Ryan’s 28th Birthday

Amidst all the wedding craziness and planning, my bokkie had his 28th birthday. I wanted to surprise him with a special dinner, without having to give too much about my plans away…

I decided to get all his favourite Chinese food from Jade Court at Tyger Waterfront. Then I set our kitchen counter (note: at this point before the wedding, we only had all the kitchen goodies and two bar stools! So I had my work cut out for me!)

We’ve decided a while ago, that EXPERIENCES are more important than gifts. So every year we DO something really special for the other person. Like last year, Ryan planned a surprise “kiddie” party for me! It was so awesome, he (as usual) had me in tears!

I loved surprising Ryan, and the look on his face was exactly what I wanted when he walked in the door I already know exactly what I am going to do for Ryan’s birthday next year…

I know, I know!!!

Wow, I can’t believe how much has happened since the last time I blogged. I just logged onto wordpress, and almost didn’t know where to start.

So yes, I know, I know – I have soooo much to blog, and the only way I can think to do it is to start at the very beginning. Now, I must also make it known that at the moment we do not have internet at our new home yet – but we will get soon, making it easier to blog more often. After all, this is my outlet!!

So I’ll start over the weekend with Ryan’s birthday dinner, then my kitchen tea, the wedding and then finally the honeymoon!! I have posted pics from my kitchen tea as well as the wedding on my Facebook page, but the honeymoon pics have not yet seen the light of the internet!

I am still deciding on what I will blog about after I’ve covered all the wedding-related posts, and whether or not I should start a completely different blog (hubby votes for me to keep this one.) But it will pretty much be my little two cents about the world, my life and how I see things.

Have a fabulous weekend ya’ll!!!

xoxo.

Shhh… It’s a SECRET!

I must say, if there is one thing that gets me excited about a wedding – it’s the pre-wedding stationery. That is, the Save-The-Dates and the invitations! Ryan and I have a very specific vision for both!

Ryan and I are designed (and ‘producing’) all our own RECEPTION stationery, but our pre-wedding stationery was designed by the super talented ladies Stacey & Carla from Secret Diary. You can check out my blog post about our save the dates here.

Secret Diary is the most awesome, funky and fresh wedding stationery design company in SA. Not only are the ladies all super talented, they are just down right awesome people! I actually felt sad when I picked up our invitations – I felt like a ‘friendship’ was ending. Lol.

As a mentioned, Ryan and I had a very specific idea for our invites, and it actually involved Stacey having to hand draw the little green hands for us!! You can see our invites below BUT, first let me tell you a bit about Stacey.

This lady is crazy good at what she does! Every time we wanted to change something, within in minutes I had a new email with an update! Efficiency combined with amazing talent = a happy bride!! The thing I loved most about working with Stacey is that she always gave us super cool ideas! Things we never even thought of, she’d suggest! (and naturally, we’d love it!) And to top it all off – she’s a child of God. I know she’s been blessed with this amazing talent to be a blessing to others! And indeed she has been a blessing to us! So… Here are our invites…

We wanted to keep the design clean and modern, and at all costs avoid having them look like a “wedding invitation” (read: koekerig.) We therefore chose a galvanised shimmer charcoal coloured paper for the hand-made envelopes, and a 275 gram ivory linen board paper, to just add to the fresh, modern feel. Because we are having a morning wedding with lunch reception, we wanted to steer clear of any ‘blingy’ or ‘OTT’ elements… We got EXCACTLY what we asked for!

So that, is the story of our invitations… Have a great Sunday ya’ll.

Let’s start at the very beginning (a very good place to start) ;)

Wow, I haven’t blogged in ages! Feels like years since I’ve put my thoughts out into cyber world… In the lead up to the wedding, so many family and friends ask soooooo many questions. I don’t mind at all, in fact it just makes me even MORE excited for the wedding, and my marriage to my uber amazing man!!! Well, with 46 days to go, I think I’ll answer some of the questions so many of my friends have been asking…

Let’s start with where I am going to get ready for the wedding…

My girls and I will be waking up on my wedding day (very very early!!) at the stunning Beauclair Guest House in Stellenbosch. It is such a gorgeous little guest house (and of course, 5-star!). I’ve pre-selected our rooms, and our photographer (I’ll tell you who that is in blog post coming soon!) is super excited, as the guest house has some stunning areas to shoot for my bridal shoot!!! I am sooooo excited!

Not only are their rates competitive, the service I’ve received from the ladies at Beauclair is phenomenal!

So 46 days to the wedding, but just 45 days till I get to spend the night in this gorgeous guest house!

Sunsets…and other drugs.

Ryan and I took a drive to Blouberg on Sunday, as we knew our mini-holiday was coming to an end *sad face*… We popped in at Matador to catch ‘A to Z’ play – as usual, they were brilliant! Just as the sun was setting, we decided to go down to the beach… What fun! Unplanned trips with Ryan are always awesome!!

Blouberg in particular, will always have a very special place in our hearts, as Ryan took me to Blouberg on our first date (Note: We had supper in Stellies that night, and then we drove through to Blouberg! Lol, I didn’t know where we were going… But hey, WE ARE CRAZY IN LOVE!!!)

So whenever we go down to Blouberg, I have such fond memories, and I get kind of shy and quiet. The first time when I went there with Ryan, I never in a million years, would’ve guessed that not even 3 years later, I would become his wife! God definitely knew what he was doing!!!

So today is exactly 93 days to the wedding (tomorrow it’s exactly 3 months!!!!!) – I can’t believe it! And in a few weeks, my designer starts on my dress mock up! So excited… I got the last quote I needed today, so all our wedding planning and budgeting is officially over. Now it’s just the final execution.

Ok, back to the trip to Blouberg!! After walking on the beach for a bit, we got some ice-cream! Ryan and I both turn into absolute kiddies again when ice-cream is involved… It was sooooooooooooo good! One thing I miss in the winter, is the lack of ice-cream!! But hey, with my dress being started soon – that might just be a good thing!

I can’t wait for ten million more sunsets with my bokkie, and even more memories!

Ryan and I have always had a bit of an obsession with sunsets… We’ve been to almost every beach in Cape Town to watch a sunset at some or other point. And each and every time – it gets better and better.

“Sensual pleasures have the fleeting brilliance of a comet; a happy marriage has the tranquility of a lovely sunset.” – Ann Landers

This Is My Life…

I don’t think this blog-post needs much text. I love what this ‘poster’ says… Read it, and give it some thought. How much of it applies to you?

100 DAYS TO GO!!

I woke up this morning super excited, just knowing that there are exactly 100 days to go before I become Mrs Lategan, AND it is our 31 month anniversary today – needless to say, I am one very very happy lady!!

I’ve been so blessed with a man who loves me, cares for me, makes me laugh, cooks with me, shops with me, prays with me, and is my best friend! So today, we have some wedding goodies to sort out – we’re going to meet our florist at our venue, and I’m going shopping with my bridesmaids for their dress fabric, BUT at the end of it all, Ryan and I are going on a date! I still as excited to spend as much time with him as possible! Every time my doorbell rings, I get butterflies!!!

Have an awesome day! 1 day to Kate and William’s wedding!

Ryan and I fooling around during our week off