Entries Tagged 'our wedding' ↓

On my wedding day, I decided at the last minute to leave my written speech at home and just wing it at the reception. I still don’t know why I did that, and after much deliberation about whether to do so or not I decided to post it here.

Good evening!

You didn’t think I wasn’t going to speak at my own wedding did you!?

How amazing is this dress?

And doesn’t my husband look gawjiss! I love saying that. “My husband”. It’s thanks to my new husband that I get to have the wedding of my dreams! Does anyone still doubt that I am spoilt!??!?

I want to mention some absent loved ones first. My Ouma Jean isn’t here tonight. She’s been gone for a long time. She was a big part of mine and Damien’s life, and I think of her often. And whilst she would most likely have questioned my choices in décor and gown and such, I know she would have been thrilled to see me so happy. My Granny Sheila and Neels’ Ouma Julia aren’t here tonight either. They’re home and warm, and even though we would have loved to have them here to celebrate this incredible day with us we do understand why they chose to stay home. We miss you both. Neels’ Aunt Claudia fell and broke her ankle just last Wednesday and if I’m not mistaken she’s still in hospital, so naturally her hubby Phillip is with her! And last but certainly not least, my bestest best friend, my maid of honour Genevieve and her other half Will. Gen and Will now live in NSW Australia and we thought the drive would be a bit much. Strangely enough, 12 years I couldn’t go to their wedding either! I miss you dreadfully tjomma, but fate seems to have other plans for us.

And I want to give a mention those who came a long way! Gerrie and Coline came all the way from Vereeniging in darkest Gauteng! Trevor, Carla and Aunty Liz came up from PMB. Bridget and Glen came up from Durbs, and Heather and Rudi came up from Cape Town!! That is so wow! We feel so honoured that you would make a trip like that to share this day with us. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

I want to say thank you to my Damien. Thank you for being my darling Damien. Thank you for being happy with me today. Thank you for being my best man.

Thank you mommy and daddy darling, for raising me the way you did. Your boundless love and acceptance is something that I now know is a rarity in this world.

And now I want to say a thank you to all of you who are here. You are the people we treasure. Maybe I should have handed out name tags so that the bloggers and Twits could find each other!

I hope you’re all having as much fun as I am!

And to all of you who may still be watching the internet stream- cheers and thank you!

What about the aisle?

I think a lot of little girls dream about having their daddy walk them down the aisle, but when it comes to the big day why not do something different?

Here’s an example. When I got married last July, I married the man of my dreams! Seriously. But for seventeen years before I met my knight in his shining Navara, I was a single mother and my son and I had had our own lives- just the two of us. When my husband and I got married, my son was already nineteen years old, and before I met my husband he and my dad had been the two most important men in my life. So not only was my son my best man, he walked me down the aisle as well! I had my daddy darling on my right arm and my son on my left arm. It was uber special to me!

You could also have both your parents walk you down the aisle! The traditional wedding ceremony doesn’t have much in it to involve the mother of the bride and asking both your parents to walk you down the aisle is a special way to involve them both.

Perhaps you are closer to your brother or sister than your parents, or your best friend!

You could even walk down the aisle with your husband-to-be!

The thing to keep in mind when you are planning your wedding and the ceremony, is that it is about you and your husband. The traditions so many of us think we have to honour are ancient and a lot of them no longer hold the same symbolism as before. You could even ask your celebrant not to use the words “who gives this woman” and instead say “who brings this woman” when you get to the top of the aisle- or skip it completely!

Make your own memories and make them happy ones! There are no rules you have to stick to!

At my wedding reception, my dad’s speech had all my guests in tears! It was only after my honeymoon that I found out from my mommy darling, that my daddy darling had not said everything he had noted. He’d been working on his speech for months, and on the night he was too choked up to say it all.

Here is my dad’s speech as he wrote it.

I love my daddy darling so much!

ANGEL – our first born and last wed!

Angel – you were a love child, born when Mom was 19 and Dad barely 21 years of age – you were the first grand child on the Swemmer side and the first grand daughter on Granny Sheila’s side.  Old Auntie Flo always said the love babies are the most beautiful and unique – she was not wrong.

From a very young age you made it plain that you were in charge, organising all the games, taking control of all the toys you could carry in your turned up dress or orchestrating little concerts!  Drawing was your passion from a very tender age and there was never enough paper for you!

By 14 months you decided that nappies were simply not your style and pulled them off at every opportunity.  Once again you took charge ha ha!  You even cut all your teeth really quickly and without any trouble.  A very organised little miss!  Even motherhood happened early in life for you!

Reciting whole nursery rhymes and prayers before 12 months old was also your favourite pastime – you had a good grasp of language very early in life!

Your sense of humour developed at a very young age and your giggle is as infectious as it always has been.

You are a responsible, loving and caring older sister.  Your siblings are blessed to have a sister like you!  Not to mention a sister with the organisational skills you have ha ha!

You are a precious, intelligent, loving daughter.  You struggled through your share of problems bravely and alone not wanting to be a burden to any of us – bless you for your independent nature.

You are courageous, practical, sensible, beautiful, loving and a wonderful mother.

You deserve this very happy day and a loooooooooooong future with Neels – brimming with love and joy!

Neels – as a son-in-law we are more than blessed to have you in our family.  Thank you for taking care of our precious daughter and for being so good to all of us!  You are truly worth waiting for son!  Welcome to the crazy Swemmer family!

Angel – our toast to you is this – may you always have enough – to be happy, blessed and carefree. Enough love, health, money, faith, happiness, peace, family and wisdom for all the days of your life with Neels at your side.

To Angel! Cheers & God bless you!

Oh how I love my shoes!!! I actually have two pairs- a black pair, and the purple pair that I wore on my wedding day!

My shoes may look too high to be comfortable, but at the time I was wearing heels like this to work every day so I was quite used to walking around in them. My ballroom dancing shoes are not a lot lower than these divine purple shoes, so I knew I’d be able to dance in them too!

When I found them, I knew I had found the perfect shoes! I knew my wedding shoes HAD to be a gawjiss, rich, jewel purple colour, and I really wanted them to have these flowers on them so when I actually found them I was ecstatic!

These days, the trend is definitely leaning towards brightly coloured, statement-making, eye-catching wedding shoes! Just remember that if you are not used to wearing a specific type of shoe- especially high heels- choosing them for your wedding day because they look gawjiss on your feet means you are most likely going to be in physical pain. And be sure to wear them in, starting a few weeks before the wedding so that they don’t give you blisters.

I have found that the silicone shoe inserts, the little gel cushions- like Dr Scholl’s “party feet” range- work fantastically for me! Your feet will hurt whilst you’re wearing your shoes, but they won’t pain for hours afterwards once you’ve taken them off! The gel pads prevent the painful swelling that we are prone to after lots of walking and dancing in high heels, and they are available in most supermarkets. There is a South African version that I just can’t remember the name of right now, that is available in supermarkets, and you can get them for the balls of your feet, for under your heels, to cushion the arch of your foot- wherever your feet usually ache the most after you’ve worn heels. They do take some getting used to though, so if you want to try them do so BEFORE your wedding day!