Craig & Lisa-Mari

Vendor Love:
​Photos:  RDK Photography
Wedding Planner:  Roelien Muller Events
​Stationery:  Troulantyntjies
​Reception:  Morgan's Bay Hotel
Dress:  Casa Blair Bridal Port Elizabeth
​Hair:  Hayley - Rock Paper Scissors
​Make Up:  Shana Dixon Makeup Artist
Suit:  Best Man Suit Hire
Flowers:  Sarah May 
​Cake:  Queen Bee's Novelty Cakes

Love Story:
​​Craig was born in East London and grew up in the small farming community of Maclear in the Northern Eastern Cape, where everyone is either known as “Oom or Tannie”.
The Burton Family later relocated to East London where Craig matriculated from Stirling High School in 2009. It was during this period, at the tender age of 16 and 14, where Craig met Lisa-Mari.  A young lady from Durban at the time. Lisa-Mari was born in Nelspruit but grew up in East London.  Sticking to their true “voortrekker” roots, the family later relocated to Durban and then back to East London where Lisa-Mari matriculated at Merrifield College in 2011.

Having met through a mutual friend, Craig took a massive leap and invited Lisa-Mari on Mxit. After a few months of Mxit conversations Lisa-Mari convinced her parents to let her go stay with her Aunt, based in East London for the upcoming school holidays as she apparently needed to go visit her old friends from Gonubie Primary, whom she missed so dearly. Pocket money was saved and flights were booked for the very next school holiday. No one knowing about the movie date that was already planned by Mr. Burton and some friends.

Movies at Hemingways it was. The nerves and excitement of finally meeting each other, after months of text messages and phone calls had gotten the best of Craig. He broke out in the worst teenage acne just a few days before and thought it would be appropriate to send Lisa-Mari a picture beforehand to “prepare” her in typical Craig fashion. Needless to say, the megapixel camera  used, greatly under estimated the real-life situation. 

It would be nice to say that it was love at first sight. If you had to ask Craig he would probably say that Lisa-Mari had just never met anyone as charming as him before. If you had to ask Lisa-Mari she would say she was not very impressed, luckily Craig is persistent or at the very least stubborn (a fact that all his customers will agree to!) and a second date night alone was agreed upon. Lisa-Mari saw past Mount Everest and they got on like a house on fire.

The rest, for now, is history. They did their part in supporting SAA, every public holiday, every long weekend and every school holiday. They shared everything together: matric farewells, driving licenses, 18th and 21st birthdays and Bachelor of Commerce Degrees, to name a few.

In the year 2012 after years of dating Craig and Lisa-Mari made the leap to move in together. The couple found a lovely loft apartment in Port Elizabeth. They were just two kids in love and didn’t manage much apart from white plastic chairs, which served as a lounge suit and an upside-down, empty box which was used as a TV stand. It is also a well-known story that their 30’’ Telefunken would leak during the Titanic movie. Yet the happiness and excitement of this journey outshone any challenges and it was the happiest home.

In 2014 panic struck the young couple.  A wide-eyed Craig was speechless. Lisa-Mari didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The couple rushed back and forth between pharmacies and Pathcare to confirm that the 7 home pregnancy tests were in fact not faulty. 2015 was the year that Craig and Lisa-Mari were blessed with the birth of their beautiful daughter, Sienna Sage. Like everything else that comes their way they tackled parenthood like pros. Believing once again that together nothing was impossible. What an incredible journey and blessing it has been for them. Those closest to Sienna know that she has a way of crawling into one’s heart. Her smile lights up the room and her presence is like a ray of sunshine, even though Lisa-Mari did not quite feel like a ray of sunshine while writing a few exams balancing the table on her belly. Craig neither whilst having to study for his last exam in the labour ward.

The stories of self-sacrifice, love and determination have landed this young couple where they are now and they would not have it any other way!
 

​The Dress:
Lisa-Mari had a very specific picture of what she wanted in her mind, but had no idea what it was going to look like on her body type.

Needless to say she organised a spontaneous roadtrip to Port Elizabeth. She joined Craig on a business trip and decided to try on dresses whilst he was attending meetings . It was very last minute! Thankfully she had a very close friend who stayed in PE and she joined the dress fitting as well as Lisa-Mari's daughter, who was two and a half at the time. When Lisa-Mari walked out in that specific dress and her daughter looked at her and said "Wow, mommy is a princess!" Lisa-Mari knew it was the one. It was the second dress she tried on and she fell absolutely in love and it was nothing like the dress  she had initially had in mind, but it made her feel like a princess! Lisa-Mari wanted a dress with sleeves and definitely not an off white dress, but the ivory beige complimented her hair and skin tone perfectly and the flaring bottom made her feel comfortable and elegant. Once again proving to her that one actually has to be open minded and go and try on before deciding on a specific design. ​

Wedding Style: 
After looking at numerous magazines, Facebook pages and Pinterest for inspiration, Craig and Lisa-Mari knew from the start that their colours needed to be white with a touch of rose gold and natural greenery. Their bridal party wore navy blue with rose  gold accessories.  They did not carry the navy through to their table set up and décor, as they wanted to keep it simple and elegant. ​

Wedding planning can be particularly stressful which often makes one question whether eloping is a better option. Lisa-Mari's advice is to get a wedding planner that is very well organised and that will set your mind at ease as well as make the process more enjoyable.

​It will also give you the opportunity to focus on finer details. In the end it will be worth every single late night and every bit of stress. Lisa-Mari says that she truly cannot explain all the emotions they felt on their day. As a couple, they connected on a whole different level and realised how much they actually mean to not only their partner but to their guests.  The people that are near and dear to you. Craig and Lisa-Mari felt like they  were living in the most beautiful fairytale and it truly was the best day (after becoming parents) of their lives!