The suspense is killing me

I've never had someone throw a surprise party for me, in my life. I think it's partly because I am an organising freak - in terms of organising parties and things like this - not in terms of my closet, or my room.

The second reason being that no one has successfully ever surprised me - except when Flip actually went down on his knee, that was surprising. The whole engagement, not so much, I was expecting it - my mom told me that he had come to ask for my hand.

I am fiendish when I know that someone is hiding something from me and I will use every resource possible, including going through drawers and cellphones, emails etc to find out what is being hidden.
You can call me Sherlock Holmes, if you like. Besides trying to fish the details on my bachelorettes from everyone - which I haven't successfully done, but could have, if I didn't want to ruin my own surprise - I am also getting antsy and nervous about the honeymoon.

will it be a glamping safari?

In my mind, if I am not organising something, nothing is happening. See where the organising freak comes from?

To ease my mind off things - who am I kidding - I looked up a few things on honeymooning. Che's recent post on her honeymoon just sent me over the edge! It was just amazing!

On Celebration.co.za, I learnt that the tradition of honeymoons started because brides regularly married without permission from their parents {I'm thinking this was in Romeo & Juliet's era} or the groom would kidnap his bride to marry her, but would need a secret hiding place where they could get married.

Tradition has it that the bride and groom would remain in the hiding place for 30 days, until the moon has gone through all its phases. The couple would then celebrate their marriage by drinking some sort of honey broth and from there the name of honeymoon originated. I found a number of other meanings as well, but I like this one. What do you think?

On the same site, I found the essentials for honeymoon packing. The most important ones I think - and this from experience - is copies of your marriage certificate, visas, ID's, tickets, passports. Then, when someone decides to steal your passport, you have back up. Cameras, batteries and nausea tablets were also listed. Check the full list here.

Or perhaps some island paradise?

Where did you go on your honeymoon? Post some links in the comments below. I would love to see.

I Do Décor {interview & giveaway}

 

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picture from here

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South African wedding planning and assistance company I Do Inspirations have recently added a new offering to their stall, and are now selling pretty wedding goods on their I Do Decor online shop. The owner and creator of I Do, Pippa van den Berg tells The Sun House that the company provides an online space for brides-to-be (and grooms-to-be) to get ideas and inspiration for their special day, but that it has so-much-more behind the scenes.

1. I Do is your brainchild. Please tell me more about it.

Myself and a friend started I Do Inspirations in 2011. We provide on-the-day wedding coordination as we believe it is so important to be able to handover this function so that the wedding couple, their family and friends can relax and enjoy the day, knowing that everything is being taken care of. I think that couple’s should be involved in the planning of their wedding day as it’s such a personal thing, and you want your guests to feel that the day is unique to the couple getting married. But it’s important that on the day, you are able to be fully present in what is happening and not worrying about suppliers arriving on time, setup and the flow of the day – let someone else manage this for you!

After some time, we found that we were getting so many requests for wedding venues in South Africa, that we decided to add this to the website. Visitors are now able to search by region through an easy to use map, or by category – Beach, Bush, City, Country, Winelands, or Intimate.

2. What is your favourite trend in the wedding industry at the moment?

I just love the use of bright colours and patterns, and my favourite at the moment is definitely the use of the pattern, chevron – check this out to see what I mean

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picture from here

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3. And what should rather fly out the door?

The feeling that you have to stick to age-old wedding traditions. I believe that a wedding should completely reflect the couple who are getting married. If a white dress or a formal ceremony is just not you, then don’t do it! Be true to who you are and do what you want, it is a celebration of the two of YOU after all, if that means you get married under an arch of multi-coloured balloons by a river, or have a picnic with your close family and friends, then do it! You will enjoy it so much more if you are doing what you love, and your family and friends will remember it because it was so uniquely the two of you!

4. What are some of the challenges of running I Do?

Can’t really think of any :-)

5. How do you perceive the South African creatives/design landscape?

There is an endless supply of creative inspiration in South Africa. In terms of weddings, we are blessed with so many different types of places to get married, that you really are spoilt for choice! Our wealth of culture also provides unlimited ideas and opportunities to get creative with weddings!

