Today on Wedding Friends we are sharing Bradley and Natalie's Leopard Lodge Wedding. Natalie shared her wedding and tells us all about it.

I Propose

If you're a fatalist you might like our story.A mutual friend of ours decided that she had to set Brad and I up on a blind date, This was November 2011, and needless to say neither of us were thrilled about that idea at all! At the time Brad was enjoying his new found freedom after calling off a 7 year relationship and I was enjoying dating but not in the slightest way interested in a relationship. After months of excuses Brad decided it was more effort to keep placating our friend with excuses than to just take my number and make her happy. We immediately hit it off ,talking on the phone for hours everyday and two weeks later Brad called me after work to say he was booking me a ticket to Johannesburg for the weekend. "I'm booking it, you can decide if you're getting on the plane or not". Needless to say the meeting was one of the most anxiety provoking moments of my life but after that weekend we flew back and forth almost every weekend until I moved to Johannesburg. Brad proposed one year later. The perfect, most thoughtful, special, romantic proposal a girl could ask for.

Bride & Prejudice

The first sign was before we'd met . My mother phoned me to ask if I was going to go on a date with this 'Brad' and I was very suspicious. When asking why, she answered: "the last 4 digits of his cellphone number are the same as your birth date". Second was on our first weekend together when we went to a very big, public party in Johannesburg. I was convinced we'd lose each other in the first hour, but instead we lost his friends and we spent the evening dancing and enjoying each other's company. We were approached twice by strangers to ask how long we've been together and even if we were married!!

My Fair Wedding

We had an intimate wedding with only family and close friends. I was remarkably calm the whole day and just eager to get to the part where I first see him as I walk down the isle. And that moment will be etched in my memory forever. Our ceremony was romantic, funny and emotional. The rest of the night was a collage of special times with the two of us and fun with our friends and family. It was the perfect wedding and we both loved every moment!

Don't Tell The Bride No More Wedding Woes Your Service Providers: Photographer - Elandre Montgomery Photography Venue - Leopard Lodge Hartebeespoort Dam Flowers & Décor - Perfect Weddings Stationery Designer - My Wedding

For the wedding cake we decided to go with cupcakes around a main cake for the traditional 'cutting the cake moment' I had chosen the cupcakes and couldn't decide on the main cake so I asked my cake company to use their imagination and surprise me... As long as there was no marzipan involved. Needles to say when my cake arrived I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was a plain white marzipan cake with a chocolate blob on top (I'll let you use your imagination with regards to what the chocolate blob looked like). But the day was saved by two gorgeous bridesmaids who picked flowers from the garden and replaced the blob with beautiful flowers that matched my theme colors.

Firstly choose the right partner. If you marry someone who you can talk to about anything, who will support you in your decisions and that you're madly in love with then even a shocking wedding cake won't spoil the mood you'll be in because you're marrying your dream man. Other than that a planning schedule and good wedding party are key to getting everything done on time and stress-free.