They say that love can cross borders, well, Francois and Ilze's love did exactly that! After dating with thousands of kilometers between them, they eventually decided to tie the knot and they did it all here, in South Africa. Photography by Wildflower Photography.

Lovebirds | How did you two meet?

Funny story...two of our friends thought we'd be the perfect couple! But the only
problem was, Francois lived in Texas, US and I was in South Africa. Long story short,
we started talking .. a lot and about two months into all the phone conversations and
texting he decided to surprise me and came to visit. We knew we wanted to be together
more than anything and we also knew it had to be a bit of a long distance relationship for
a while. For about a year Francois came to SA Every 3 months to visit me, until I moved
to the States in 2014 to be with him.

I said Yes | How did the proposal go down?

What a magical day, it was my birthday and after a romantic lunch at Kemah Boardwalk
he had arranged for a carriage to pick us up and take us for a ride along the beach. At one
point we stopped to "have a look at the view" (or that is what I thought anyways) and he
poured the wine and gave me one last present. It was a puzzle I had to built right there
and then...it was a picture of us with the words on WILL YOU MARRY ME. I turned
around to find him on one knee with the most beautiful ring I could ever dream of
having. So of course I said YES!

The Big Day | Tell us the most memorable moment of your wedding day?

To me it was definitely the moment I walked down the isle...knowing this is me forever!
The emotions flooded me, from tears, to laughter and butterflies in my stomach etc. It
was just so special looking at him with tears in his eyes knowing he will always be my
best friend.

For him it was also the moment I came walking into the chapel.

I Quote | Describe in one sentence your wedding day

The perfect way to start our happily ever after

Forever & Always | Any advice for future brides

My advice to future brides is to not let the small things stress you out or and don't rush to
get to the big day. It comes and goes by so fast that before you see you'll wish to have it
all over again, so enjoy every bit of planning and the engagement period. Those are also
amazing memories to hold onto.