L’Aquila wedding Venue in Pretoria wedding photography
L’Aquila is always something special. The venue is exquisitely beautiful and it is always a pleasure to be a wedding photographer at this beautiful venue.
Lené and Llewelyn are just the two most stunning people. I clearly remembered the day we met in the Wimpy in Centurion City, and the fun we had with their pre wedding shoot early one Saturday morning at the paintball range. We just clicked. It was an honour to share their special day with them as their wedding photographer. 3/4 of our wedding shoot rained out, but luckily L’Aquila has such a lot of places where you can photograph indoors that it was not a problem at all.
I asked Lené a couple of questions about their wedding.
Our Story
We met in August 1997 in Skukuza, Kurger National Park. His dad worked for SanParks and that is why they lived in Skukuza. He grew up in the Kruger National Park. I grew up in Pretoria, always been a city girl. My dad and his dad grew up together. We went to visit them for the weekend in the Kruger National Park.At first we didn’t have much to say to each other, but after a while it was like we were best friends. We’ve always been in contact but never anything more than friends. In 2005 Llewelyn went to England to go work for 2 years and save up money for his pilots license. I also went to England beginning 2006 and came back December 2007. We never had contact in England really. When we were both back in South Africa we started seeing each other again and that is when it all happened. We started dating in August 2007. We’ve been together for 6 years now.The proposal happened December 2012 when we were on Holiday in Northen Cape at Augrabies National Falls on a big rock they call “maan rots”. We were supposed to go for a sundowner and he popped the question there. This was really special and we want to go back there for our first wedding anniversary.
Describe your wedding day, anything specific that you will always remember
Our wedding day was just perfect. Everything came together just perfect and turned out as planned.
What I as the bride will always remember is: seeing my mom, dad and Husband’s face when they saw me all dressed up and ready to say “I do”.
What I as the groom will always remember is: knowing that all the friends and family that shared our big day with us truly loves us.
The dress
The dress was elegant yet very plain. Exactly what I had in mind for my wedding day. That too was just perfect.
The Flowers
Something simple but yet it looked so pretty. All the colours matched perfectly.
Highlight of the wedding
Hehe… When the groom had to through the garter but it landed on the draping’s and we had to lift the ring bearer to get it down to try again.
Was there any drama
Not on the day itself, but with the mother of the bride, bridesmaid and flower girl dresses were a disaster so we had to get someone else to make the dresses two weeks before the wedding. The father of the bride when he went to pick up his suit the alterations were never done so they had to quickly do it before he could take the suit. But through all that everything was perfect.
The Honeymoon
The honeymoon was amazing. We were treated as royalty. We will definitely be back there again. Beautiful place on the beach. The food, service and everything was just amazing.
Tell us about your photographer.
The photographer was just amazing. We definitely did not make a mistake to choose JC Crafford Photography. He knows what he is doing! Even the simplest photo he took looks like a master piece. definitely worth every cent we paid. We would recommend him to all future brides.
Who did your make-up and hair?
My hair was done by Michelle at the venue La’quila salon@laquila.co.za. My make-up was done by the lady who does my nails Isa van der Walt 072 302 6170.
Where was your honeymoon?
Mnarani Club – Kilifi – Kenya
Do you have any advice for other brides/grooms-to-be?
Plan and do as much as you can before your big day. On the day whatever goes wrong just go with it or leave it at the end of the day you will be the only one that knows if something did not go according to plan or was forgotten. The day is about the two of you and enjoy the day to the fullest as it goes by so quick. And make sure that you have the best photographer like JC Crafford Photography as that will be all you have left of your wedding day.
What was your inspiration behind your overall wedding decor and colour choices?
I am not one for going all out, but at the end of the day it is myself and the groom’s day, so I did not want just all girly colours or something plain, so I decided to go for colours that go perfectly together and it will still look smart. I did not want big arrangements nor did I want roses and the Gerbera Daisies are my favourite flowers and they come in the bright colours I chose. So it all just worked together.
JC Crafford Pretoria Wedding Photographer and Videographers
JC Crafford Photography is a family business. JC, Surika and Timothy caters for all your wedding photography and Videography needs. We stay in Pretoria but regularly travel all over South Africa to photograph and share in the most awesome weddings.
