Simoné and Kobus: A Festive Occasion
"Fun", "quirky" and "unique" only begins to describe this fabulous DIY wedding, beautifully captured by Yolandé Marx. We asked Simoné, the bride, to answer some questions for us.
About the couple
Bride: Simoné Franzel Marinus, 26
Groom: Kobus Erasmus, 26
Occupations
Bride: Wedding and lifestyle photographer, graphic designer and fine artist
Groom: Finished his degree in mechanical engineering, but works mainly in product management.
Wedding date and time
24 September 2011 at 15:30
Venue
Papa’s Real Food @ Duncan Yard , Pretoria
Guests
100
Wedding Planner
"Me me me... hehehe... I am an artist and wedding photographer so I knew what I wanted my day to look like and I wanted desperately to DIY."
Photographer
"The amazing Yolandé Marx – I am not ashamed to say that I am really good with spotting upcoming talent. Needless to say the photographer was one of the most important choices we had to make – and Yolande’s style of capturing the moment and her brilliant eye for composition and detail was what we wanted PLUS she made us feel real comfortable on the other side of the lens."
Dresses
Simone’ dress: LOVE LUCY
Liezel ‘s blue concept dress: Salvation
Leana ‘s purple concept dress: Big Blue
Yvonne’s gray dress: The Space
Amorie’s green and pink dress: YDE
Helena’s red dress: LOVE LUCY
Brides mom: LOVE LUCY
Grooms mom: Big Blue
"I wanted all my bridesmaids to wear different dresses that suited their personal style – so we went shopping! It was really fun to find a special dress for each one (and they can wear it again!)"
Suits
Ternary
Jeweller
Flowers
"Our wedding was DIY to the max – luckily we have really talented friends and family – the flowers and bouquets were made up for me by Kobus’s aunt. I chose each of the bridesmaid’s bouquets specifically with their dress and personality in mind – so much fun!"
Wedding Cake
"The DELI @ Duncan Yard made us a bunch of colourful and delicious cupcakes (each one looked different I LOVED IT!)"
Catering
"Papa’s Real Food made the starter and the mains. For desert we set up a colourful candy table (which I also loved! And apparently the guests (all grownups)loved it too because there was nothing left!)"
How did you meet?
"I can remember seeing Kobus a couple of times at student parties before we were actually introduced by my roommate/friend since forever/blue bridesmaid at Tukkies Jool back in 2006. My first impression of Kobus was not dumb-struck love, seeing that I was an art student and he was wearing a khaki shirt and NO shoes!!! But we were great friends for 3 years and looking back he was always in the picture. In the beginning of 2009 he went through a breakup with a girl he dated for over a year (it was a record for him) and I went through a bad experience myself. We supported each other through that difficult time, but still there was nothing romantic between us. For a couple of months we practically had coffee every day and after a while it was as if we couldn’t not see each other every day... then one night the sparks flew and the rest is history... and the Lord’s timing was perfect!"
How long were you together before the wedding proposal?
"We were together for a year and a half before we got engaged."
Tell us about the proposal.
"Well... we actually already set a date and booked our venue and photographer before we were officially engaged (with the ring and so forth). The official engagement was very Kobus – it happened the first Monday of April in 2011. We had just moved into a little place of our own and was celebrating it with wine and snacks on our stoep – obviously I knew he was going to pop the question (officially) sooner or later and that night he was acting so strange that I sort of suspected. He went down on one knee and said that he loved me and asked if I would be his wife and I said... 'YES'! (he said I actually said 'okay' instead of 'yes'... hehehe, it has become a huge joke between us!)."
How far in advance did you choose to have your wedding after the proposal? And, why?
"We were officially engaged for a little less than 6 months – we didn’t want to be engaged for a long time. It was enough time to get everything in place for the wedding day."
How did you go about the wedding planning process?
"The planning was DIY – we didn’t plan the wedding in one sitting. We approached it from a “go with the flow” viewpoint... I sort off knew what kind of vibe I wanted. I knew what I liked about weddings and I knew what I didn’t like about weddings. We wanted the wedding to reflect who we are as a couple. We are not formal people, so nothing about the planning of the wedding or the wedding day was formal at all... I loved planning the wedding. There were a few emotional rough patches – the guest list being one of them. The venue could only accommodate about 100 guests, so we really had to sit down and think about that one, and it did cause a bit of a stir. But 'C'est la vie'. The rest was much easier..."
