Jenny: Yay, its our Wedding Day!! We got up at about seven to have a bath, as the hair and makeup artists were arriving at eight. The boys had a few jobs to do in the morning whilst we were all getting ready, and the first of which my dad failed on :D We had written out a list the day before, the first task being go get the bridesmaids before 8, and I walked into their cabin to find dad having coffee in his underpants, mum not showered and Duncan still in his PJs! Needless to say I freaked out a little bit, but thankfully they were not far away, and Sharon and Emma started on their hair and makeup, so at least Carla and her team were not sitting around doing nothing. Dad got back really quickly with everyone else, so all was sorted :) The next task the boys had was to go to Wolseley and get our breakfast and lunch from the home industries there, we had ordered bran muffins and little finger pies for lunch.
The girls all sat in our cabin drinking champagne, fruit juice, eating bran muffins with jam and cheese. I also spent the majority of the morning sorting out the music for the reception, as Dan had done some of it, but not finished it yet!! We ended up having an iPod with the reception music, the iPad with the music for the meal, mums iPhone with the African music for the canapés after the wedding, and the iPod and Dan's iPhone for the music for walking down and back up the isle! Sounds convoluted but as a DJ was about R4000, and we were having such a small wedding we decided to just do it ourselves. Carla started on my hair first, along with the second hairstylist, and they each curled parts of my hair and pinned them up to set. Carla unfortunately burned the left side of my face with curling tags, a complete accident and thankfully my fringe covered most of the mark. My makeup and hair were both completed by about 12:00, and looked absolutely gorgeous, if I do say so myself. They did an absolutely amazing job with everyones hair and make up, all of us looked stunning!!
I will however say that I was disappointed to learn from Carrine at Waverley Hills that Carla and her team from Anuk did not immediately head to the salon to deal with the other clients they apparently had booked up for the rest of the day, instead they went and enjoyed Phillips pizza and wine straight afterwards. You will understand why I was disappointed when I explain that I had booked Anuk months before hand, and told Carla that the wedding started at 3pm. I was told that everyone must be ready at 8 to start hair and makeup to be finished in time for the wedding, which is what should have been the case, not in time for their lunch. I would have happily provided pizzas from Waverly Hills if that was what they wanted, but instead I sat for the next three hours with nothing to do, trying to fix parts of my curls that were coming undone. I would have loved for Heather to be able to take my bridal photographs with my hair still looking gorgeous and freshly done, not annoying me :(
Anyways! After waiting around for another two hours before Heather was scheduled to arrive, she took photographs of the dress, shoes, jewellery, perfume, and garter. We then went upstairs to the bedroom to dress me, and it was so hot up there!! The morning had been pretty cold so we had a fire going, but as all the heat had risen the upstairs felt like a furnace, so being laced into my dress in that heat was not too fun :D Thankfully Chantel brought me a coke to cool me down. I also had to make sure that the dress was not laced too tight, as at one stage I found it really hard to breath. The girls did an amazing job though, helping me get dressed and putting up with me complaining about my hair :D We did group photos with Heather and my individual photos, before dad helped us into the car and we set off to Olive Rock to get married!!!
Dan: So the big day was finally upon us. In comparison to Jenny I had very little getting ready to do in the morning which left my schedule open to do all the errands which needed doing. Jennys dad had already been given the task of delegating but had misplaced the list the night before so I had taken over the task of making sure all Jenny's tasks were complete. My first job was to head into Wolseley with Duncan and pick up the food that Jenny and her mom had ordered from the home industries. We also were instructed to pick up some jam, not knowing which type to get Duncan and I frantically grabbed three random flavours and headed back to the houses.
Once we had fetched the food I then enlisted James' help with some of my other tasks. Our first job was to run into Ceres and fetch the flowers from the florist. The flowers were actually very nice and James and I loaded them into his car (they barely fit!) before running down the road to pick up the cake. She. We arrived at @funtion they informed us that the cake was on its way and should be there shortly. We sat and had a coffee while we waited for the cake and once it arrived we took the flowers and the cake to the wedding venue and completed a separate list of tasks that Jenny had left for the reception.
