Wedding Date: 8 March 2008
Venue: The absolutely stunning Moon and Sixpence in Muldersdrift, Gauteng. We got married in the Farthing Hall (Tuscan side)
Theme: Copper and Cream, with our own monogram that we designed ourselves and incorporated into the theme.
Wedding venue (and ceremony venue if different)
Name of bride: Carmen Victor
Name of groom: Roberto Arico
Wedding planner: None
Photographer: Adam Hilton (www.hiltonprophoto.co.za)
Videographer: Friend
Flowers by: Caren Visagie (she’s private and runs her own florist. Will have to confirm her number but she’s a lovely lovely lady!
Music by: Soundworx (Barry de Waal) – excellent DJ!
Cake by: Cakes by Design (Jennifer Bolton – my maid of honour’s sister) jennychef@gmail.com – she did such a brilliant job with our cupcakes…and she even made diabetic cupcakes for my dad!!
Make up by: Cathy Heaton (www.cathyheaton.co.za) – she is also such a lovely lady, she calmed my nerves on the big day!
Brides dress by: Maggie Sottero ‘Grace’ in Diamond White
Groom dressed by: Top Hat Hire
Bridesmaids dress by: Patty Hall, private dressmaker
The engagement
From my hubby’s perspective: To set the scene…. All week I had been planning and preparing how this proposal was going to go down. The weather had to be right, the timing had to be perfect, Carmen had to go to gym…
All went according to plan.. She went to gym, I managed to tidy the flat slightly, and got prepared. A few hasty phone-calls to my sister, and I was off. My idea was working beautifully, I had planned a treasure hunt for Carmen, with each clue having a number on it. That number would translate to a letter, and the letters would spell out WILL YOU MARRY ME So after an hour or so of Carmen running from our flat, to the office, to my parent’s house, back to the office, to the gym and then back to our flat, I finally met her inside.
I waited patiently as she tried to remember the order and decipher the seriously involved, NSA standard code and figure out the word. She got close, and looked quizzically at me, asking “Does this say what I think it does?”
I took the ring out of my pocket and went down on one knee and asked Carmen to be my wife and she said yes (I think.. there were a lot of tears at this stage)…
The wedding
The wedding day was amazing! Everything went so smoothly and I couldn’t fault it in any way! I would definitely relive the day over and over again…. The day started at 3pm and the service was over quite quickly. We had a catholic wedding without the nuptial mass (as I’m not catholic) and our priest was really very good, very funny but had some really wonderful things to say. At the reception we all partied till the wee hours!
The honeymoon
We are only going on honeymoon in July but we have booked at the Sandals resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica. I’m really looking forward to us spending lazy days on a beautiful beach drinking cocktails!
Image gallery
Comments
15 Comments so far
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Absolutely gorgeous! I love the coffee beans idea - the place must have smelt de-vine!!!
I am so envious you got a Maggie dress (hehe only kidding). It looks beautiful!!!
Dammit, I wish I’d at least got to TRY on a Maggie dress! Lucky you, how did you get hold of one?
It all looks lovely - I’m getting married at The Moon & Sixpence too, though in the other venue there.
Thanks ladies :)
Miss Honeysuckle, the staff at M&SP are wonderful, they are so helpful and you will have an AMAZING day!
I bought my Maggie dress in the Uk I’m afraid…and I flew all the way to SA with it in a travel box in my hand luggage, there was no way I was letting it out of my sight!
The coffee beans did actually smell pretty good Mrz Tulip…although I don’t know what everyone did with them afterwards!
:)
Great to know! Anything else you’d like to share about the venue - things that were great, things that you didn’t know before, food that was yummy or not - please share! I’m flipping out that I’m organising this whole thing myself and I don’t know what to expect. Did you get a “day of” co-ordinator?
The food at M&SP is amazing! They do a really good job, I couldn’t fault them in the slightest. We had the Country Buffet menu which was cheaper than the formal plated and in my opinion the better option as you get 3 choices. I wouldn’t worry too much about doing everything on your own. They have their own in-house co-ordinators (Ruby Moon) that help a lot. I had an on the day co-ordinator and she was lovely, so you won’t have to worry about a thing. They tell you when to go to the chapel, when to do what so you won’t stress at all :) They will send checklists etc and let you know what they need from you. I would recommend bringing flat shoes to wear under your dress after your first dance as your feet will get sore! Other than that, you will have an amazing day :) Hope this helped…
We are also doing the country buffet! We’ve been to one food tasting, but they have such a big menu that we didn’t even taste the tip of the iceberg…only one thing was yucky, I thought! And that was just an appetizer so there’s plenty of other choices. :-)
I’ve met with Ingrid from Ruby Moon, she is really nice, but I don’t know if I want to lay out another R1000 for the “day of” coordinator. I wonder, if you DON’T get one, how will you know when to do stuff?
