Andy & Phil's Wedding

So obviously after the bulls party, comes the wedding. The ceremony was held in the Chapel at Kearsney College. I thought you either had to be an old boy or well connected to secure that venue? Campo is a Westville boy, so maybe he’s well connected. Or perhaps it was his life credo to always greet everyone by their name and to always display impeccable manners around his elders, that impressed one of the Masters at a Westville vs Kearsney cricketing campaign that secured the elusive Chapel. Either way it is definitely a great venue and was chosen well.
Everyone looked the part and it was great to see that all the groomsmen were in attendance. Barnsi had missed the rehearsal the night before due to ‘not being able to find his car after shopping at Gateway’. You can’t say that’s not original.

Philippa looked beautiful walking down the aisle and both bride and groom had that look on their faces suggesting they wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world.

After the ceremony we cruised over to the reception which was at a renovated castle down near Shongweni way. While the newly married couple antagonized their cheek muscles on the photo shoot, the rest of us guests milled around outside the castle eating snacks and playing ‘man-sized’ Jenga.
Once Andy and Philippa arrived we made our way into the reception hall and the rest of the night unfolded with all the usual formalities and culinary festivities that these weddings usually entail. A particular highlight of mine was Barnsi’s 21 point speech about Andy, which represented the 21 years that they have known each other.

All in all it was one helluva good party and a great celebration. Cheers Andy and Phil, here’s to many many happy years of marriage.

Our Wedding

A week after the bulls party and there we were, the 16th of May 2009 and time for the wedding.
Planning a wedding is no easy feat. I think it’s fair to say that the girls have the bulk of responsibility in terms of putting everything together and Cally rose to the occasion and did spectacularly. With the help of her mom (Anne) and some very supportive sisters, Cally’s vision blossomed into a reality and our wedding really couldn’t have turned out any better. Cally’s attention to detail and knack for style and elegance really shone through and all her doubts and reservations were wasted as everything turned out beautifully.

So on Saturday the 16th May all our family and friends arrived at the Kloof Methodist Church to witness Cal and I getting married, followed by the reception at Kloof Country Club. After all the planning and waiting, the wedding in a way, almost seemed like the destination, but it really is just the beginning as I feel that the 2 of us have only just begun the most enjoyable journey of our lives. It’s still kind of the same being married, but it’s also completely different, or even just being engaged for that matter, as that’s when the fun really started and we both realized that we were committing ourselves to each other. I still think back to when I proposed all those months ago (read about that here). Jeepers that was almost a dog-show of a proposal but thankfully luck was on my side.

The best part of the day was seeing Cally walk into the church. That 1st minute of the whole day is something I will never forget. It was overwhelming seeing Cal looking so beautiful and with Bundu walking her down the aisle the realization hit me that he was giving her away to me. I know it’s standard practice for the bride to be given away, but it just felt so huge to me. Anne and Bundu trust me enough to take care of their daughter from here on in and that gesture of giving her away (although a simple formality) meant a lot to me. Cally was beaming and I couldn’t have been happier than what I was in those first few moments.

Everyone told us that the day would fly by and it would all be over before we knew it, well they weren’t lying. The first time I looked at my watch was at 10:30pm and we had little over an hour left before we were scheduled to leave. Both Cally and I made the most of our precious time. We jammed hard, and tried to talk to as many people as possible who had all made an exceptional effort to be there with us. I know we didn't get round to everyone and we apologise for that, but we were both so grateful that everyone could be there.