The next time I come across a bride who's wavering about a 'first look' photo session because she doesn't want to spoil 'that moment' (you know, the one where you lock eyes from opposite ends of the aisle and even though you're in a room full of your family and friends you can only see one another and your heart's beating out of your chest and you're gripping your dad's arm but you're looking at each other and it's amazing) - well, next time I am just going to show her Evette and Emile's wedding. Because they had a first look (the sweetest of first looks for this pair of childhood sweethearts) and some gorgeous portraits with their awesome photographer Laura Jansen before the ceremony. But when Evette's walking down that aisle - wow. The emotion in these pictures is so real, it actually brings a tear to MY eye. I have a feeling these two are going to be looking at one another like that for a lifetime. For their big day, they picked a beautiful pastel palette (including a gorgeous blush dress for the bride), and like the ballerina she is, she danced through ceremony and reception, right through to a first dance with her handsome groom that looks like it came from a movie. Ah, love. It gets me every time.

The Proposal
Emile is very energetic and loves participating in sports and outdoor activities. I am happiest with my nose in a book. However, our interests crossed paths when I mentioned one day that mountain biking seemed like a great deal of fun. He was excited and arranged a day of off-road cycling near Cullinan. It was a great idea, had I not been so awfully unfit and unskilled on a bicycle and I said that I would never attempt this again. So to my dismay, a few months later, one December morning I was greeted with the prospect of going mountain biking again. I begged and pleaded to stay, but Emile was adamant that this time it would not be as hard as the first time and I would actually enjoy it. He asked me to unpack his backpack and start packing up the gear, only to come storming into the room and ask me to rather pack lunch (I would later find out that the ring was stashed in the backpack and I was about to stumble upon it!) Off we went to Rosemary Hill, a venue I have always wanted to see and have often admired on wedding blogs, so I will admit, the hang lip recovered slightly upon hearing this detail. Emile made sure we received our cycling passes, chatted to a lady about the best routes and off we went. Emile told me that he had noticed there was a Geocache site somewhere on Rosemary Hill and since I have always wanted to find one, we set out to find the treasure as well. We cycled to a beautiful little forest, with building ruins inside, here we stopped for a bit and started up the GPS to locate the treasure. We soon found a box under a little bridge and felt like Indiana Jones, I was so excited. We looked through all the trinkets people had left, we read all the notes about their experiences. But then there was an extra trinket with no logbook entry. I opened the ring box and was startled to see our names in it and a little plastic ring. I looked up at Emile and he just smiled and asked me if I liked the ring. I didn't know what to say. By now I knew what was going to happen, but it's still such a magical moment, that it felt completely surreal. He pulled out another ring box, and stole my heart all over again, when he proposed. Turns out, this Geocache site was made specifically for me. Emile had planted all the trinkets and wrote the whole logbook. But he feared someone might snatch my ring; so he placed a dummy ring just a surprise. This day I cycled up a mountain and through more ruins and forests and didn't even get tired. I was Emile's fiancé and it was the best feeling in the world.

You can see more from this wedding on Laura Jansen's blog.

SERVICE PROVIDERS
Venue, catering & on-the-day co-ordination: Lezar Opstal | Photographer: Laura Jansen | Videographer: Mighty Fine | Flowers & décor: Wena | Bride's dress: Rina from Catherine's Collection | Bride's accessories: Modcloth.com and Kleins | Hair: Carine | Groom's attire: Shadows | DJ: DJ Farmboy (Lezar's in-house DJ)