Chez Charlene wedding
What a wedding!
Combine the beautiful Chez Charlene with a chinese twist and you get Alister & Michelle’s wedding. I’ve known Alister for a while (we do some business together) and I always thought he was a very serious type of guy. But I’ve NEVER seen him like he was on his wedding day, smiling all the time, clearly VERY impressed with the woman his marrying. And talk about Michelle. I’ve seen a lot of brides in my time, but I’ve never seen a bride that is so exuberant than Michelle was. She is the type of person that is a helluva lot of fun to be around with.
The chinese traditions that were brought into the ceremony was something special, I’ve never seen that before. It was a bit funny hearing Michelle pronounce some of the words, but hey, I would have done MUCH worse!
I must make special mention of the best man’s speech, without a doubt the best I’ve ever heard, I don’t know what this guy does for a living, but he must definitely go into public speaking. This is a wedding that was clearly enjoyed by everyone, you could hear that Alsiter and Michelle are well loved by friends and family…and does this lot like to dance.
This is a wedding I will remember for a long time.
I asked the couple a couple of questions about how they met, got engaged, what they thought about their wedding, and they give some advise to couples that must still get married.
How did you meet?
We met at work – We initially worked together in the marketing department of our company but then Michelle moved into an Account Management position and Alister moved into another department. A few years later we ended up sitting across from each other in the same department and that is how our journey of falling in love began <3
Tell us about the proposal
WOW! The proposal…. Now that was unexpected! Alister bought me a promise ring for Christmas which was beautiful. We went to a charity picnic at the Botanical Gardens on 1 December 2013 for World Aids Day and my tanzanite stone had come lose and fallen out of the ring!!! We were in the botanical gardens – what are the chances of finding a jewel amongst all the plants and trees. Michelle felt dreadful but tried to re-assure herself that it was not done intentionally. We had a trip planned to The Galapagos Islands that December and to go and visit Alister’s mom which was amazing. The last thing I was expecting was a proposal. We were out on an excursion on one of the Galapagos islands and Alister had written the marriage proposal in the sand. I never suspected a thing. He waved me over and there it was. I was in total shock and just stood there – speechless – like a really doofus ;-). I can’t imagine what must have been going through Alister’s mind because I was not saying anything. It turned out that he had already asked my father’s blessing in October 2013. It will be a moment I will never forget!
Describe your wedding day, anything specific that you will always remember
Our wedding day….. ABSOLUTELY PERFECT! I became the wife of the most wonderful man I have ever met 🙂
Tell us about your photographer
JC was fantastic! Surprisingly Michelle didn’t have any nerves and ended up calming everyone else down. JC was so encouraging and very supportive and we are thrilled we had him there with us on our special day.
Who did your make-up and hair? (Contact details and email as well please)
My make up and hair was done by Sianne Jones from Facets Beauty and Skincare – facetsbeauty@yahoo.com. She did an amazing job and everyone looked just gorgeous
Lasersmith also did all our wedding stationary which was amazing: www.lasersmith.co.za
The Honeymoon
Our honeymoon will only be happening in February in Mauritius, so we will have to wait until then.
Do you have any advice for other brides/grooms-to-be?
Communicate with each other and plan, plan, plan. The sooner you start planning the more relaxed you will be when your day arrives. Have a checklist and follow your checklist. Unexpected expenses crop up along the way and it can become very stressful. The sooner you start planning the better equipped you will be to handle everything. Alister and I cruised into our wedding day. There is so much that happens on your big day and the more relaxed you are the better you will be able to enjoy it and take it all in. And trust in your best-men and bridesmaids, let them handle all the planning on the actual day so you can enjoy it. LOVE EACH OTHER!!!!
What was your inspiration behind your overall wedding decor and colour choices?
Alister and I are lucky that we have similar tastes which helped A LOT! We are both also very creative in our different ways and our ideas just seem to fuse together into something beautiful.
Photographer: JC Crafford
