I’ve always wondered what I will feel like waking up the morning of my wedding! How my heart will feel & what will be going through my mind & thoughts. I’ve photographed so many weddings with werner for picture me&u & always wonder how the bride’s morning must have been like, did she sleep well, how she felt when she opened her eyes & what she did before everything of her wedding day ‘started’! In my next blog post I pour my heart out & share my full wedding story ( it’s going to be a BIG one ) …with all my favourite wedding pictures… but today I just want to share a little bit about the morning of my wedding!

We wanted everything about our wedding to be personal… also why I decided to ‘get ready’ at our apartment in Pretoria. I wanted to be calm, have things that might be needed close-by + myself & werner always love taking photos of our clients in their homes, it tells such a beautiful story.

I had a really good sleep…woke up & things felt unreal… it was not as calm as I hoped for, haha ( I mean… what bride goes & decorates her wedding cakes at 7am at the wedding venue… uhm; me ) …but that’s a story for next week! Family arrived on schedule, music was playing in the background & the ‘girly’ stuff got going! I had my ‘relaxing’ bath with candles ( a quick one ) & in between finished all our bouquets & the men’s boutonniere’s from flowers we collected at markets, the streets ( spring was in the air!) & our garden.

But today’s blog post is dedicated entirely to a friend I carry very close to my heart… Rachelle! ‘Thank you’ will never be enough! Months before the wedding she said she’ll treat us with this wedding breakfast brunch! SHE styled & made & did everything… even painted the vintage cupboard to match with all the other pretties! While we were getting all glammed up in our garden, she worked her sexy butt off in the kitchen! It was thanks to YOU I got a little time to slow down… take it all in & sit calmly with my sisters, mom & now mom-in-law; laughing & getting beautifully emotional about everything the day still had in store while we munched on the most delicious homemade sugar syrup waffles with white chocolate ganache & turkish delight! We sipped on pink champagne & enjoyed ‘to-pretty-to-eat’ macaroons!

Rachelle… my beautiful friend… I love you so much! Thank you for this wedding gift & all the pretties & such a special + delicious brunch! Thank you for being such a massive inspiration to me in every aspect of your life… you’re the most amazing mom to your four little ones, such a successful business woman, a loving wife to your husband & you are super talented, strong… & you inspire me! Always stay the beautiful woman that you are !!!

I remember paging through my mom’s photo albums as a young girl & looking at her kitchen tea photos… can’t believe that it was now my turn in life for this celebration! My kitchen tea was such a special build-up to my wedding! My sisters worked really hard to put together the most amazing tropical picnic in the park with attention to every little detail… everything was perfect! We made freshly picked flower crowns, laughed over wedding talks & had too many pink meringue kisses. My mom even made & hand-painted all the pretty tropical picnic cushions! My mom & two sisters made & baked all the delicious treats. The pink meringue kisses are from Sugar&Eggs & the handmade lollipops from The Lollipop League. To every beautiful lady in my life who made this day so special & spoiled me like crazy with the most gorgeous gifts… Thank you from the bottom of my heart! You all made it such a beautiful day filled with heartwarming moments that I will remember forever! Thank you for making time to come & celebrate with me… I love you all dearly!

So excited to share the first post ( of a few to come ) of my wedding! I hope that if you’re a bride planning your wedding or a bridesmaid for a friend that this post will inspire you to make the best of this very special time in all of your lives!

I have worked with 100’s of bridesmaids at weddings for our other company picture me&u & choosing a bridesmaid is so much more than just wearing a pretty dress while standing next to the bride on her wedding day. It’s friends who will help when things get tight & there’s a last-minute rush ( which there will always be when there’s a wedding – it’s part of the fun! ) They will even take off from work a few days prior especially if you are having a DIY wedding. They will help with pick-ups & deliveries. It’s girls who will pamper & treat you like crazy throughout the process & plan the most amazing kitchen tea & bachelorette party ever… because they love you & they’d love to do it for you because you’ll do the same for them! They will remember champagne & macaroons for the make-up & prepping the morning of the wedding and add extra tissues in their handbags just in case you have a teary moment during the church ceremony… because if you’re a bride… this will be the last thing you’ll think about! Being a bridesmaid is hard work, but it’s also a very special job to have for a very short time!

It was a very difficult task to choose my bridesmaids for my wedding… My life is busy & the time I have is spent with friends who I really care about, who make a difference in my life & that’s really special to me.

To all my dearest, most amazing, special, beautiful girlfriends ( YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE ‘cause you were at my wedding! ) you were all my bridesmaids… but for my wedding, I didn’t want you to work… I wanted you to come & relax & party & celebrate with me & Werner! I had my 2 gorgeous sisters to help with the ‘behind-the-scenes’ bits & pieces.

I wanted to do something really special for my two sisters to officially ask them to be my bridesmaids, I really wanted to treat & pamper them ‘cause I just love them both to bits!  

My mom & I baked & decorated the beautiful vanilla white chocolate cake, we bought some pink macaroons & pink+copper painted cookies from mmmmacarons & scouted Woolworths for their most beautiful bottled drinks & champagne. I made them each a beautiful flower crown from freshly picked flowers & filled up pretty little copper wire gift baskets which I got from @home with pretty pamper goodies which I designed & applied to items I bought from mr.price home & clicks. I surprised them one morning at my fellow #girlboss friend, Jeanel’s, gorgeous venue: lace on timber… with a little celebration table! We drank pink champagne from cute vintage crystal glasses, ate berry flavoured macaroons & munched on the most prettiest & delicious cake!

 

If you’re planning on making gift bags for your bridesmaids… get some of the m.studio products that I also used here :

& remember to share the prettiness on social media if you use our goodies – we would love to see what you make & create !!! @ilovemstudio & #ilovemstudio

Love