Once all of these jobs were complete we drove back to the cottages and relaxed for a while in the guys cabin. I still had to write my vows somewhere in the middle of all these errands so I removed myself from the guys cabin and went to sit in Lesley and Joe's accommodation to write. When I finished writing my mom joined me in the cabin for a crash course dance lesson for our first dance tonight. It seemed very simple in theory, more difficult in practice.
I eventually wandered back to the guys cabin where I needed to start getting ready. Heather, the wedding photographer, showed up a little after 13:00 to take some photos of the guys getting ready. When I had finished dressing we all gathered on the porch outside our cabin for some champagne and waited for our orders to leave for the venue. When we arrived at the venue JD and I clarified some details about the groomsmens placement with Charles Mercer and waited anxiously for Jenny's arrival.
Jenny: As we arrived in the car, Duncan came running towards us to tell us to wait, as James had to go get an iPhone charger so we could use mums iPhone for music. He came tearing down the road at full pelt like a rally car racer, and parked that little car with such expertise and finesse I really could imagine him as one :D I yelled out YAAY as we pulled up, which got a laugh out of everyone :) The girls piled out of the car first and got their bouquets ready, and lined up whilst Dad helped me out of the car.
Walking down the isle was really surreal, sort of slow motion but sped up at the same time. Dad did a wonderful job walking me down the isle, he made sure I didn't fall over thankfully, and didn't bring along any sticks to whack me with as he did yesterday evening for our rehearsal :D Seeing Dan's face was my most favourite thing, he couldn't have been more happy or smiling any wider, and I hope I never forget that image. Dad gave me to Dan when we got to the top of the isle, or in his own words "take it and go" and we stood facing our guests for the ceremony. Charles gave a lovely address to begin with, followed by a reading from Corinthians by Paul:
Love is patient and love is kind. It is never jealous.
Love is never boastful or conceited, it is never rude or selfish.
Love does not take offense, nor is it resentful.
Love is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, to protect and to endure whatever comes. Love does not come to an end.
There are three things that last, faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love.
Charles then called for the vows which Chantel passed over. Dan and I had written our own vows to each other, something I had felt very strongly about as I don't think we fit into the traditional vows, and they don't feel very special to me. Our vows in comparison were amazing, Dan was trying very hard not to cry, which obviously almost set me off when I read mine. His vows were beautiful and heartfelt, anymore than I could have asked for. I promised Dan to always be silly, always hold his hand and always love him. Duncan kindly agreed to do our second reading for us, entitled Blessing for a Marriage by James Dillet Freeman:
May your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage should bring, and may life grant you also patience, tolerance, and understanding.
May you always need one another - not so much to fill your emptiness as to help you to know your fullness.
May you need one another, but not out of weakness.
May you want one another, but not out of lack.
May you entice, but not compel one another.
May you embrace, but not encircle one another.
May you succeed in all important ways with one another, and not fail in the little graces.
May you look for things to praise, often say, "I love you!" and take no notice of small faults.
If you have quarrels that push you apart, may both of you hope to have good sense enough to take the first step back.
May you have happiness, and may you find it by making one another happy.
May you have love, and may you find it by loving one another.
JD then passed our rings to us, for our "with this ring I thee wed" phrase. We had to agree to the legal preamble that Charles then told us, as in we do want to get married, there are no lawful impediments etc, and then he pronounced us husband and wife!! Dan then kissed his new bride :D :D we walked back up the isle to a song called 'All that I need is this moment, to send me away with a smile on my face", to a room to sign the register. Mum and Chantel came with to be witnesses, as they both had South African ID books that we could certify before the wedding day to give to Charles. After we had signed the register and officially become legally married in the eyes of the law, we hung back for a few moments before walking through a shower of confetti into the lawn for the reception.
An amazing surprise awaited us as Peppi and Simone had been extremely gracious and generous enough to arrange a local youth marimba band to play for us at the beginning of the reception and they were amazing!!! Even more amazing when you consider that none of them had practiced solidly together before the previous week, and only been playing about once a month for a few months before that, it was a truly special arrangement! Everyone adored the band and it added such a magical touch to our special day.
