Gareth and Genevieve

Vendor Love:
Photographer:  Stephanie Norman Photography
​Venue:  Morgan Bay Hotel
Dress:  Whimsical Bridal Studio
Suit:  Best Man Suit Hire
Flowers:  Sarah May Floral Art
Hair:  Anre Erasmus 
Make Up:  Kelly May Make Up
Decor:  Border Cater Hire & Love For Events

Gareth and Genevieve's Love Story:
Gareth and Genevieve's love story began eleven years ago!  

They were high school sweet hearts who met in Grade 11.  They attended some of the same classes, but never really got to know each other until they started spending time with the same group of friends.  Genevieve  admits that Gareth was always the guy that got up to mischief and was an epitome of a "bad boy".  

Months went by with them just being friends, until one day Genevieve said that this blonde guy with the nicest calves came running onto the field at their schools' first team rugby game, had caught her eye.  When he turned around, to Genevieve's surprise, she realized that it was Gareth!  There was just a little something about the way he looked that day.  He smiled and greeted.  After that day they started spending a lot more time together and the more they got to know each other, their love grew.

As the years have gone by, they have grown together and the "bad boy" that Genevieve thought Gareth once was has become the most loving and caring person, who is definitely husband material.  Genevieve said that she couldn't be happier that she listened to her instinct all those years ago and took a chance on the "bad boy" that she now calls her husband.

The Dress:
Gareth moved to East London from Pretoria about three years ago and Genevieve joined him a year later.  When they got engaged and started doing the wedding planning, Genevieve knew that she wanted to involve her mom and sister up in Pretoria as much as possible.  Especially with regards to wedding dress shopping.  

Genevieve ended up asking her mom to organise the bridal shops to shop for her wedding dress in Gauteng, as there were a  lot more options.

Genevieve's mom had already had an idea of what Genevieve was looking for from the photos she had sent.  Genevieve's mom organised for them to go have a look at three different bridal shops.

The second bridal shop they went to was the amazing Whimsical Bridal Studio where they had met a lovely bunch of ladies who really made them feel like gold.   Genevieve went there with two of her sisters and her mom.  

Genevieve had them each choose a dress for her to try on.  Elimanating the options down to a final two, thereafter the bridal studio ladies chose the final dress.

Genevieve tried on each dress with her mom's choice being the second one that she tried on and she absolutely fell in love!  Everyone in the room, including herself, burst into tears at how lovely she looked.  Genevieve knew that this was THE dress.  

Even though Genevieve didn't say YES to the dress straight away she continued to search around, but couldn't stop thinking about THAT dress in the days following the fitting. In the back of Genevieve's mind she knew she had one more bridal store to visit, holding out to see what they had in store for her.  It must have been a sign as the third bridal store called the day before Genevieve was supposed to visit them, and cancelled the appointment.

Genevieve quickly organised a second fitting for the dress with Whimsical Bridal Studio and Belinda was more than happy to open up the shop early for her to do a last fit on Sunday morning before her flight back to East London.  This time Genevieve took her dad a long with her to get approval, and when she walked out in the dress with veil and all the trimmings, her dad broke down in tears and handed her the "I said yes to the dress" sign. Genevieve left that day knowing that she had made the right decision. 

What inspired their wedding style:
Gareth and Genevieve are both minimalistic people who don't like over the top details. Genevieve says that she is very much an "old" soul at heart so they had what she calls a rustic, vintage theme with hessian as the main fabric, pearl and rose gold details.

The colour scheme was inspired by their favourite colours;  mint green and aqua blue but balanced out with ivory, and grey touches.

They felt that the colours tied in well with their venue but they wanted to freshen it up a bit by bringing in touches of pink and white.  

​This is where Sarah May did such a wonderful job with the flowers as it really added the finishing touches to the decor and tied everything up so well together.