This South African bride has only one thing she wishes she could have changed about her stunning, stunning wedding, captured by DNA Photographers. She wishes she would have had more time, dancing with her sweet husband, celebrating in style with her loved ones. We can empathize… we wish we could have a little more time in the afternoon to spend with this beautiful soiree. Luckily for all of us, there is no expiration on the full image gallery!
Hannes and I met in our final year at university. We literally knew each other for a week before we decided to make our relationship official. You just can’t stop love, or put it in the slow lane.
After university we moved to Cape Town, where we moved in together, and started adulthood. Two and a half years into our relationship, Hannes popped the big question. It was an amazing day. We were about to move into our own little place – which we just bought – and had just finished cleaning it. Just there and then, in the empty house, Hannes went down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him.
We were engaged for just over a year, which gave me ample time to plan the wedding. Maybe a little too much time. I was coming up with new ideas every day, until Hannes eventually told me to stop. I think that if he can give any advice to grooms-to-be, it would be NOT to give your bride too much planning time. But, I enjoyed the planning stage.
Our main focus with our wedding was to make it a relaxed enjoyable event. No stuffiness and tightness, not too many ceremonial things happening. We wanted everyone to enjoy the wedding to its fullest. We also wanted people to recognize that they were at our wedding and not somebody else’s. We wanted them to be able to look at the venue, décor, food etc. and say: “This is Hannes and Marionne”.
With enough time to plan the wedding and get exactly what we wanted, we also had time to make everything ourselves. We did a lot of DIY for our wedding. Everything we could do ourselves, we did. It added to the actual enjoyment and awesomeness of the big day. Walking around, seeing everything you’ve done and knowing that everything at the wedding represented you guys.
The one snitch in the whole too-much-planning-time-thing came in with my wedding dress. I found a dress in the early stages of our engagement. Then nearer to our big day, I started getting this feeling that the dress wasn’t right anymore. Then, four days before the wedding, when I tried on my dress, to see if everything (shoes, jewelry etc.) works together, all went wrong. My accessories broke, the jewelry – that my mom made – didn’t match (color wise), and when I took the first step in my dress, it tore. I was in tears. I believed karma didn’t want me to wear the dress. My mom said that we could go to Bride & Co and if I could find a suitable dress in half an hour, I could have it. I got mine in 10 minutes. The perfect dress. Four days before my big day I found MY wedding dress and I couldn’t be happier.
Our actual wedding day was – cliché warning – the best day of our lives so far. We really couldn’t have asked for better. Everything was just as we wanted it. It was a relaxed occasion, with lots of laughter, love and happiness. We succeeded in putting together a day that showcased us and our love, as well as having a wedding that was relaxed to the point of it feeling like a massive party with friends and loved ones.
If we could have asked for more, we would have asked for more time. The day went by so fast. Even staying up until half past three the next morning, did not make the day long enough.
I wish we could do it all over again, exactly the same!
Photography: DNA Photographers / Flowers: Kleine Marie / Decor: Towerbosch Restaurant, Kleine Marie, Leengoed & DIY / Venue: Towerbosch Restaurant, Knorhoek Wine Estate / Food: Towerbosch Restaurant / Wedding dress: Bride & Co / Groom’s clothing: Markhams / Bridesmaids clothing: Stephnie Botha / Shoes: Custom made by Ninon Louw / Table Rentals: Okasie Events / Chair Rentals: Hire Co. / Cup Cake Wedding cake: Carmen van der Merwe / Cake Toppers: Cakes so Cool