Jenny and I then had a few brief moments to have some drinks and mingle with people before the family photos started. I think we now have every combination of family photo we will ever need! :) We were able to enjoy all of the amazing canapés that Nick had prepared for us, even though it is extremely hard to chose a favorite as they were all divine, mine was the sundried tomato and basil pesto cups and Jenny loved the lamb wraps! The bridesmaids and groomsmen joined both of us at the river below Olive Rock for some wedding party photographs.
Jenny and I then left with Heather in her car for about and hour and a half worth of photos of just the two of us. She had chosen some spectacular spots around the farm, and we had fun giggling and smiling whilst she took countless photos of us, all of which I know will be wonderful. Jenny got a grass stain on her dress during the photos as we had to k eel down, but as she had won it, it really didn't matter! :) We had to wait outside the venue for a few minutes whilst Heather set up her equipment inside, and Gary and Evette came back from their house trailing the sweetest little cat ever! He is topped only by Mo, which makes me want to think that Mo sent him here to say hi to Dan and I on our wedding day, and to let us know he is thinking about us!
When we walked in, we were introduced for the first time as Mr. And Mrs. Whiteley, we then had a little more time for mingling and drinks before Chris kindly called for everyone to take their seats for dinner. Nick's food was absolutely wonderful, so good in fact that I feel I am becoming too accustomed to fine food and dining in South Africa. Jenny really did outdo herself when she chose Olive Rock, it is so stunning here, Nick and Simone are wonderful hosts and to be topped off with such magnificent food is an amazing bonus! The whole room descended into silence as we ate and the starter of smoked springbok carpaggio on a rocket and parmesan salad. The main course disappeared just as quickly, a rump steak, beans and deliciois potato stack. We offered Chris a second helping of the steak, which he happily agreed to enjoy, as we know his love for red meat very well and we had a couple of seats empty meaning we had a couple of meals spare!
At this stage we took a long break before dessert and filled said break with customary wedding activities. The first of which was the speeches by Joe, Steve, myself and JD in that order. Joe' speech was incredibly funny and it was nice to hear him say so much at once; in fact I think I heard Joe speak more in those 5 minutes than the previously 4 years combined :Di loved dads speech, I knew it would be hilarious and it most certainly was, but it was also extremely clever and thoughtful, I'm so glad I have a copy of that from Chantel's video camera!! Steve then read some messages from friends and family who could not attend the wedding, including one from Thebe, Jenny's black Labrador in Zambia. My speech was very short and improvised as didn't realise I was expected to speak. I had forgotten to tell Dan that he had to do a speech too, but as he is so very eloquent with words it was short, sweet but poignant and funny! JDs best man speech was next and certainly fulfilled it's role as a verbal assault of Dan's personality :D He spoke amazingly well, also an hilarious hilarious speech!!! My favourite part by far was when he thanked Mike and Judith, the owners of the Golf Shop if St Andrews where Dan and I worked, for their paying me to sit on my ass all day and win things for our wedding :D Seeing as I had won the dress, garter, veil, favours, fans, decoration, cake toppers, cake knife and a honeymoon in the Maldives to name a few, you can see he had a point :D We are also really glad to have a video of his speech, as I'm sure it is also one that will go down in history like dads!
We followed up the speeches with the garter toss and the bouquet toss; won by Toby and Chantel respectively before cutting of the cake and the serving of desserts, delicious brownies, red velvet cupcakes, and koeksisters. What Dan neglects to mention here is that he had to venture up my skirt to pull the garter off with his teeth, a sight I will never forget :D Towards the end of the desserts we realised that neither one of us had remembered to put the first dance song on the iPod and we had no way of getting it in time for Heather to take photos of the dance. Luckily the bartender had a phone that could download music amazingly fast and Charmaine still had the portable speaker we used for the ceremony, so after a short period of panic we had our music, and had our first dance to owl city 'if my heart was a house'.
