Zané and Nicol’s Greek Elopement

At the age of 15 and 17 years old respectively, Nicol and I fell in love as high school sweethearts. We became best friends and he has been my closest confidant since those days. Ten years later we took the next step in our path with a fateful ‘I do’ – celebrating the past, present and future to come in the most romantic setting we could have ever imagined. Nicol is a big romantic and painted the exact same picture with the proposal as he did ten years ago asking me to be his “meisie”. I felt like the same teenager who said yes to the curly hair, hazel eyed teenage boy. Except this time, my dream engagement ring was a part of the question.He drove us around on their farm, Klein Roosboom, and up to our favourite hill that overlooks Table Mountain. It was a summer’s evening, with the the mountain and the mother city laying stretched out in glory. Nicol packed out his little blanket, delectable pieces of sushi and a bottle of Klein Roosboom MCC. We enjoyed the sunset together after a long week. He got a blue box out of his bakkie with black o-rings that they use on the farm and told me that I should just pick a size that fits my ring finger. He said wedding rings are too expensive and I could just wear the o-ring – “It’s the meaning that counts…” he said. I played along and fitted the different o-rings, telling him jokingly that not one fits and he’ll have to buy a real one. “Yes”, he said “you deserve a real ring, and a diamond for every day of the week”. My heart melted and I will never forget those words for as long as I live.

I had my dress custom made. I knew exactly what I wanted and I also knew that it was not going to be easy to find such a dress in a store. After that decision, the difficult task for me was to find a designer who would complement the style of my wedding. After having done a few interviews with different designers I found the perfect fit in Alana van Heerden. I fell in love with my dress when I saw how it flowed. I could picture myself with my comfortable and gorgeous dress in Mykonos. Personally, I always feel most beautiful when I’m comfortable, and to me that was the most important feeling to experience in my dress.

With only 12 guests you can imagine it was absolutely intimate and personal. We loved it! Our wedding was more than a one day experience, it was four days with our families. This was truly magical. We explored the island together with so much joy and laughter in the atmosphere whilst walking around. The laughter resonated with us even when decorating the little church and dinner table. Although we did keep it simple and focused on the bigger picture whilst planning the day, it was still a lot of admin through the months and involved many people. For this reason we simply indulged in each other on our big day.

For Him: The moment I saw my wife walking towards me. She looked like a Grecian goddess (and still does I must add). It was a highlight to hold her close to me with our first dance together as husband and wife.For Her: It was a feeling of euphoria to walk alongside my dad to the sound of the Greek Bouzouki and to see my beaming husband waiting for me next to the small church-for-two.

A few days before we left for Greece our musician canceled. We didn’t have time to search for another, so my parents made it their mission to find someone new. The day before the wedding day they were strolling in the little town of Ano Mera and at one of the cafe’s started chatting to the owner. In typical Greek style, he knew someone who knew someone who’s nephew played the Bouzouki. My dad arranged a deal with them on the spot to play at our wedding – the next day Jannes and his partner showed up to play the Bouzouki at my wedding.

Luckily for me, organizing comes naturally and is something I love. This being said, I must admit it was especially tricky organizing a wedding in Greece. You have to work with another culture and language and attempt to get your thoughts through to them. It involved lots of phone calls, emails and research – so be prepared for the admin and phone bills involved in an overseas destination wedding! I had precise ideas of how I wanted my table set up, as well as a desired ambience for the dinner. I even got my dress designer, Alana van Heerden, to take pictures of our hotel whilst she was there on her honeymoon. When it came to DIY, we can say it was basically all DIY and all with the help of our families.  My brother flew my wedding bag and the ribbon over in his own baggage from Johannesburg. My sister-in-law lives in Amsterdam and brought the peonies and tulips over that she bought at the Amsterdam Bloemenmarkt. We flew every detail over from South Africa. This included white material for draping, serviettes, all the glasses for the flowers and candles, wooden ‘Mr’ and ‘Mrs’ boards that my Mom and Dad made and even the rice confetti. We absolutely had to make sure that everyone (including the photographer) took a few bottles of Klein Roosboom wine and MCC. It is well known that no de Villiers wedding would be complete without some Klein Roosboom from the farm!

Remember what it means to get married. It is not about a big party, fancy decor and flowers. Yes, they do make your day beautiful, but the wedding is about two people joining hands. Focus on the important aspects of the wedding – that is what is important to you and your husband. As far as possible delegate the smaller details so you can focus on those important things. I ignored some details by not sticking to traditions like the garter and boutonnieres. I felt these were unnecessary expenses – but I did splurge on things that were meaningful to me. I did of course run this past Nicol first, it was important to take his thoughts to heart in the decisions for our wedding.About two weeks before we left, I decided to let go and let God. I was willing to be expectant for things to work out and decided I would see what I have to work with once we were there.