Date and Location: September 6th, 2008 Church: St. Luke's Episcopal, East Hampton NY Reception: Private Estate, Amagansett, NY
What were our top three priorities for our wedding?
1. Our main goal, above all, was that each guest to feel the love that we have not only for each other, but for each of our guests. While we had a large wedding {231 guests to be exact} - each guest was someone who had meaning in our lives. We limited our guest list to people who had actually met both of us, much to both set of parents horror! Our goal was definitely met since to this day many guests continually tell us that our wedding day was not only fabulous but that it was so apparent throughout the day the love we have for each other and that the overall feeling of the day was love, warmth and happiness. We couldn't ask for anything more!
2. My family is from South Africa, and I happened to marry an American who has fallen head over heels for my home country; so we wanted to incorporate a bit of my homeland into the wedding. We decided to not turn our tented outdoor wedding into a Safari / African theme {I thought that I would get taken over by the concept and probably wind up over doing it}, so instead, all of the wine we served was South African {Mulderbosch, to be exact}. Mitchell and I are very into wine and wanted to share what we consider the absolute best of SouthAfrican wines with our guests.
3. We're also foodies, so catering and food was paramount. We wanted to stick with as many local and organic choices as possible - the Hamptons farming scene is incredible and we really wanted to use as much as we could that was produced locally. We also didn't want anything run of the mill / typical "wedding" food. We found an amazing catering firm {Brent Newsom} who fit our bill perfectly. They thought out of the box for us, prepared a culinary feast and really listened to what we wanted. The meal was remarkable!
What is the one things I would not change about my wedding?
We knew throughout our wedding planning process that we were getting married during prime Hurricane season in eastern Long Island. Since it hadn't "hurricaned" in years, I hoped that we were in the clear, especially given that our reception was tented and we intended for guests to be able to roam the homes' property freely. The week leading up to our wedding day, it became apparent that a hurricane / massive tropical storm was going to hit. My husband became a part time meteorologist checking the weather hourly {even during sleep} to figure out what changes we needed to make to accomodatethe storm. I decided to practice the mantra that I tell my brides, the weather isn't something you can control, just go with it. I did just that. I was calm and collected, I didn't care if it rained, I didn't care if it hurricaned, all that matter was that I was marrying my best friend in the whole world. The actual storm hit just as our cocktail hour was ending and the dinner and dancing was beginning and you know what? It actually made our wedding much more interesting. It gave our tent a more intimate feeling and it added a slice of adventure to the evening. Our vendors worked incredibly hard to ensure that nothing turned into a disaster and to be honest, I never noticed the rain at all. At the end of our night, my husband and I actually took a walk around the garden in the rain and we didn't even feel a rain drop - I was on cloud nine and Hurricane Hannah could never take that from me. {PS: I won't be naming our first daughter Hannah though!}
What is the one thing that I would like to have done differently at my wedding?
Honestly? Not much! I probably would have hired a different photographer, but in all honesty, thats about it. I loved our wedding day, kinks and all. It really embodied what Mitchell and I stand for: love, friendship, and fun.
What was our first dance song?
Forever and For Always by Shaina Twain. My husband and I have an interesting courtship story - we met at a bar in late November and he basically moved into my apartment with me on our third date {that in of itself is a long story!} and exactly one month later, I left New York to go spend 4 weeks in South Africa over Christmas and New Years. Mitchell actually called me twice a day and it was then that I knew he was the one. I flew back to the US for three weeks and then was due to fly back to South Africa for my cousin's wedding. Little did I know, but Mitchell had asked his parents for a plane ticket to fly down to South Africa with me to the wedding since he didn't want to be without me again. So, 2 months after we met, we flew half way across the world and went on holiday together for 5 days. On our flight back, the airplane radio station had "Forever and For Always" on it and Mitchell started to sing it to me - we decided it was our song. When we did our first dance, all I could think of was how my newly minted husband had changed my life so many years ago when he boarded a plane with me to meet my entire family after 2 months of dating. That to me really is Forever and For Always!