When our dance was finished Heather packed up and our guests enjoyed tea and coffee before the drinks properly started flowing. Jenny and I decided to close the original bar tab (which only included beer and wine) and use the rest of the money as a truly open bar. This way everyone could have the drink of their choice while toasting marshmallows on the braai and dancing away. Some of us may have overindulged on the shot front (hem hem, Mike :D) but that was too be expected, it truly was a day for celebration. And as our guests began to head home I came to realise that if given the chance to do it again, I wouldn't change a thing. (Neither would I, Jenny pipes up from the sidelines!!! I'm married to my Dan, hurray!!! :D)
The girls all sat in our cabin drinking champagne, fruit juice, eating bran muffins with jam and cheese. I also spent the majority of the morning sorting out the music for the reception, as Dan had done some of it, but not finished it yet!! We ended up having an iPod with the reception music, the iPad with the music for the meal, mums iPhone with the African music for the canapés after the wedding, and the iPod and Dan's iPhone for the music for walking down and back up the isle! Sounds convoluted but as a DJ was about R4000, and we were having such a small wedding we decided to just do it ourselves. Carla started on my hair first, along with the second hairstylist, and they each curled parts of my hair and pinned them up to set. Carla unfortunately burned the left side of my face with curling tags, a complete accident and thankfully my fringe covered most of the mark. My makeup and hair were both completed by about 12:00, and looked absolutely gorgeous, if I do say so myself. They did an absolutely amazing job with everyones hair and make up, all of us looked stunning!!
I will however say that I was disappointed to learn from Carrine at Waverley Hills that Carla and her team from Anuk did not immediately head to the salon to deal with the other clients they apparently had booked up for the rest of the day, instead they went and enjoyed Phillips pizza and wine straight afterwards. You will understand why I was disappointed when I explain that I had booked Anuk months before hand, and told Carla that the wedding started at 3pm. I was told that everyone must be ready at 8 to start hair and makeup to be finished in time for the wedding, which is what should have been the case, not in time for their lunch. I would have happily provided pizzas from Waverly Hills if that was what they wanted, but instead I sat for the next three hours with nothing to do, trying to fix parts of my curls that were coming undone. I would have loved for Heather to be able to take my bridal photographs with my hair still looking gorgeous and freshly done, not annoying me :(
Anyways! After waiting around for another two hours before Heather was scheduled to arrive, she took photographs of the dress, shoes, jewellery, perfume, and garter. We then went upstairs to the bedroom to dress me, and it was so hot up there!! The morning had been pretty cold so we had a fire going, but as all the heat had risen the upstairs felt like a furnace, so being laced into my dress in that heat was not too fun :D Thankfully Chantel brought me a coke to cool me down. I also had to make sure that the dress was not laced too tight, as at one stage I found it really hard to breath. The girls did an amazing job though, helping me get dressed and putting up with me complaining about my hair :D We did group photos with Heather and my individual photos, before dad helped us into the car and we set off to Olive Rock to get married!!!
Dan: So the big day was finally upon us. In comparison to Jenny I had very little getting ready to do in the morning which left my schedule open to do all the errands which needed doing. Jennys dad had already been given the task of delegating but had misplaced the list the night before so I had taken over the task of making sure all Jenny's tasks were complete. My first job was to head into Wolseley with Duncan and pick up the food that Jenny and her mom had ordered from the home industries. We also were instructed to pick up some jam, not knowing which type to get Duncan and I frantically grabbed three random flavours and headed back to the houses.
Once we had fetched the food I then enlisted James' help with some of my other tasks. Our first job was to run into Ceres and fetch the flowers from the florist. The flowers were actually very nice and James and I loaded them into his car (they barely fit!) before running down the road to pick up the cake. She. We arrived at @funtion they informed us that the cake was on its way and should be there shortly. We sat and had a coffee while we waited for the cake and once it arrived we took the flowers and the cake to the wedding venue and completed a separate list of tasks that Jenny had left for the reception.
Once all of these jobs were complete we drove back to the cottages and relaxed for a while in the guys cabin. I still had to write my vows somewhere in the middle of all these errands so I removed myself from the guys cabin and went to sit in Lesley and Joe's accommodation to write. When I finished writing my mom joined me in the cabin for a crash course dance lesson for our first dance tonight. It seemed very simple in theory, more difficult in practice.
