When I read the story of how Taryn and Dave met on Ingrid Marais' website, I knew that this was going to be a perfect wedding to feature in this section of our website. Ingrid went into so much detail, that I decided quoting her would be a better option than to try and reword it all. Thanks Ingrid.
HOW TARYN AND DAVE MET
Once upon a time there was a girl named Taryn. She was fed up with boys and could not imagine meeting Mr-Even-Just-a-Little-Bit-Right, never mind Mr Right. So she created a group on Facebook where she could talk to other girls who were fed up with boys.
One day a boy names Dave left a message on the groups wall, saying that she must not worry, not all boys are bad and maybe she just wasn’t looking for Mr Right in the right places (she thought he was hitting on her, but it turned out he was just being friendly).
Taryn was very embarrassed that she had created this group, and so did not go back for many days. When she did visit the group again she saw the message from the boy named Dave, and sent him an email. He replied to her email and soon they were emailing each other several times a day. Soon they were chatting all the time on instant messenger, SMS and via email. They talked about their likes and dislikes, their family and friends and even those silly people who meet and fall in love on the internet.
Then they ‘met’ each other ‘face to face’ on Skype. Taryn was very relieved to see that Dave did indeed exist and wasn’t an internet stalker, trying to lure her into his trap. A while later Dave flew to PE for a holiday (that’s what he said, but it was really to meet Taryn). He didn’t want to stay at Taryn’s house, in case they didn’t get along, so he pitched a tent at a backpackers near the beach and settled for his stay. Dave had never been to PE, but soon discovered that it lived up to its nickname “The Windy City”. After a particularly windy night Taryn’s mom told her to “go and fetch that poor boy and bring him home”. So Taryn did just that.
After visiting Dave in Pretoria Taryn and Dave became ‘official’ and 8 months later Dave packed up his life and moved to PE to be closer to Taryn (Although he maintains it was because he “always wanted to live near the sea”) Three days later Dave popped the question on the balcony of the Twelve Apostles Hotel just as the sun was going down over the ocean. Taryn said yes when she saw the really sparkly ring and so their happily after starts.
On 19 March 2011 Taryn and Dave said their vows at Riverside Hall in Port Elizabeth. MSN Strings Duo played beautiful ceremony music while the guests waited. Although Taryn thought it practical to have both her parent's walk her down the aisle, her dress turned out to be too big to accommodate them all. Instead, her mom walked her down the stairs and halfway down the aisle, with her dad taking over and walking her to Dave. A good friend of Taryn's read out the Irish blessing to them during the ceremony which left many of the guests in tears. Taryn's four year old cousin had the honour of ring bearer, however, instead of having the real wedding bands tied to the ring pillow they tied over the top fake ones to it. Just in case he decided to feed the bands to the fish in the pond at the back of the chapel.
ATTIRE
"I had my dream wedding dress", said Taryn as she described her winter white strapless gown made by Leandra Fourie from L-Designs. The material was cut away diagonally from about thigh height to reveal a layer of beautiful hand beaded lace. The lace was also used across the bodice (front and back) in an asymmetric pattern, which finished off the gown perfectly. Theano Zenios did Taryn's make-up and Juan Joubert did her amazing bridal hair. Taryn bought her shoes from Catherines Bridal Accessories which Catherine dyed bright orange to suit the theme of her wedding. Taryn also wore beautiful jewellery from Jenni Collections.
Each of my bridesmaids wore a different colour dress, one brown, one orange and one blue, and each of the groomsmen had on a pair of socks to match one of the bridesmaids – made for such fun wedding photos!
Taryn had two garters for her wedding, one which she wore that was a gift from her best friend Kerri which was bought in Venice and made from real venetian lace, and a different one which she tossed at the end of the night.
The groom wore a suit from The Hire Emporium.
DETAILS
The colour combination that the couple chose was orange, blue, brown and white. Taryn says they spent a lot of time telling people that “although it sounds really weird, the colours really do work together!”. Various sized bright orange and blue Chinese lanterns were hung from the roof of the chapel. Some of the decor was supplied by Angelic Wonders.
Taryn and Dave went to the Johannesburg Oriental Plaza and found orange material with a brown oriental pattern on it which they used to make the table runners. They also bought beautiful wooden fans for their guests from the Plaza – which were a lifesaver as the day turned out to be very hot!
As each guest arrived at the chapel they received an organza bag which contained the programme, a streamer and all the ladies received a fan. The couple wanted their guests to be entertained while they waited for the ceremony, so besides the string quartet, Tarryn had written a story of how they met in the programme, and Dave's brother in law illustrated it for them. The guests loved finding out more about us as a couple, and the cartoon illustrations were beautiful.
Inside the reception hall each table was set with two runners, and the centerpiece of each table was a 50cm round mirror with a fishbowl on top of it, full of all-white lilies, roses and orchids. Circling the fishbowl were 3 small fishbowls each with a single rose in it, alternating with these were three blue tealight candle holders
A friend of the couple took black and white pictures of them holding up an ornate picture frame, and this way they created a fun picture for each table which also served as the table number. Each table also had a disposable Kodak camera on it with personalised covers. DJ Vernon Kitching made sure the guests were kept on their toes by playing awesome music throughout the night.