6. What would you do if you won the lotto?

Open up a décor shop with a coffee shop so that I could meet with clients, drink cappuccinos, and discuss their ideas in person - with direct access to the products :-)

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picture from here

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7. Where to from here?

We have just launched our new online décor shop, I Do Décor, where we source wedding and event décor from all over South Africa, giving customers access to sought-after products in one online shop. We endeavour to stock relevant and useful items to assist customers in creating the look and feel that they envision, and enable them to give their event or wedding their own personal touch.

8. What has been your proudest moment since you started?

Every wedding we have helped coordinate I have been extremely proud of. I love putting together wedding ideas and inspiration on our website, and now being able to give people access to buy some of the things to bring those ideas to life, is just great!

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To celebrate the launch of I Do Décor, they are running a competition on their website.

You can win up to R1 000 in decor for your big day!

Check out below for details and make sure to enter!

This includes:

The fabulous prize consists of the following:

• 25 x red striped paper straws
• 3 x giant red balloons
• 10 x paper heart cut-out lanterns
• 1 x heart hessian cake bunting
• 1 x 20m bright pink & white bakers twine
• 10 x rolls of washi tape in mixed colours and patterns
• 1 x medium wall quote (Once in a while right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairytale)
• 1 x wooden dove with crystal
• 3 x turquoise blue paper parasols
• 3 x white round bamboo paper lanterns

T's&C's apply

Keeping your name after the I Do's

Newly engaged women, and those ebbing closer to their wedding day, seem to be torn between keeping their maiden name and taking their husband's. Now this phenomenon, although modern, is not new.

On the one side of the fence, it seems that a lot of women are embracing the big change - and the accompanying administration.  In 2011, TheKnot.com surveyed 19,000 newlywed women and found that only 8 percent kept their last names; 86 percent took their husbands' names, with the remaining 6 percent presumably modifying or hyphenating. This figure might have changed to even less in the past two years.

A friend of mine has sworn that he wouldn't marry his girlfriend if she didn't take his name, and even Flip has uttered this notion. It must be a pride thing. Some women opt for the double barrel name, but I don't think that mixing an English and Dutch surname would go down so well, besides, it would be far tooo long. Wait-Van Wyngaardt. Could you imagine?

Now, I am going to take my fiance's name when we marry, but I am considering keeping my surname for professional reasons, and to avoid pure frustration. A lot of people struggle to spell my surname at the moment, and it's just a simple W-A-I-T. Even if I explain it as, yes my surname is Wait, as in wait a minute, people still struggle to comprehend and, when I was still going to events- before deskjob editor came along -  I would find beauties on my name tags - Weight, White, Waite.

How frustrating would it be if I have to explain and spell out Van Wyngaardt a million times?

I also feel like it allows me to keep a bit of my maiden identity, if I keep my maiden name for business only. 

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picture via here

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How do you feel about the name keeping thing? Chuck it, or keep it?

I had to give up

Today I made one of the most difficult decisions of my life. I just couldn't go on with it anymore, the relationship was too addictive and not good for my health, and it had to be done. Even though this will be a trialling time and I will have moodswings, I know that giving up coffee is for the best.

Whoa! I got you there didn't I? Got a bit serious. But today, after months of trying to convince myself and half assed motivations from Flip {do you really want to lose weight? Then give up coffee}, I decided to take the plunge. No pun intended.

{Yeah, just had to add a picture in there, to show myself what I'm missing}

Now, to understand the significance of this feat, you need to understand that as a journalist, I cannot function without my morning cuppa java. It might be cliche, but its in a journalist's clockwork to want to have coffee. Want proof? Come to my office on the day the coffee machine is broken, or there isn't a hot pot of tar brewing. It's worse than an old age home, filled with headachy and grumpy people who deem pens as a worthy murder accessory.

Now, along with coffee, I also decided to give up two other vices - dairy and sugar. It already proved difficult, as one of my journalists brought me a lollipop in the twee hours of the morning - to thank me for my patience. But I returned it. With a polite thanks, but no thanks.