I eventually wandered back to the guys cabin where I needed to start getting ready. Heather, the wedding photographer, showed up a little after 13:00 to take some photos of the guys getting ready. When I had finished dressing we all gathered on the porch outside our cabin for some champagne and waited for our orders to leave for the venue. When we arrived at the venue JD and I clarified some details about the groomsmens placement with Charles Mercer and waited anxiously for Jenny's arrival.
Jenny: As we arrived in the car, Duncan came running towards us to tell us to wait, as James had to go get an iPhone charger so we could use mums iPhone for music. He came tearing down the road at full pelt like a rally car racer, and parked that little car with such expertise and finesse I really could imagine him as one :D I yelled out YAAY as we pulled up, which got a laugh out of everyone :) The girls piled out of the car first and got their bouquets ready, and lined up whilst Dad helped me out of the car.
Walking down the isle was really surreal, sort of slow motion but sped up at the same time. Dad did a wonderful job walking me down the isle, he made sure I didn't fall over thankfully, and didn't bring along any sticks to whack me with as he did yesterday evening for our rehearsal :D Seeing Dan's face was my most favourite thing, he couldn't have been more happy or smiling any wider, and I hope I never forget that image. Dad gave me to Dan when we got to the top of the isle, or in his own words "take it and go" and we stood facing our guests for the ceremony. Charles gave a lovely address to begin with, followed by a reading from Corinthians by Paul:
Love is patient and love is kind. It is never jealous.
Love is never boastful or conceited, it is never rude or selfish.
Love does not take offense, nor is it resentful.
Love is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, to protect and to endure whatever comes. Love does not come to an end.
There are three things that last, faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love.
Charles then called for the vows which Chantel passed over. Dan and I had written our own vows to each other, something I had felt very strongly about as I don't think we fit into the traditional vows, and they don't feel very special to me. Our vows in comparison were amazing, Dan was trying very hard not to cry, which obviously almost set me off when I read mine. His vows were beautiful and heartfelt, anymore than I could have asked for. I promised Dan to always be silly, always hold his hand and always love him. Duncan kindly agreed to do our second reading for us, entitled Blessing for a Marriage by James Dillet Freeman:
May your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage should bring, and may life grant you also patience, tolerance, and understanding.
May you always need one another - not so much to fill your emptiness as to help you to know your fullness.
May you need one another, but not out of weakness.
May you want one another, but not out of lack.
May you entice, but not compel one another.
May you embrace, but not encircle one another.
May you succeed in all important ways with one another, and not fail in the little graces.
May you look for things to praise, often say, "I love you!" and take no notice of small faults.
If you have quarrels that push you apart, may both of you hope to have good sense enough to take the first step back.
May you have happiness, and may you find it by making one another happy.
May you have love, and may you find it by loving one another.
JD then passed our rings to us, for our "with this ring I thee wed" phrase. We had to agree to the legal preamble that Charles then told us, as in we do want to get married, there are no lawful impediments etc, and then he pronounced us husband and wife!! Dan then kissed his new bride :D :D we walked back up the isle to a song called 'All that I need is this moment, to send me away with a smile on my face", to a room to sign the register. Mum and Chantel came with to be witnesses, as they both had South African ID books that we could certify before the wedding day to give to Charles. After we had signed the register and officially become legally married in the eyes of the law, we hung back for a few moments before walking through a shower of confetti into the lawn for the reception.
An amazing surprise awaited us as Peppi and Simone had been extremely gracious and generous enough to arrange a local youth marimba band to play for us at the beginning of the reception and they were amazing!!! Even more amazing when you consider that none of them had practiced solidly together before the previous week, and only been playing about once a month for a few months before that, it was a truly special arrangement! Everyone adored the band and it added such a magical touch to our special day.
Jenny and I then had a few brief moments to have some drinks and mingle with people before the family photos started. I think we now have every combination of family photo we will ever need! :) We were able to enjoy all of the amazing canapés that Nick had prepared for us, even though it is extremely hard to chose a favorite as they were all divine, mine was the sundried tomato and basil pesto cups and Jenny loved the lamb wraps! The bridesmaids and groomsmen joined both of us at the river below Olive Rock for some wedding party photographs.
