Monday 3 February 2014

GUEST POST: How My Parents Made My Wedding Fuss Free



Hi all,

I am WhyIamNotSkinny, a South African who has been living in Brussels, Belgium for almost 6 years and blogging about food experiences for the last 2. My normal sphere of writing is food related (recipes tested, restaurants reviewed and of course festivals/markets and general food experiences). 
So when I got the information pack from FOTB  – with the theme of Love for February – I knew that I would stray for my norm… and write about something a little different.
So this is a story of us… and my amazing parents made our wedding day fuss-free and fun!



I live in Europe… the wedding was planned for South Africa… but I had a year – so no worries, right? How difficult can it be to plan a wedding half way across the world when you aren’t even in the same country, let alone continent… right??
Well, for anyone who knows me, they know that I am the worlds biggest control freak and that I can lose my marbles if there isn’t a *plan*….
It isn’t so much that the plan needs to be detailed… I just need to know that someone has a plan!
(To digress – I remember once going away to Amsterdam with 7 other girls for one of their 30th’s… and there was no plan. We all stood around saying “Ok, what do you want to do?” and the birthday girl responding “I don’t know – what do you want to do?”. So we kept the weekend relaxed and chilled  - only to find out later that the Birthday girl threw a wobbly on her return because we didn’t make the weekend wild and party hard enough… If that was her plan… then she should have communicated that the plan was to party & go out dancing til dawn– right?? Cos then we could have made it happen…)
Anyway…
So when wedding period planning hit me … I knew that as a control freak, everyone was expecting Bridezilla… but boy, were they surprised when I didn’t transform… And the only reason for that is because my amazing parents took all the stress out of it.
My dad and his friend, Fiamma, had offered to do the flowers… they asked what style I wanted and I said “mixed, contemporary” – so that’s what they did – lots of different sized vases and glass bottles…. They asked what kind of flowers I wanted and my response was “white”…  I had no idea what it would be like until I got there… but I trusted them…and so I should… because they were GORGEOUS…


I actually only got to see my bouquet when I got to the church, as it was handed to me just as I was about to walk down the aisle.. and it was the MOST magnificent bridal bouquet that I could ever have imagined! If I had dictated what I wanted – it would never have been as beautiful as what was created for me!

My aunt offered to liase with the church regarding their flowers… and it JUST happened that our wedding day was the day before the feast of First Holy Communion – so there were already going to be enormous arrangements of white flowers in the church… we just helped donate financially so that we could enjoy them… and no additional work was required.
My wonderful mother has a friend who did our wedding cake…  Mom did all the coordination of flavours, the visual appeal and delivery. And it was perfect –with 2 different tiers – one was my favourite – a Guinness chocolate cake – and one was His favourite – a madeira type sponge. One of the bridesmaids (his) surprised us with the wedding couple for the top of the cake… and you know what… It was perfect…  Looks & taste wise… (especially with the flowers in the background J)


Mom & Dad did all the logistics of the venue… we all decided on the menu together (not a very hard task when the restaurant food was of such a high caliber). Plus Dad & Bulent delivered all the table requirements the day before and were there on the morning of the wedding to make sure that everything was set up correctly!! It would never have been a success without the two of them overseeing everything when us girls were getting ready!


I did the menu’s, table numbers & place card settings online with a fab service called www.pureinvitation.co.uk (who also printed my wedding invitations)… and although I forgot to put together a table setting plan and then the night before, just consoled myself with the fact that the group was small enough that they could find their tables & seats themselves – I was wonderfully surprised to find that my amazing Dad had heard that I had forgotten about this task & had done it for me!!!


Not only did Dad do all of this – he also matched the decoupage of our envelope gift box to the same paper as my table setting cards, invitations, etc!!



Mom organized the hairdresser for all 4 of us (2 Bridesmaids, a bride & a mother of the bride)  – and with perfect timing (another thing I didn’t need to worry about). This all coincided with the make-up artist & photographer arriving – Brilliant logistics by Mommabear!


Mom also organized manicures for my bridesmaids & myself for the night before the wedding (great logic – because any sooner than that – and without a doubt, I would have smeared the polish or chipped one of them!)
My family and friends rallied together to make sure that overseas visiting guests all had transportation to the church, the reception venue and then back to their accommodation afterwards…
My bridesmaids organized a rocking hen party for me….
And of course – the reception venue was PERFECT… with no venue hire and only a minimum spend requirement to get exclusivity  – plus their chef is amazing… the view is spectacular… and of course the fact that  they have the MOST phenomenal wine selection because they ARE a wine producing farm – where all winning combinations in my mind. They already had all the catering set up sorted… I never had to source chairs, or chair covers… nor crockery, cutlery or glassware. The staff were efficient, friendly and professional. No additional beautifying of the table was required.


All in all – this was the happiest day of my life… I got to commit my vows and my eternal love to the man of my dreams - in the eyes of God, my family and friends…  


So I wasn’t going to sweat the small stuff… if something went wrong (which it didn’t)… I would smile, nod and move on…(sounds cliché but in reality that is why it was as amazing as it was!). But more importantly – involving my family (and having both my parents walk me down the aisle) made the day not just about HIM & me… but about all of us!
And in True Hollywood fashion – I have to give thanks to my amazing mother & father who did so much to make our special day fuss-free….
Xoxo
So my wish to all is that you let love find YOU this February…



6 comments :

  1. Oh wow! such a lovely story. Stunning location and you look gorgeous together!

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  2. Your wedding dress is beautiful. It's such a lovely story and the location is beautiful x

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  3. We're so proud to have you as a guest blogger, Maxine! Your post was beautiful and really heart felt and we loved all of the photos (especially me considering I am from South Africa) so congratulations on your big day!

    Sam x

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  4. Beautiful! Your wedding story was lovely and it sounds like you had a stunning day xx

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  5. Beautiful! Your wedding story was lovely and it sounds like you had a stunning day xx

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  6. ah *blush*.... such lovely words... but I have to say that no amount of words can ever adequately express how perfect and happy our special day was!

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