Thank you so much for Francois from Palm Photography for sharing this stunning wedding with us. Francois says that it is always a lovely challenge when a couple insists on something "different". This forces a photographer to try new stuff, to location scout a little harder and to freely create magic. The wedding of Danie and Deandra took place in Kimberley, a fresh location and definitely one to keep in mind. Enjoy this wedding with us, and remember to always be original!

{I Propose} - Elaborate on how the two of you met or on how the proposal went down.

August 2006 Matric, I got a sms with the following words "Please pray for Danie Calitz who is seriously injured after the rugby game they played" I did not know Danie, but I prayed for him. I prayed for my husband.We met during Varsity and we were friends for 18 months before we started dating. We dated for four years before we got married. We were in a long distance relationship for two of the four years. I was in Bloemfontein while he was in Bethlehem.

I thought 17 Aug 2013 would just be another ordinary day. I was in Kimberley visiting my parents and Danie was in Bethlehem. At about 17h30, my dad and I went for a drive. That is usually our father-daughter time. We drove on the N1 for more than an hour when my mother phoned us and told us we are late for the dinner with our family friends. We rushed back home, my mother was already waiting outside, so that we can just pick her up. As she got into the car, she told me that she forgot her cell phone in the house. I was so frustrated, because we were already late. I ran into the house and heard music playing softly. I did not realize what was going on, until I reached the room she told me her phone was in. In the room stood the man of my dreams with lots of candles and roses. I was very surprised to see him and very excited when I realized that it was our engagement. It was such a perfect romantic evening. Later that evening my family joined in the celebrations.

{Bride & Prejudice} - Express some memorable experiences you had during the planning.

From the beginning of the planning Danie told me that we should not worry about the little things of the wedding. The wedding day is not about the décor, the flowers, the music, the people attending or not attending the wedding or anything else. Although he knows I want everything to be perfect, he reminded me that our wedding day is a very special day in our lives where we made a commitment in front of God to one another. This advice made things so much easier.

Everybody that shared in our excitement and journey was very special.

{My Fair Wedding} - Describe an event that you feel was unique or even funny.

The only flowers on the wedding were my bouquet. All my center pieces were vases with pearls and candles. The story of a pearl is truly amazing and we therefore felt that this is very good symbol for a marriage. Just before 4h00 it started to rain, this was such a blessing.

{Don't Tell The Bride} - Reveal something that happened behind the scenes.

The morning of the wedding, one of the bridesmaids could not find her shoes. Everyone had to look for the shoes without letting me know.

Before the reception, the master of ceremonies cleared the memory of her ipad which had the program we have discussed stored there on. She made a huge improvisation without me noticing a thing.

{No More Wedding Woes} - Share your wedding advice for future brides.

I made a timeline (with all the details - addresses, telephone number, contact person, gps coordinates) for every person that had an important role in the wedding. I distributed this a week before the wedding to every person so that they knew what was expected of them. This took a lot of stress of me. Everybody will try to give you advice and ideas. Listen to the advice, but please follow your heart, since this is your big day.

Don't worry about the little things; chances are that things will go wrong. Just go with the flow.Try to finish everything a week before the wedding, by doing this you are controlling the things that are controllable. This also helped me to relax and to share this time before the wedding with the special people in my life. Meet up with all your service providers during the planning stage of your wedding, to make sure that you like their style, personality and way they handle things. Enjoy every moment of your special day. Take a few minutes regularly during the day to just drink in the moment.

{Service Providers}

Photographer: Palm Photography | Venue: Kimberley Club