THE CAKE
Starburst Deli made the couples three tiered chocolate mousse cake which was cladded in white chocolate tubes and topped off with squares of freshly-made nougat. The comical cake topper was made by the brides mom and a close family friend, Barbie Bennett, and was made to look like cartoon versions of my husband and I, and our dog Smudge – the caricature’s suit even matched what my husband wore on the wedding day – cravat and all! The cake topper made the cake that much more special, especially since it was made by people who are close to them. Each tier of the cake was finished off with a thin ribbon and bow in orange organza tied around it.
DIY BRIDE
With a love for scrapbooking, Taryn found it delightful in making most of the things herself. She made the save the dates, wedding invitations, wedding programs, menu’s, table seating plans, place names, table numbers and thank you cards herself, with the help of my husband, bridesmaids, and my mom of course. The family spent many fun evenings sitting around Taryn's moms dining room table sticking thousands of diamantes onto the wedding invitations, and cutting lengths and lengths of ribbon for the place names, it was wonderful.
Taryn made sure she kept the same theme throughout all the stationary, and many guests commented that the attention to detail was one of the things that made the wedding so special. Taryn's mom, Felicity Zieseniss, and close family friend, Barbie Bennett, made the cake topper and did all the wedding flowers themselves, including her bouquet of 45 orange roses! The chair tie-backs were also made by them, with a length of beads hanging down the back of the chair, ending in a large diamond shaped drop bead.
NIFTY IDEAS
Taryn made activity packs for the kids at the wedding – the 3 flowergirls and the ring bearer. She managed to find a toy ‘wedding set’ for the girls, which consisted of a tiara and veil, earrings and a flashy wedding ring. "I will never forget the three flower girls running around in their white dresses with their veils on their heads and rings on their fingers – they looked adorable, and I think it made the evening even more fun and special for them, said Taryn."
For the wedding favours each couple got a favour box filled with 5 sugared almonds and the Jordan Almonds Poem: Five sugared almonds for you to eat, to remind you that life is both bitter and sweet. Five wishes for the new husband and wife – Health, wealth, happiness, children and a long life! Each couple was aslo given a small potted Outeniqua Yellowwood tree (Indigenous to SA) with the couple requested they plant, in a park, their gardens, or anywhere where the tree would thrive. "On a practical level it helped us offset the carbon footprint of our wedding, and on a sentimental level the trees will grow and thrive as we will in our new life together, said Taryn".
PHOTOGRAPHS
Ingrid Marais took some incredibly fun photo's at this wedding, and you can see that both the couple and she had fun. Lee-Anne Fairley captured each moment on film for the couple to watch over and over.
HONEYMOON
After the wedding the couple enjoyed their honeymoon at Kata Beach in Phuket, Thailand, which was organized by Flight Centre.
ADVICE
Words of wisdom from Taryna: "Try to take the stress out of all the planning by getting organized well in advance, and then take a deep breath, decide that nothing will worry you, and make a conscious decision to be relaxed. The wedding is only as stressful as you let it become. Many things did go wrong, my mother in law fell and hurt her knee just before the wedding and had to modify her outfit so that it would cover the brace she had to wear, and she was on crutches for the wedding, much to her horror. The orchids we wanted for the centerpieces fell through just before the wedding and we had to quickly come up with a plan B, and then to top it off I got Sinusitis, bronchitis and a middle ear infection the week before the wedding. But at the end of the day (and many antibiotics later) it was the wedding of my dreams. It didn’t matter that there weren’t orchids everywhere, and the only people who knew that they were missing were myself and my mom, and my mother in law looked stunning in her modified outfit. It was a conscious decision not to sweat the small stuff, and if you are calm things do seem to go smoother, and people around you also calm down. My bridesmaids thought I was way too calm, so they pretended to lose my speech right before I was due to stand up and say it. Inside I was terrified, but I shrugged and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll wing it”. They were stunned that I was so calm, and handed over the speech – to this day they tease me about being so calm! Also, have a good ‘emergency kit’ with you and put someone in charge of it. Carry things like straws (you cant drink without one after your makeup is done!) and a comfortable pair of shoes you can slip into later into the evening. I changed shoes during the reception, and the spare set were a lifesaver!"
Thanks for sharing your wedding with us!
WEDDING SUPPLIERS
- Baker: Starburst Deli
- Catering: Fat Cats
- Ceremony/Cocktail Music: MSN Strings
- Decor: (Only some items)Angelic Wonders
- Dress: Leandra Fourie
- Florist: Felicity Zieseniss and Barbie Bennett
- Hair: Juan Joubert
- Honeymoon: Flight Centre
- Make-up: Theano Zenios
- Photographer: Ingrid Marais
- Reception Music: DJ Vernon from Outright Audio
- Reception Venue: Riverside Hall
- Shoes: Catherines Bridal Accessories
- Suit Hire: Hire Society
- Videography: Lee-Anne Fairley
Would you like us to feature your wedding? E-mail megan@perfectday.co.za for more information.
Posted by
Megan Moller
for Perfect Day - The South African Wedding Directory