Jenny and I then left with Heather in her car for about and hour and a half worth of photos of just the two of us. She had chosen some spectacular spots around the farm, and we had fun giggling and smiling whilst she took countless photos of us, all of which I know will be wonderful. Jenny got a grass stain on her dress during the photos as we had to k eel down, but as she had won it, it really didn't matter! :) We had to wait outside the venue for a few minutes whilst Heather set up her equipment inside, and Gary and Evette came back from their house trailing the sweetest little cat ever! He is topped only by Mo, which makes me want to think that Mo sent him here to say hi to Dan and I on our wedding day, and to let us know he is thinking about us!
When we walked in, we were introduced for the first time as Mr. And Mrs. Whiteley, we then had a little more time for mingling and drinks before Chris kindly called for everyone to take their seats for dinner. Nick's food was absolutely wonderful, so good in fact that I feel I am becoming too accustomed to fine food and dining in South Africa. Jenny really did outdo herself when she chose Olive Rock, it is so stunning here, Nick and Simone are wonderful hosts and to be topped off with such magnificent food is an amazing bonus! The whole room descended into silence as we ate and the starter of smoked springbok carpaggio on a rocket and parmesan salad. The main course disappeared just as quickly, a rump steak, beans and deliciois potato stack. We offered Chris a second helping of the steak, which he happily agreed to enjoy, as we know his love for red meat very well and we had a couple of seats empty meaning we had a couple of meals spare!
At this stage we took a long break before dessert and filled said break with customary wedding activities. The first of which was the speeches by Joe, Steve, myself and JD in that order. Joe' speech was incredibly funny and it was nice to hear him say so much at once; in fact I think I heard Joe speak more in those 5 minutes than the previously 4 years combined :Di loved dads speech, I knew it would be hilarious and it most certainly was, but it was also extremely clever and thoughtful, I'm so glad I have a copy of that from Chantel's video camera!! Steve then read some messages from friends and family who could not attend the wedding, including one from Thebe, Jenny's black Labrador in Zambia. My speech was very short and improvised as didn't realise I was expected to speak. I had forgotten to tell Dan that he had to do a speech too, but as he is so very eloquent with words it was short, sweet but poignant and funny! JDs best man speech was next and certainly fulfilled it's role as a verbal assault of Dan's personality :D He spoke amazingly well, also an hilarious hilarious speech!!! My favourite part by far was when he thanked Mike and Judith, the owners of the Golf Shop if St Andrews where Dan and I worked, for their paying me to sit on my ass all day and win things for our wedding :D Seeing as I had won the dress, garter, veil, favours, fans, decoration, cake toppers, cake knife and a honeymoon in the Maldives to name a few, you can see he had a point :D We are also really glad to have a video of his speech, as I'm sure it is also one that will go down in history like dads!
We followed up the speeches with the garter toss and the bouquet toss; won by Toby and Chantel respectively before cutting of the cake and the serving of desserts, delicious brownies, red velvet cupcakes, and koeksisters. What Dan neglects to mention here is that he had to venture up my skirt to pull the garter off with his teeth, a sight I will never forget :D Towards the end of the desserts we realised that neither one of us had remembered to put the first dance song on the iPod and we had no way of getting it in time for Heather to take photos of the dance. Luckily the bartender had a phone that could download music amazingly fast and Charmaine still had the portable speaker we used for the ceremony, so after a short period of panic we had our music, and had our first dance to owl city 'if my heart was a house'.
When our dance was finished Heather packed up and our guests enjoyed tea and coffee before the drinks properly started flowing. Jenny and I decided to close the original bar tab (which only included beer and wine) and use the rest of the money as a truly open bar. This way everyone could have the drink of their choice while toasting marshmallows on the braai and dancing away. Some of us may have overindulged on the shot front (hem hem, Mike :D) but that was too be expected, it truly was a day for celebration. And as our guests began to head home I came to realise that if given the chance to do it again, I wouldn't change a thing. (Neither would I, Jenny pipes up from the sidelines!!! I'm married to my Dan, hurray!!! :D)
Must post a photo with this entry! :)
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