Oh How I Love Weddings

My only sister Tanja got married on Saturday and my oh my, it was absolutely stunning.  People who know me will tell you that I do not gush at weddings or go “ah” when I see babies (besides my own two that is).  So imagine my surprise when Tanja comes walking down the aisle all on her own and I actually feel a couple of tears well...hello, where did that come from...

Tanja and Jaco got married on a sunny, but freakishly cold winter’s day in the beautiful Muldersdrift area.  The ceremony took place in a forest, it was stunning, even the two pictures that I took with my el cheapo camera are gorgeous, and the light is just perfect.  It was that crisp day that is only ever truly seen in Gauteng in winter.  Gorgeous, as if God is somehow trying to make up for the fact that Gauteng is ugly as hell in winter, He occasionally gives us this stunner of a day, well Saturday the 25^th of June 2011 was just such a day!  There were little fleece blankies available and most guests needed these, especially the girls as they refused to believe an invitation that said that time would be spent outdoors!

But I digress...the bride was gorgeous in her unusual wedding gown, purple, grey and white, thank heavens it had long sleeves due to the cold.  Her hair, oh her hair!  She was a stunner.  I am not sure if I am allowed to refer to my then future, now brother-in-law as dashing, but hey, shoot me, I have always been a sucker for a man in a suit.  They were a picture of happiness and joy; the bride could not stop smiling throughout the ceremony.  I do not think that the two of them would have noticed if the guests all started stripping naked as they really only had eyes for each other.

The ceremony was stunning and the guests involved, the groom kissed the bride prematurely, the guests were all invited to tie the happy couple’s hands together with ribbons, a lovely gesture and as you can imagine a couple of folk tried to tie them together to infinity and beyond.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, we were given the yummiest hot chocolate I ever tasted and gluhwein, another sign of just how carefully the two of them planned this day.  Thank heavens I am still on a diet or I might have attacked the guests for some more hot chocolate...we then cast pebbles into the river making a wish for the happy couple as we did so.  Gorgeous.  No confetti, instead they were surrounded by a sea of bubbles.  The bubbles came in bottles with butterflies atop.   Detail detail detail.  You simply cannot write about a wedding without using such cliched words like I am doing now, so excuse me, I will be my dark and twisted self again tomorrow!

And then, a picnic!  Each couple had a picnic basket with their names on, delicious wine, oh it was beautiful!  A bonfire crackling in the middle of it all and a Bedouin tent patiently waiting for us to finish eating before the two of them opened the dance floor and did they ever open the dance floor!

Tanja and Jaco were toasted by their parents and every word rang true.  My own conclusion on these two is that they are living proof that every pot does have a lid.  I cannot begin to describe in just a couple of words how strange these two are, and like Jaco’s mom said, that these two of a kind managed to find each other in a world where 6.93 billion people live is truly amazing.  When I say they are strange, I of course mean this in the nicest possible way.  Spoken with loads of love like a true white collar worker...they are into weird music, books, basically everything unconventional. 

This was a day filled with laughter, happiness and joy, no pompous master of ceremonies, no singing of 'kinders my dosyne', not your everyday run of the mill kinda wedding, this was Tanja and Jaco's day, and it suited the two of them perfectly!

Now Happy Couple, I know it’s not your cup of tea, but on Saturday when I saw the bride walk down the aisle, my favourite song by the Parlotones came to mind, so this one is for the two of you...full of fantasy

Fairytales all tell a lie
In real life the good guys die
Let's go somewhere safe, to outer space
Let's climb to the moon

I have no desire for truth
No longer watch the gloomy news
Feed me fantasy, so I'll believe
We're gonna fly to the moon

Side step reality
Build my world on fantasy
Me and my Cinderella
We're gonna fly to the moon

We'll build a ladder, we'll build a ladder
And we'll climb to the moon
We'll grow some wings, we'll grow some wings
And we'll fly to the moon

And we'll dream with open eyes
Not in the recess of our murky minds
We'll dream with open eyes

Is this delicious creation of mine
As tasty outside of my mine
Me and my Cinderella we're gonna fly to the moon

And we'll dream with open eyes
Not in the recess of our murky minds
We'll dream with open eyes

We'll build a ladder, we'll build a ladder
And we'll climb to the moon
We'll grow some wings, we'll grow some wings
And we'll fly to the moon

The kingdom once rich in romance has lost its glow
Lost in our imagination we'll take it slow
Much like the book my Cinderella will vanish too soon
Out silhouettes ablaze as we fly to the moon