Elri and Riaan

About the Bride

I was 25 years old when I experienced the most amazing day of my life.  I currently live in Pretoria and I am blessed to have my own dancing school where I have the pleasure of working with children and also learning from them.  Why I wanted to get married? Well to wake up every morning next to the person I share all my dreams with, the person who can always put a smile back on my face, the person who in front of I can just let go and do my own little "happy" dance  and instead of thinking I'm crazy he will join in.

About the Groom

I currently live in Pretoria and work as an Electrician.  I asked the Lord for a wonderful wife who would always love and support me and he blessed with Elri. Everybody was always hammering on us, when we were finally going to get married and well it just dawned on me one day that you know what, I am ready to begin this awesome journey.

How did you meet?

We actually met at my house.  His father did the maintenance work on our house and he told my husband that he wants to introduce him to a girl he met. And he was like "what does my Dad know"  And then it happened one very early December morning, I was sitting in my MOM'S nightgown (can you imagine!!) and heard our door bell ring.  As I opened the door he (my husband) was luckily looking away and I ran up the stairs and quickly changed.  And well he was working near the front door and I just got this weird urge to paint our front gate that day hehehe And as they say, the rest is history.

How long were you together before the wedding proposal?

Are you sitting down? 8 years

About the Proposal

Well we were supposed to go and look at a house for him to live in and he suddenly pulled into Kieviets Kroon!  And you know when your heart beats so fast that you think everybody can see it? Well that was me!  Then we had this amazing picnic under this gorgeous tree,  with champagne and the nicest nibbles. Then he took my hand and all I can remember were the words "Will you be my wife?"  And you know when you see somebody crying on the TV and you say that'll never be me!! Well lets just say I needed to reapply my mascara afterwards!

How far in advance did you choose to have your wedding after the proposal? And, why?

I chose to get married within 3 months of the proposal.  I just figured if I leave it to him to set a date it might take another 8 years!  And I am just one of those people that get so excited I have to do something now! And it made it a lot easier because now I had to decide on a colour and get it over with because there wasn't enough time to consider a lot of other options that could confuse me.

How did you go about the wedding planning process? Did you do it yourself? How long was the planning process? How did you find it?

I really enjoyed the planning process, going out with my Made of Honour and picking out everything, it really brought us closer to each other.  I just started with the big things like the tents, toilets, caterers and of course our Priest.  Getting all the big stuff in order only took about 2 weeks or so to get confirmation from everybody.  The thing that takes up the most time are all the small things like, the thank you gifts, the serviettes, the table decorations and the other decorations.

Did you have a hen party / kitchen tea / stag night / bachelor / bachelorette party? If so, what did you do and what did you enjoy most about it?

I think I had the most awesome kitchen tea EVER!! When I saw Mamma Mia I told everybody I one day want something like that. Shame, my poor Mom and Made of Honour didn't know whether I will be attending my own kitchen tea until 20min beforehand (a bit of advice, get a concrete story to get the bride to be there and make sure she doesn't have anything major planned for the day)  When I walked into the room (eventually) my Mom and her friend were dancing on stage to Dancing Queen in the shiniest gold costumes that you have ever seen!!

And when I finally started looking around there were lights everywhere and everybody was dressed up (all 50 ladies) and of course I was also treated to a nice sequin lycra outfit. The thing I enjoyed most was to see everybody who made the time to just spend the afternoon with me.

All the presents were marked with a perform or makeup sticker. If I got the present wrong and I got a perform sticker it was karaoke time with the person who gave me the present. It was so much fun!

Wedding Details

Well I started the day bawling my eyes out because it was raining.  But our amazing Lord gave us the most wonderful day.  I then had a nice breakfast and had some time to chill and take a nice bath.  Then my hairdresser (which is also my niece which was very special) arrived and we started the whole pampering session.  Between me and my niece we did my makeup.  Then I finally got to put on my dress, well wasn't that fun, especially the part where they couldn't get the zip to close!!!!  Well finally moulded into the dress and unable to breath or touch my toes we went off to the farm.

When we arrived there my wedding car, the tractor was waiting.  I got behind the steering wheel and my Made of Honour was standing on the back and we drove off to the church "tent" where everyone was waiting (I was fashionably late as they say) Everything went by so quickly after the "I do" we got all the guests together and took a group photo of everybody.  While we went off to take our photos the guests snacked on biltong, droewors, crackers, cheese and spreads, to drink there was alcoholic and non alcoholic strawberry daiquiris.

When we arrived at the main tent we walked in on Dawid Kramers - Pasgetroud!  The people really enjoyed it. We preferred to keep the speeches short, and the speeches were stunning. After the main meal, we preferred a buffet, we opened the dance floor and when we were no longer able to walk we "closed" it at 2am.

You know when everybody tells you that the day goes by so fast… Believe them!! Because before you know it you're taking off your shoes and your jewellery and washing off the makeup and waking up next to your husband the next day.

Tips and / or advice for future bridal couples?

Guys!! When your fiancée asks your opinion on something like the flowers or the colour of the serviettes, we know it's not your thing but PLEASE the answer "whatever makes you happy" only works for so long.  We just want to know whether you approve, we're still going to choose whatever colour we like but we just want to feel that, you know what, he actually cares:  And I must say my hubby was amazing with this.

What was the most memorable part of your wedding day?

Walking down the aisle towards my husband.

Did you go on honeymoon? If so, where? And, why there?

Yes we were blessed to be able to go on honeymoon.  My husband wanted to organise it all and he booked us at Zebula which is really an amazing amazing place and I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

Related Information

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