Annabel & JP – Tokara

How did you meet?

Not the most exciting of starts. I had been to a very dull client event and had hooked up with a friend later to try to find an exciting evening out! We ended up in a bar I never usually went to and were accosted (ok, so the 2 versions of this story vary!) by JP and his friends. Despite getting off to a rocky start (I thought he was Dutch and called PJ!) the rest is history!

How did he propose?

Despite one of the coldest weekends I can remember we had travelled to Cambridge for a post-Christmas weekend together. On the Saturday it was below freezing but JP insisted we should go for a traditional boat ride down the river with me at the helm. I remember thinking he was being oddly insistent and that it was strange he sulked when the boat hire people told us it was too cold to take one out. Personally I thought holing up in a pub by the fire was a better plan but JP now decided we would go for a walk in the university grounds. By now cold and grouchy I stomped around a metre behind him but soon realised when he suddenly went down on one knee! I think at the time I was more concerned he’d damage his leg kneeling on the frozen ground but was very happy to accept!

The wedding day? Tell us what you felt and experienced.

Bad weather being something of a theme with our marriage (well, I am English!) we had been disappointed to have to change our ceremony venue from Alluvia earlier in the week running up to the wedding so it was no great surprise that our big day dawned grey and windy. However, a few glasses of champagne later soon meant that didn’t matter at all and we both enjoyed the build-up with friends and family. I think with this couple the bride was definitely more relaxed than the groom who was slightly concerned about his speech and could be seen with a pen and paper at all times! The ceremony itself went perfectly and we both agreed afterwards that the chapel Faye had found for us was perfect. We were really lucky and managed to get all our photos finished (thanks to Joe!) before the heavens opened – an almost perfect English summers day! We had an amazing meal at Tokara which looked stunning, even with the rain and our overriding memory was of being surrounded by friends and family who were all clearly having a great time in a relaxed venue – just what we had wanted. The rest of the evening was spent with us both on the dancefloor which is a rarity and despite a few near accidents involving Mampoer and fairylights (?!) we finished the day on a complete high.

The honeymoon…where?

Having travelled from London to SA for the big day, we both wanted some time before the wedding to organise ourselves. As it turned out with Faye and Aleit at the helm we were superfluous to requirements so spent our time shuttling back and forth to the airport. As a result we didn’t have much time afterwards before having to head back to London but we did manage to travel to Umngazi Resort & Spa on the Wild Coast. What an amazing place, by the time we left we were almost horizontal! And the big plus is we still have our honeymoon proper to look forward to in May in The Seychelles.

Any advice to future Brides and Grooms.

Hire Aleit! Seriously, having tried to organise a wedding from overseas I can vouch for how easy they made our lives. What I learned from the whole experience was to relax and enjoy the ride, put your trust in the experts – whether the planner, photographer or caterer, hard for a bride to admit but they probably do know best as they’ve done it a few times! On the day itself, enjoy every moment as once the clock hits 9am time seems to speed up. Spend time with friends in the morning and make sure you at least get a few moments to yourself as a newly married couple to take it all in.

Something nice about us?

It’s hard for me to speak about Aleit and Faye as well as the rest of the team without sounding as if I’m running their PR campaign! Not only do they have great ideas and contacts but on the ground have everything running as slickly as possible. Faye was a model of calm in the face of having to re-organise a wedding two days beforehand. The fact that she never showed that this was a concern meant that we were relaxed as well. I got the feeling she was like a swan – serene on the surface, paddling furiously underneath! On the day itself they ensured that all we had to do was turn up, smile and say ‘I do’ without stressing the small stuff. Their professionalism but most of all sense of humour really made our day.