Oakfield Farm Wedding- Fernando & Khanyi

Some people are just a pleasure to work with…like Fernando & Khanyi! Very nice, caring, smart and loyal. The kind of people I like to be friends with! Before their wedding we did a pre wedding photo shoot in the streets of Pretoria…and I’ve taken some of my most favourite photos there! I then already knew that their wedding will be something awesome… and it was.

These two were intent on having a VERY special wedding…and they did!

They got married at Oakfield Farm…a BEAUTIFUL venue, one of those places where everything always go right! Definitely one of the premier wedding destinations in Gauteng!

I asked them some questions about their wedding:

How did you meet?

When we met, we were both working at the same company. Khanyi was in the finance department, whilst I was in marketing and operations. She was naturally office bound whilst I was mostly out on the road. Funny thing is that I was out of the office so often that when she saw me for the first time, she thought I must have been a client! I remember walking through reception one day when she came down the stairs from the upstairs finance department. The one thing that stood out for me was her IMPOSSIBLY GORGEOUS cheekbones. At that point, we were both in very difficult places in our lives and lost contact for many months. Though when our paths crossed again sometime later, we both knew that God had a greater plan for us, and we found that two really is stronger than one.

Tell us about your Engagement:

We went down memory lane one weekend in March, to places that were significant to us, how we met and what we always loved doing together. It all reminded us of the beginning of our relationship, all our special moments and what made us fall in love with each other. On Saturday the  9^th of March we went for a picnic at our favourite park in Bedfordview. In the evening  we went to one our favourite restaurants in Fourways for a romantic candle light dinner. That same evening HE PROPOSED! I couldn’t believe it. I was ecstatic and so, so happy. I started calling all my family and friends to let them know. It was the perfect evening ,the perfect weekend, the perfect proposal with my perfect man .

Tell us more about the Planning of your wedding:

We were not the average engaged couple. No task was ever tackled alone. We went to wedding expos together, bought every bridal magazine we saw on the store shelves, saw every supplier together and decided on every colour together. We literally planned every detail together. One would think that this would have caused more than a few clashes of “artistic opinions”. But not with us; we enjoyed every moment of it.

Any Pre-wedding drama?

As with every wedding in history, and every wedding yet to come, there always has to be a slight hiccup. Most times this would be on the day itself, but we had ours a little earlier; on the day before the wedding. Khanyi and her bridesmaids went to the salon to get themselves all dollied up for the big day early on the Saturdaymorning. Part of this session would entail having fake eyelashes put on. By the time they left the salon, Khanyi was experiencing some discomfort in her left eye. The more the day progressed, the worse it got. By the time she got home, her eye was a deep shade of red. We planned to not see each other the day before the wedding, but I had made a decision that the wellbeing of the love of my life is more important than any silly tradition. We spent the Saturday evening in the Wilgers hospital’s emergency room. It turns out something went into Khanyi’s eye when they put the lashes on. As with any other bride she wanted to look perfect, yet less than 24 hours prior to the ceremony, there she was with a patched up eye. Needless to say, she was devastated. After some sleeping pills she managed to get some rest. By the grace of God, when the patch came off the next morning, her eye was 90% fine, and she could  still walk down the aisle as the most beautiful bride ever.

Tell us more about the wedding itself:

The day of the wedding without a doubt the happiest day of our lives. We are thankful that we could meet each supplier personally as it really gave us the opportunity to choose the best people for each task. Everyone came through for us to make our wedding the fairy tale we envisioned it to be during all the months of planning. The highlight of the day was undoubtedly when we got to say our vows to each other. No words can describe the joy in your heart when you hear the love of your life declare their undying love and commitment to you in front of God all the people who care for you. The only thing better than marrying the one you love, is the knowledge that you get to spend the rest of your life walking side by side.

About the photographer:

When we started our wedding planning the first specialist we wanted to line up after securing the venue and the décor, was the photographer. We realised that there would be tons of planning and hard work that would go into our wedding as we had had a very specific vision of what we wanted. We also knew that after all the hard work, everything would be over in just a few hours, and that all we would have left to remind us of our wedding would be our memories, each other, the rings on our fingers, a marriage certificate and our photos. It was therefore very important that we found the right photographer. Not just the best, but one who’s style aligned with our vision. We literally went through 100’s of websites, photo books, business cards and brochures. We were stumped. There were so many different options and packages to choose from. We stumbled across JC’s website when we resorted to Google in our search, and the moment we opened the website, we were completely speechless. His pictures were simply amazing. We suddenly realised how stiff and unnatural most of the thousands of pictures were which we went through. Each picture on his webpage told a story. They captured what the couple was feeling, and we wanted our story told in the same manner. We set up a meeting with him the very next day and have spent countless hours with JC since. We think that we know the secret to his pictures now; the people he shoots are at ease when he shoots them because of the person that he is. He experiences every joyful moment with you as he takes the time out to get to know you. In the weeks leading up to the wedding, we have been to his house for coffee, met his lovely family, gone through countless photos and shared so many ideas. By the time our wedding day came along, we didn’t just have a photographer at the our wedding; we had a close personal friend.

Thank you JC.

Hair n make up was by Alicia Shabangu – 0833396963

Oakfield Contacts (We had quite a few people who were instrumental in making the day a success):

Doreen Pfende – doreen@oakfield.co.za

Colin – colin@oakfield.co.za

Denise Schneider – denise@oakfield.co.za

Matthew Stubbs – Matthew@oakfield.co.za

LOL, oh yes, and before I forget. The wind was very strong during their ceremony which was held outside. I was standing next to the minister photographing the couple during the service. The next moment the whole wrought iron canopy made up with flowers fell over on top of me! Luckily I didn’t get hurt!

Fernando & Khanyi, it was an incredible privilege to be your wedding photographer, thanks for an unbelievable day filled with memories!