Did you have a bachelor / bachelorette party? If so, what did you do and what did you enjoy most about it?
"Kobus’s bachelors and my kitchen tea were on the same day. My bridesmaids and mom went out of their way to make it special – so I really appreciate their efforts. But looking back I would rather have had a combined event – like an informal braai where the boys were busy on one side and the girls on the other. I am not your typical girly girl, but it was a memorable day and rumour has it the boys had lots of laughs poking fun at Kobus."
Tell us about the wedding…
"My bridesmaids and I had a bit of a sleepover, so I woke up early and we were all sitting on the bed chatting about the day ahead. We magically got all our bags, make-up, dresses and my honeymoon luggage into Yvonne’s polo and drove off to Castello Di Monte. I booked the hugely majestic presidential suite for our morning of hair and make-up, along with lots of champagne and snacks and just having a blast. There were no strangers amongst us while we were getting ready (meaning that my hair was done by a friend, my make-up was done by a friend, my photographer is a friend) . That will always be so very special to me!
While we were getting dressed, the boys had breakfast at Papa’s and they (along with Kobus’s mom and aunts) were helping to set up the venue. I gave them a spreadsheet with a checklist and everything! Ha-ha!
Thumbs up! I was a very, very on-time bride! We walked into the stoepkamer/chapel on the song “Wonder bo wonder” sung by Die Heuwels Fantasties and Coenie de Villiers (Kobus and I are DHF fans and we just love, love, love that song). The words are so true to who we are as people and a couple. Our ceremony was lead by DS Pierre Engelbrecht. He is SUCH a cool dude (he looks more like an artist than a 'dominee') and his sermon was informal and beautiful and easy to listen to.
After the ceremony, while the guests were heading out and waiting to throw us with streamers, Kobus and I took a moment for ourselves, just to realise that we were Mr and Mrs. It was a moment that I will never forget – Yolande even caught a photo of it! We had a bit of a walk about. I wanted to see the tables and decorations. Everything looked fabulous – so vibrant and colourful! The 80 colourful Chinese lanterns were so festive! The flowers in the wooden boxes were fabulous! Every moment spent on the wedding and every detail came together so perfectly! And that moment was amazing!
We went out, got streamed, and took some family pics and some photos of us and our best men and bridesmaids in the street in front of Papa’s. Then my one brother drove us and the photographers to the University of Pretoria’s Campus, where we took our couple photos.
While this was happening, our guests got there pink cocktails with pretty blue and white straws and green flags, which I made personally, with each guests name and table number on it. I heard they were having a blast, being entertained by Skillie (Jacques Daniel Botha) on the acoustic guitar. He was our street singer, serenading our guests and his lovely wife, Tehillah from Kikitography, was manning the photo booth. The guests LOVED it! And the photos we got from the booth are hilarious!
Our photo session was amazing. When we got back the informal party started. All the ladies were wearing their flower headbands and the guys their bow-tie brooches.... and my colourful Chinese lanterns looked even MORE awesome at night!"
Tips and / or advice for future bridal couples?
"Mmm... I have a lot but here is a few: It’s your wedding. If you don’t like certain traditions of the typical wedding, then don’t do it – we didn’t want a formal wedding and already communicated this to our guest’s through our invites...
We didn’t want long formal speeches so we asked Kobus’s twin brother, my two (also twins) brothers and our best man / MC to keep it short but sweet and they were happy to oblige. Original wedding concepts happen when the bride and groom bring their personalities (and things they like) into their wedding day. Don’t just do something or wear something etc. because 'that is what you are supposed to do on your wedding'. BE ORIGINAL!"
What was the most memorable part of your wedding day?
"Oh wow, there are so many beautiful moments. I think there were a couple of times where I stopped and just took in what was happening, but the most special moments to me were when Kobus and I had a couple of minutes to ourselves after the ceremony (while all the guests were waiting outside to throw us with streamers). It was a 'WOW' moment. Another special moment was when my dad gave me a hug at the reception and whispered that I would always be his little curly hair baby girl... AND our first dance was another highlight, because we did the dirty dance! Whoo-hoo-hoo!!!"
Did you go on honeymoon? If so, where? And, why there?
"Yeah baby! It was a-freakin-mazing! We went to Zanzibar for a week. It was a dream come true. I’ve always wanted to visit Zanzibar and Kobus and I figured that we might as well do a dream-destination honeymoon (switching off our phones) – and we are so glad we did – awesome memories and photos!"
