Nico and Anita Pieterse

Venue: Forum Homini, Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng

“We loved our “Perfect 10” wedding with our 80 guests, amazing food, and a great singer who sang in the style of Michael Bublé and Frank Sinatra.”

ANITA REMEMBERS

Tell us about the theme of your wedding?

We combined a bush feel and contemporary look. I chose to inject some colour into the earth-toned theme with a bougainvillea arch and that’s also how the hints of pink developed in the lounge area, in our flower arrangements – and of course with my pink shoes! I wanted to create different centrepieces on the tables and so we came up with the idea of a hanging flower and crystal chandelier. We did our table numbers on wooden hearts with our guests’ faces on the one side and the table number on the other. The guests were asked to take their heart to the table and place it in a vase to finish off our table decoration. Even our invitations were unique – they were done newspaper style and were filled with interesting facts, our story, a page on our engagement in Venice, information on our parents, pictures of us when we were little and even a self-made word search.

And the menu?

A superb dinner was created for us and each dish was carefully paired with wines. We simply gave the chef a vague idea of what we wanted and he did the rest. Our starter was a roasted tomato soup with mascarpone ice cream – an innovative dish that our guests loved. This was followed by a choice between kingklip with fennel purée served with a pineapple and crispy bacon salad, or beef fillet served with pinotage risotto and mushroom tortellini. Dessert was a sublime chocolate fondant served with coffee ice cream.

The highlight?

We got married on October 10, 2010. We’d been together for ten years and that’s the reason we chose the date. We loved our “Perfect 10” wedding with our 80 guests, amazing food, and a great singer who sang in the style of Michael Bublé and Frank Sinatra.

Advice for brides planning their wedding?

• A wedding should be a reflection of both the bride and groom. Try to see the whole planning process as a combined effort and a fun project to do together. You only get married once, so make the best of it and enjoy the preparations.
• Shop around and compare quotes.
• Don’t be afraid to think out of the box and put your personal stamp on the day.
• If you’re planning a wedding in a beautiful bush or beach location, you don’t need to add too much as the setting is already the perfect backdrop. Have a few striking accent pieces but try to keep the rest simple.

 

LITTLE BLACK BOOK

Bridesmaids: Forever New 011 465 1829; forevernew.com/au

Cake: Cupcake Boutique 011 467 3901; cakeboutique.co.za

Dress: Eve’s Bridal  Wear 011 268 5599; evesbridalwear.co.za

Entertainer: Jacques Lagesse 082 652 7260; jacqueslagesse.com

Hair and makeup:  Adelle Jung 083 388 4490

Flowers and decor: Design of the Times 011 447 2258; designofthetimes.co.za

Photographer: Lindy Leeming 082 926 0404; lindyleeming.co.za

Shoes: Moda Shoes, Centurion Mall 087 809 0156

Venue and food: Forum Homini 011 668 7000; forumhomini.com