When Nicole sent us her wedding to publish on our website, she had such a lovely write-up accompanying the photo's that I decided to not write my own article but instead publish hers as is.

I know every bridal couple will say that their wedding was absolutely perfect and everything that they had hoped it would be and I have to confess that our feelings are no different. Our aim throughout our engagement was to have a relaxed, different, untraditional and heartfelt wedding. Getting married in Hanover, a small and sleepy town in the heart of the Karoo, ensured we got just that. We all walked to the church for the ceremony (including the bride!) and we had our reception in the street under a cloudless, starry Karoo night sky.

Ray and I got married on our 9 year anniversary and months before we had even become engaged we decided Hanover was where we wanted to celebrate our love. . The guest house is called 3 Darling Street and is owned by Ray’s mom and stepdad. After we got engaged we set up a website (www.theknot.com/ourwedding/raytruter&nicoleward ) which allowed us to give all of our guests a bit of insight into our journey as a couple as well as information about the small town, available accommodation, dress code, weather conditions etc. Most of the guests travelled from Port Elizabeth to attend and it was important that we included clear directions and maps on the website. The theme of our wedding was Vintage Karoo and our wedding invitations were vintage style photo frames that I painted to give it a white washed look, as well as mini enamel mugs with vetplant inside. We used these enamel mugs throughout the wedding as you will see later.

The guests arrived during the course of the afternoon and evening on Friday 1 April and after they had all checked in and wandered around the town they joined us at the guest house bar and restaurant for a build a burger evening. It was so nice to see all our guests mingling and having fun but mostly getting to know each other. Our wedding was a very DIY one and it was definitely a family affair. There were no guests at our wedding… only workers  ha ha. My mom made Red Velvet Cupcakes as part of our desert for the wedding and on the Friday night most of the ladies were in the kitchen icing them for us. The groomsmen were outside hanging the rope across the street for our lanterns at the reception the following night.

It had been raining since Thursday 31 March when we arrived in Hanover but when we woke up on Saturday 2 April it was a stunning day! Being a DIY wedding we set everything up ourselves. Or should I say our guests set everything up. We had people carrying tables (which were stolen from the monthly Saturday Market…), putting chair covers on, setting the table décor, hanging fairy lights and lanterns, making salads, hanging hearts all over the street and inside the church. It was truly amazing to see all our family and friends working so hard for us.

My dress was made by the incredible Lee-Anne Griffiths of A DO décor and design. She was absolutely brilliant and made perfect sense of all my magazine cut outs and hand drawn wedding dresses. It fit like a glove and I felt so comfortable in it. I didn’t want to take it off! It was very flattering and so different. Ray bought his suit from Birches. The bridesmaids wore their own black dresses and I bought pearls and head pieces for them to tie in with the Vintage theme. I bought stunning dresses from Truworths for my 2 Maids of Honour. The Groomsmen wore their own blue jeans and we bought pale blue shirts, poor boy caps and suspenders for them.

My hairdresser (Maria Deidda from Perfect Touch) was kind enough to travel all the way for me as well as our Pastor and his wife (Kurt and Shantelle Sutton from Oasis Family Church). This ensured that the ceremony was a very personal one because he knows us so well. My sister in law (Megan Nicholls from Skin Beauty Clinic) did my make up while my cousin’s girlfriend (Candice von Ruben from Beautylicious) did my bridesmaids make up.

Because of our limited budget and the distance we couldn’t afford professional photographers and my husband (an aspiring photographer) was crazy enough to try and take some pics of our own wedding with the help of a friend (Leanne van der Merwe). She realised this was a crazy idea and as she works at Rhodes University she managed to convince two 4th year photo journalism students to come to the wedding and they took pics for us free of charge. They did a fantastic job and I love how they managed to piece the weekend back together for us. We owe a big thank you to Caeri Dunnell, Dianne Jordan and Leanne.

My gift to my mom and dad were embroidered handkerchiefs with “To wipe away the tears as you watch your little girl walk down the aisle” on it. I had my own made with our wedding date on. We used it quite a bit during the emotional ceremony!

The time eventually arrived for us to walk to the church. The bell had been rung for all the guests and they had already wandered to the ceremony a few minutes before I did. It was such a special moment to walk down the gravel street en route to the church with all the local children cheering us as we walked by, with my mom, dad, sister, bridesmaids, paige boys and flower girls in tow.

It was an extremely emotional day. It was a day we had all been waiting a long time for. When Ray and I first started dating everyone knew that it would be forever. Those few steps down the aisle felt surreal. I had two Maids of Honour and six Bridesmaids so it made the moment last a lot longer! Walking down the aisle with my dad I was in tears. EVERYONE was in tears! There was not a dry eye in that whole church. I walked down the aisle to Everything by Lifehouse and I had a bouquet made out of old brooches and rings (from my grannies, moms, and a few new ones). My bridesmaids made it for me. I then asked the special women in my life to tie brooches to the lace wrapped around it as I walked down the aisle. That made all of us cry even more! Ray was crying, my father in law was crying, everyone was crying. Instead of rose petals we had scattered black and white photos down the aisle of Ray, myself and the guests at our wedding. It was like a walk down memory lane! The pastor’s sermon was so relaxed, so true and had special meaning for each and every person in the church that day. We didn’t have any hymns but a friend of ours (Caron Strydom), who has an amazing voice, sang Feels like Home by Chantal Kreviazuk for us. It was so touching!

When the ceremony was over we walked out of the church to a song called Kissing You by Des’ree. We both love music very much and knew it would play a big part in our wedding.

