The troops mobilised this morning with all the wedding decorations in the back of the land rover, and we all set off for Olive Rock. All the decor we had rented from Suzanne along with the things I had bought or won from the UK were carried inside the venue and placed in a big pile to be organised. Simone was already there with Ethan, as we were slightly late arriving. The first thing we did was move the five round tables round to the configuration we wanted, the main table in the centre and the remaining four at each 'corner'. The cake table was in the centre of the room and the other half of the room was to be used for the dance floor.
The round tablecloths were a beautiful white embossed cotton, and had little underskirts that had to be put on the tables first. The Whiteley's and the Beale's had a race to see who could finish their tables first with the table cloths, a little more complex than it sounds as they were not perfectly round so we all had tugs of war on either side of the table to try to make them even. We are not really sure who won :D Simone got out all the cutlery and glasses for us that needed to be laid on the tables and we figured out the seating arrangement. Whilst Simone was re-wiping one of the wine glasses the stem gave way and cut her hand, how terrible!! I got to look after gorgeous baby Ethan whilst she went home and got a plaster though, which I enjoyed as he is such a sweet baby!
Dan got a phone call about the reversal dinner, as Phillip was concerned about the wind and therefore if he should move our braai to the back of the venue. Dan told him it was his call and we would be happy either way, which we would be! Dad left in the land rover to go get Duncan, and once the tables were mostly set, the rest of us left in the remaining cars to Ceres. I had a manicure and pedicure booked which I was slightly late for, and whilst I was in the beauticians everyone else enjoyed some Debonairs pizza. Thankfully mum, Emma and Sharon thought to bring me a couple of pieces, as I was starving at that stage :D
The Whiteley men went on a mission to find a candle lighter and buy more alcohol, where they ran into Phillip and discussed the rehearsal dinner. The weather was still really windy so the call to keep it as is or move the braai was yet to be made. Once my nails were done it was mums turn, so I walked barefoot to the florist to have a look at the flowers and also to try to find some more ribbons for the main table. The flowers looked gorgeous, each of the bridesmaids had a different bouquet with similar flowers, my bouquet had yet to be made and the table flowers looked stunning in their square vases. I bought a stretch of red ribbon with embossed flowers for our table and walked back to the beauticians.
Once Emma arrived for her nail appointment I stole a ride with Steve who had brought her, and we drove to Olive Rock to say hi to Jess and James who had arrived to stay in their cabin on the farm. They had been having car trouble with their rental Nissan Micra, and were waiting on a call from the car company to hopefully replace their car. We quickly grabbed the wedding magnet favours I had won and drove back to our cabins at Arum Lilly. Sharon and I put the magnets into their bags whilst Dan did the wedding music, and once those jobs were done we drove back to Olive Rock to finish decorating. We put the magnets at each place setting, moved the little hummingbird place names from the champagne flutes to the wine glasses as they were having trouble staying upright and I wrote out a list for the boys to do on Wednesday whilst all the bridesmaids were having hair and make up done.
At 5:30 everyone who needed to be at Olive Rock for the wedding rehearsal gathered together to run through exactly what was to happen the next day. Charles explained the order or service, told JD when to give Dan the rings, when we would need our vows and when Paul and Duncan were to stand up to do their readings. Everyone was a bit of a shambles as a lot of the guests were just meeting each other, so there was lots of talking and catching up :D We were late leaving Olive Rock to head to Waverley Hills for the reversal dinner, but we got there eventually! Chantel showed up from Cape Town as she was at work that morning. We had buckets of beers and cider out, and the fire was roaring when we got there just as the sun was setting, it was perfect!
The braais were downstairs on the lawn, as were Phillip and Carrine. Dinner consisted of a few delicious salads, tzatziki lamb and rump steaks, and an amazing malva pudding and homemade vanilla icecream! It was wonderful to be able to mingle with everyone whilst the food was being cooked and JD kept bringing me Savannahs! I may have been a little drunk after a while! :D Everyone moved inside for dinner just after seven, grabbed a plate and some delicious food and chose a seat. Congratulations to Phillip once again as the food was simply amazing!!! I popped back up for seconds and I almost couldn't fit dessert :D Dan's dad did a great speech thanking everyone for coming and the fact that Dan wanted to go back to Scotland early after his first summer, and I was probably the reason for that! He also included the hilarious pointers he pulled from Google; it's not about you, don't wing it and keep it short.
Most of the adults decided to leave shortly after the dessert but the rest of us stayed on for a little longer to enjoy the fire, a few more drinks and each others company before we headed home to sleep. I made sure to drink about a litre of water before we left, or it would be a little painful for me in the morning!
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