Real wedding in CapeTown Miriam and Nico
When did the wedding request arrive ?
Miriam and Nico contacted me about 9 months prior to the wedding date They told me about their plan to get married in Cape Town and asked for a symbolic ceremony. Their plan was to have the legal marriage before coming to South Africa.
Why did they want to get married in CapeTown ?
The bride Miriam has worked in Cape Town some years ago. For SANCOB who is taking care of penguins and other birds in a rescue center.
Later they went together on a nice south African tour and both loved the country, the city, the ambience, the good mood of the people living here, the always positive welcome they have experienced everywhere.
What were their request for their wedding venue ?
As both knew the country and the city of CapeTown, they did consider different options. Either a nice beach with a view to the outstanding Table Mountain. Or in the Winelands with views to the surrounding mountains. Of course it had to be a romantic place. And we needed accommodation for about 30-40 people.
What were the challenges ?
The biggest challenge was the date. It had to be between Christmas and the first days of January. You have to know that December and January means absolute peak season here in Cape Town. International tourists as well lots of Johannesburg citizens are enjoying the summer time in the Western Cape. As well the main school holidays are between mid December and mid January.
That meant to check lots of locations and wedding venues for their wedding request. And you can imagine that most of them said “fully booked already”. Each answer with an availability got immediately a visit from us to see the possibilities for the wedding ceremony as well the rooms. And so finally a nice and cosy wine farm near Franschhoek has been confirmed. Rickety Bridge.
Fixing the wedding location
To organize a wedding venue does not only mean to book the location. Here it starts all
- Are there enough rooms available
- Costs
- Coordinate each single guest, how long they wanted to stay
- Who could not sleep directly at the wine farm, we needed to find more accommodation nearby
- So make sure to organize a shuttle as nobody wants to walk home at night
Now also organizing the wedding reception, means to organize:
- Menue proposals
- Wine selection
- Where is the best place to have the dinner
- Necessary is a seatingplan to point out special meals and allergies, as well as kids
- Where we can have the bar afterwards and dancing
Planning details around the wedding venue and dinner
It is not only the organization of the venue, accommodation and dinner. Now we needed to plan all details to enjoy a full day of fun. Which means:
- A fotografer
- A hairdresser
- Flowers and decoration
- The wedding cake
- Lights and candles
- A musician for the wedding ceremony
- Live music during dinner and a DJ for the dancing part
- Shuttles and drivers
More plannings
What I loved most is the organization of all surrounding days. Miriam and Nico had parents not so fluent in English. So it was me to fetch them at the airport and bring them safely to their accommodation in Blouberg.
Then I have been asked to organize several excursions. So we had a trip to the West Coast National Park. The other day all wedding guests travelled to Cape Point, Cape of Good Hope and Boulders for the penguins. I also had to organize a hike up to Table Mountain as well a lunch for everybody downtown.
You just can see that although it is just 30/40 people coming from Europe for a wedding, there is lots of detailed planning. As well helping everybody to feel comfortable and looked after in the days before the wedding as well afterwards.
I love my job and do look forward to your wedding request in CapeTown, yours Britta, Creative Wedding South Africa
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