private person to bake your cake, some bakeries have amazing cakes and better prices, so compare.
Eventually after my hair and makeup was done, we realised that we were running about half an hour late and so off we raced to the venue, all of us, barring Bran and Nicola who were already at the venue, squashed into my little Chevy Spark. Upon arrival, the car guards refused to let us in the gate and insisted that we park in the long grass and walk from there. If you had never seen a bunch of ladies protest, then this would've been a sight to behold. Eventually they clicked that we weren't just guests and let us in.
We'd decided on "All I ask of you" from The Phantom of the Opera to walk down the aisle to a few minutes before and so Alan smsed the DJ and he started the music...
How to degenerate into a lump of sadness and boredom and crave the company of goats.
Onceuponatime there was a person who used to laugh at everyone's misfortunes because they grew up in a home where being mean to people was regarded as funny. Their parents would shock them with electrical cables as tiny children and laugh at how they cried at the pain. To stop the crying, the parents would then tell the one child "Go and fetch you sister and let's do it to her too!" You can understand that children like these who regarded their parents as incapable of making any mistakes might turn out a little, well, unbalanced.
So one day this person grew up and moved out of home and ended up living with other people and spending all their time in their room making videos of themselves telling people how to do various things in the hopes that it would enrich their lives as well. I watched a few minutes of each clip, including their song about a goat sung in a bad, fake American accent and then just stopped it. Sounds funny, doesn't it? It had potential to be funny, yes but honestly it was just painful. It was like watching someone who is a drug addict teaching people how to stay clean and sober.
I'm not saying that if you laugh at people's misfortunes and are mean that you'll end up lonely and making Youtube videos in your room by yourself singing random rubbish and telling people how to love others because nobody loves you anymore because you were so mean. No, hang on, I am.
So one day this person grew up and moved out of home and ended up living with other people and spending all their time in their room making videos of themselves telling people how to do various things in the hopes that it would enrich their lives as well. I watched a few minutes of each clip, including their song about a goat sung in a bad, fake American accent and then just stopped it. Sounds funny, doesn't it? It had potential to be funny, yes but honestly it was just painful. It was like watching someone who is a drug addict teaching people how to stay clean and sober.
I'm not saying that if you laugh at people's misfortunes and are mean that you'll end up lonely and making Youtube videos in your room by yourself singing random rubbish and telling people how to love others because nobody loves you anymore because you were so mean. No, hang on, I am.
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