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How we met:
Cornelius and I met through "friends of friends" at a Cheese and Wine evening. It was the classic "our eyes met across the room" and our fate was sealed.
Image credit: Monique van Heerden
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How he proposed:
I don't think any proposal could possibly beat mine! Cornelius made sure that everything was a surprise, and I had no clue what was happening until he pulled the ring out.
He played a rugby match that night at LC De Villiers and when the game was finished, the cars were standing still. He was very worried about this as he had planned that we go eat out for dinner, and said I must be starving.
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On the way to his home at Pretoria Boys High School (Cornelius is a housemaster there), he said he needed to phone one of the hostel boys as he remembered that he had to give his workbook back to him.
When we got there he said he wanted to go down to the loch (a beautiful little pond near the entrance of the school) to go and feed the ducks. Now you need to know that he had just played a rugby match and it was the dead of winter.
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As we approached the little wooden bridge which goes over the loch I saw these little lights and, still clueless about what was happening, I told Cornelius that maybe we should turn around as I didn't want to be responsible for busting "the smokers".
But as we got closer I saw tea light candles going up along the sides of the bridge and a boy playing the cello in the background. There was a bottle of wine and two glasses placed in the middle of the bridge.
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It was the most magical night of my life and was the absolute perfect proposal I could ever have wished for. After we got engaged he had made a booking for dinner at Verdicchio in Montecasino. I am a very lucky lady!
Image credit: Monique van Heerden
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The Wedding date:
Our magical day took place on the 2nd of April 2011 - the day that all my dreams came true - i was finally marrying my prince charming!
Image credit: Monique van Heerden
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The Wedding Planning Process:
Being a highly creative person, I decided to do as much of the planning as possible. This included designing and making the Save the Date e-cards, formal invitations, wedding decor, table gifts, etc. myself.
I am also very lucky to have a mother who is a very talented seamstress, and who had agreed to make not only my wedding dress, but also the groomsmen's neckties, the four bridesmaids dresses, the flower girl's dress as well as
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I was also so lucky to be there every second that she was working on my wedding dress to make the necessary nips and tucks where needed, instead of having to drive back and forth to a dressmaker. Together my mom and I also designed all the dresses ourselves.
Image credit: Monique van Heerden
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Because our engagement started out being such a fairytale that dreams are made of, and with my future husband being the Prince Charming I had dreamt of one day marrying, the theme of the wedding could be nothing less but "Fairytale". The key colours for the wedding were green, red and white.
Image credit: Monique van Heerden
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Our first task was to find our dream "Fairytale" wedding venue, which we were fortunate enough to find on our second trip in the Helderfontein River Estate in Midrand.
Image credit: Monique van Heerden
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With the venue in mind - its lush green gardens, and antique country feel, I brainstormed the wedding decor.
For the tables I made green topiaries for half, and the other half with white bird cages that were filled with 6 lime green apples piled in a stack. White pebbles and tealight candles were placed around these centerpieces.
Image credit: Monique van Heerden
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The venue provided all crockery, cutlery, table cloths, and chair covers, and my mom made green table runners.
My mother and I made the bouquets ourselves, and simply purchased the loose white roses and greenery and the odds and ends required to create these.
Image credit: Monique van Heerden
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My cousin is a qualified hairdresser and so she did my hair and all my bridesmaids' hair. Make-up was done by a friend of mine who is a qualified make-up artist.
On our gifts table was placed a large pumpkin and an old wooden box for the gift envelopes. The gifts for the guests I designed myself.
For the men was a round sticker with a frog wearing a Blue Bulls Cap (my husband is an avid Blue Bulls fan) and it said "Prince Charming AKA the Bull Frog".
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The chapel is attached to the wedding reception hall (which is an old barn) and faces a beautiful pond. Without walls the guests were able to take in the greenery of the venue during the ceremony and hear the birds chirp.
To add a bit of colour we strung red and white beads on string and hung these on the sides of the chapel and on either side of the aisle.
Image credit: Monique van Heerden
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Walking down the aisle we had an acoustic duo singing "All you need is love" by the Beatles for the bridesmaids to walk down to, and "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls when it was my turn. It was both a sad and joyous moment for me.
Joyous because I was walking down to meet my prince charming. But with a hint of sadness as my dad was unable to walk me down the aisle as he had lost his battle with cancer 6 years prior.
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The live music continued after the ceremony when Cornelius and I went to have our photographs taken, and the guests indulged in the wedding cake and glasses of champagne with red and green cherries placed at the bottom of each.
Image credit: Monique van Heerden
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The wedding cake was a unique concept - mini chocolate brownie and millionaire cakes that were placed in two large woven baskets. We were very lucky to have my mother- and sister-in-law to offer to bake these delicious treats for us.
Image credit: Monique van Heerden
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The reception was what I had always hoped for it to be - all our guests enjoying themselves, with not too many formalities, and a lot of good food and dancing. What was very special was Cornelius dedicating two songs to me, which he sung himself with the help of an acoustic guitar.
It was also very special to have a "Parent's dance" in the place of the "Father and Bride" dance, with Cornelius dancing with my mom, myself with his dad, and his mom with his grand-dad.
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To get the party started, and to encapsulate all that we wanted our wedding to revolve around, Love, Cornelius and I did our first dance to "That's Amore" by Dean Martin...because at the end of the day, all you really need is Love.
Image credit: Monique van Heerden
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The Wedding Suppliers:
Because of my wish to do most of the planning myself, as mentioned above, there was a limited use of suppliers.
The main wedding suppliers are as follows:
The DJ: Chris-Jan of Multi-Music Entertainment (Contact number: 083 270 7825)
The Venue: The
Helderfontein River Estate , Midrand
The Photographer: Monique van Heerden (Contact number: 072 226 0609)
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