Oh and I’m wearing flat shoes ALL day! I’ve get red satin ballet flats which are totally cute!
Im at M&SP for March next year! SOOO EXCITED! having a meeting with Ruby Moon on Wednesday to take care of the details. Was it expensive using them? Who was the priest? Im looking for a lighthearted, funny and friendly pastor. Something quick and effective and whom the guests will relate to.
and who did that gorgeous cupcake cake and the table numbers?
Hey Leela
Congratulations, and let me say you won’t be disappointed with M&SP. We didn’t use Ruby Moon for the whole wedding co-ordinator package, where they do everything for you. We hired the table overlays and tablecloths etc from them and got their advice and they were good. That was no charge. It’s only if you use their full service that you pay for it. We used a priest that my husband knew from childhood. His name is Father Michael Austin and he was very good, very dry sense of humour but he was really funny and made our day. I will get you his contact number if you’d like as he’s retired now. My maid of honour’s sister is a chef and she made the cupcakes. She does wedding cakes for a living and can work off pictures, she’s really good (she even made diabetic cupcakes for my dad!). The table numbers we designed ourselves in photoshop and just printed on pretty paper :) Let me know if there’s anything else you need and I’ll try my best to help!
Hey Carmen…you said you had a day of coordinator, but there was no charge? I thought they charged for that? I’m confused…
Hey Mizz Honeysuckle,
They do charge you if they do the whole co-ordination for you, i.e communication with vendors, sourcing vendors, helping set up and decorate, that sort of thing. they don’t charge you for the initial consultation of sitting down and discussing your colours and what overlays etc you’ll be using and just having a general chat about what your day will be like. I’ve included the wording from our M&SP agreement:
Services provided by your Wedding Consultants:
[b]Wedding Planning meeting– no charge (offered as part of Moon & Sixpence package)[/b]
This package offers a complimentary meeting, written quote & any follow up meetings if required
I can also assist with booking service providers if requested to do so.
We will also be at the venue to check delivery of any décor items ordered through us.
[b]Wedding Set up package – price can be negotiable depending on amount of guests & work involved)[/b]
This very useful package will ensure that the set up of the chapel & venue is completed on time & meets to your requirements.
This will include making sure that all your arrangements (i.e. gifts, table decor, candles etc) are exactly as you have planned.
We will require a meeting before the day (usually during the week before) to discuss requirements & the set-up. This can also be used as an opportunity for the bride to bring all table “goodies” etc, through to the venue.
Hope this helps!!
Oh ok thanks! Yeah I don’t need their help in sourcing vendors, etc, because I’ve done all that myself. All I really need at this point is someone on the day who will tell me when I’m supposed to go where, do what, and just generally make sure things are running smoothly. Do they do that as part of the “free” consulation part?
Yes, you will have your own wedding co-ordinator as well as a head waiter, who will bring you food and tell you where to go and what to do etc. You really don’t even need to worry about a thing, they are so well organised. We had Thabo and Lesman (our waiters) and they ran around getting us drinks and making sure we were well fed and telling us when we could go down to the church etc. That is all part of the fee, you don’t pay extra for it. What you would pay for is for them to set up your reception hall etc, but we had friends and family do that.
Thanks so much for your feedback. Ive already got most organised and we have a friend who will supply the minister. What a mission tho :) Im really excited and as per your response might opt for the wedding setup package. Decided on a Demetrios gown!! argh i cant wait. Thanks for being so helpful.
Thanks, Carmen! Ok so I really don’t need their set-up fee then, because both sets of parents and all sorts of people are going to help set up, and the florist said she’ll put out the flowers with her partner, so I don’t think I need to pay M & S an extra R1000 for that!
Our wedding is on a Friday so we miiiight go out there on the Thursday evening to get some basic stuff set up. Like putting out the table runners, candles, hanging pew cones etc. Depends how I feel! I know that stuff always takes longer than you expect to set up.