After the ceremony all the guests went to a little museum just outside the church where we served sherry and orange juice in the old enamel mugs I spoke about earlier. This museum housed all sorts of antiques and vintage pieces and hence tied in perfectly with our theme. We enjoyed some time with them before heading out for our photos. All the guests walked back to the reception (aka the street!) The guest house is known for its pizza’s and is aptly named Papa Luigi’s and for this reason we served these as starters for the guests. We played various Frank Sinatra and Miles Davis songs while they waited for us. Because the town is so small and we could walk to all of our photo locations we weren’t gone for very long.

In true Karoo style we enjoyed a delicious Lamb Spit and homemade salads made by my mom, step mom and the farmers wives in the town. Our wedding cake was a tower of various cheeses and this cheese and biscuit tier became part of the desserts for the evening along with my mom’s cupcakes and a farmer’s wife’s mini milk tarts and koeksusters.

Our first dance was very untraditional! We danced to Wet Welly by Goldfish because it has a very vintage sound to it. It isn’t a slow song but we thought that we would put a spin on it - this is a joyous occasion so why shouldn’t it be a happy fun song. The guests loved the up-tempo beat and soon joined us. My dad is a big Greenday fan and not a dancer  So I thought I would make it as easy as possible for him and chose Time of your life by Greenday as our Father/Daughter dance. Caron Strydom and her talented father Andre Strydom entertained the guests well into the early hours of the morning. They are a powerful singing duo and were definitely the life of the party!

At one stage I think all the guests were on the dancefloor were screaming away to Raise your glass by Pink and hence we have decided that it will become our theme song for the wedding.

When it got dark enough all the guests went outside to watch us let off the sky lanterns. We let off about 15. It was so amazing! We asked the DJ (Ryan Nicholls who is my sister in laws husband..I told you it was a real family affair.) to play Sweet Disposition by the Temper Traps as we let them go. This could have been my favourite part of the whole wedding. I have never seen anything more beautiful! It was definitely a goosebump moment. We only found out afterwards that some of the locals thought they were “unidentified flying objects.

As I previously mentioned, everyone got involved in the wedding. We even had our very own auction to raise money for our honeymoon. My father in law filled mini glass bottles with all sorts of alcoholic mixtures and named them after various things to do with Ray and I and the wedding (for example a bottle was called A touch of Karoo Madness and Hanover Brew etc). We soon pointed out that a friend of ours should give up his day job and become an auctioneer! It was so unplanned and so fun and had everyone in stitches.

There were so many unique touches and so many DIY elements in the wedding and my advice is that you can certainly pull off an amazing wedding on a VERY tight budget if you are just prepared to roll up your sleeves and get creative.

We bought scraps of paisley material and our Ouma made serviettes for us. My sister embroidered “Hanover 2 April 2011” on each serviette and guests were able to take this home with them. The table numbers doubled up as guest books. We wrapped little books with vintage style paper and stuck number stickers on them. They were the table numbers and the guests at the tables could write messages to us in them. Our friends at Angelic Wonders kindly lent us paisley print tablecloths and rustic chargers. We bought loads of enamel mugs in all shapes and sizes and the Flower and Gift shop filled them with white roses and vetplant.

We made a sign to stick on the wall that spelled out “You are my dream come true” and painted an old piece of wood that we found in my fathers garage with the words “All because two people fell in love”. I also made a sign for the little suitcase that the ring bearer carried down the aisle with our rings in. It had “The Rings” written on it. To keep the guests entertained we had photo boards made of a Bride and Groom that they could take their picture with. Ray collected coffee tins, pierced holes in them and stuck a candle inside and this became VERY effective décor for the ground. I was very lucky to have a hands on husband who was just as creative and involved in this wedding as I was (sometimes even more so I think).

The guest’s presents were old looking candle holders for the ladies, biltong for the men and had a book made for everyone. This book detailed our history as a couple, how we met, the long distance relationships, the engagement etc. It also included historical facts about Hanover, the church, fun things to do in the town and the lyrics of the songs that we played at the wedding. Louw Sevenster designed it for us and Repro House printed it.

In order to keep the kids entertained at the wedding (because there were quite a few) we made colouring in books for them with Karoo related pictures inside. They received their own wedding gift pack with the colouring in book, crayons and sweets. We also made First Dance flags for them so that they could wave these when we did our first dance. Although I think the adults enjoyed doing these more than the kids did. We have received so many compliments from the guests and it makes us very proud because Ray and I put a lot of hard work, effort and thought into every detail of the wedding. We knew it was a special day and we wanted to make sure it stayed that way and lasted as long as it possibly could (most of the guests partied until 3am – including the bride and groom!). We never wanted to get wrapped up in stresses over décor, wedding colours, the right colour flowers etc so we just eliminated all of those things from the wedding.

There is no denying that planning a wedding on a shoe string budget is hard work but it is extremely gratifying. We had plenty of help from friends and family and it touched our hearts. We would do it all over again in a heartbeat. We went on honeymoon to Thailand (Bangkok, Koh Samui and Phuket) and we loved it so much that we can’t wait to go back!

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.

If you’re an Afrikaans bride looking for wedding inspiration, then look no further! The Troukoors online wedding magazine was launched last week and is full of articles, ideas and helpful hints for planning your wedding…. and the best part is that it’s FREE!

Visit Troukoors to take a look! (Look out for Perfectday.co.za on page 3!)

For all you English brides, an English version of the magazine will launch soon – we’ll let you know when it’s available, so watch this space!