So far, I have survived okay, I did have a cup of tea this morning {which I suppose has caffeine in it}. It was apple apricot flavoured. No milk, no sugar, just a teaspoon of lemon juice. I think I'll stick to it, the lemon juice - and if I really am craving coffee, I'll have a warm glass of water and lemon juice.

Also, I haven't had any headaches thus far. This is a good thing, right? 

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Coffee picture from here
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Winter makes you do crazy things

I think I have finally been bereft of my mind, so I'm going to start this post with a very simple line: 'oh shit'.

It was Flip's birthday last week. And no, I'm not using profanities because I forgot. I treated him to lovely dinner at the place we had our first date, Jungle, where we got pretty drunk on sake and he had delicious sushi and I made the mistake of having Japanese food - other than sushi. But look at me going of on a tangent again. I'm saying oh shit, because we decided to go camping for Flip's birthday, in winter, in the middle of a cold front.

Say this with me, in the voice of Sweet Brown: "We're going to have to start some faaaaaires!"

At least its in a warm place, Warmbaths, which still gets cold at evening. But it has an under roof hot swimming pool, which should be fun, and it would give us a reason to drink a looot of Old Brown Sherry.

In other news, I want to send out a warning to anybody with small dogs, Jack Russells in particular. I took Jethro to the vet yesterday, thinking he has cat flu. I was in tatters to say the least, because as you might know, dog's don't survive cat flu. At least my dramatic self was proved wrong and it was only pancreatitis - still a very serious disease, mind you. It is brought on by feeding your pets table scraps, fatty food, bones and so forth. 

 

In other, other news, my brother is a contestant on Noot vir Noot, they are recording today, probably as we speak. So hold thumbs for him. I hope he wins a crapload of money!

HAVE A HAPPY LONG WEEKEND!

Wedding things: Our invites

With the exception of a few people who we haven't yet had the chance to see, most of our guests have now received our wedding invites, which means I get to share them with you! {Also, the people who haven't received them yet aren't very big on social media, so no chance of them seeing it either ;) }

The invites were designed by the very talented Susan Brand from Susan Brand Designs. 

She was so patient and great! I love it!

{Please note that this is just for show and tell and should not be considered as an open invite}

Lovely, aren't they!?

Met Liefde {Interview}

When two creative minds met at a braai the flames for a new business started burning. Finding out that they lived in the same complex, they made the transition from acquaintances to friends to business partners. Met Liefde was born. I spoke to Lia and Claudia to find out more about their business.

C: It was wedding time for both of us, I had the wedding decor under control, but still needed stationary/invitations made. So who else than the wonderful & talented Lia (who is an amazing graphic designer) to design them. So Lia did me a huge favour, so when it came to her important day, I just returned the favour by lending her all my decor.

And the rest is history...

L: We just connected on a personal and creative level from the very start. We got excited about the same beautiful things and we both share a passion for hands on design and true creativity. We always said that ‘one day’ we are going to start a business together and not so long ago that one day actually arrived. It’s been a wonderful journey so far.

How long has Met Liefde been running?

C&L: We’ve been dreaming about it for about 2 years and only started putting the prettiness into action in Januray 2013, so its still a little baby!

What sort of products do you make? Do you also provide services?

C&L: We design & make table décor (for now). We have a lot of beautiful ideas that are still banked and we can’t wait to produce them all. Products include fabric runners & napkins, wood napkin rings, coasters, placemats & fridge magnets & also painted bamboo utensils.

We don’t provide laser cutting services, but if there is a special request for a product we’ll always try and make it happen. 

Where do you find inspiration for your creations?

C: Colours, blogs, photography, retro, nature & bunting. We bounce everything off each other & then after brainstorming we sometimes find the best ideas.

L: My brain collects creative information from everywhere, nature, magazines, blogs, travelling, good food, random conversations, colour and art. It then mixes it all up and stores it somewhere cosy where it grows into ideas. Every now and again I’ll get a brainwave out of the blue from my creative chamber then I quickly put the idea on paper and make it happen.

What are some of the challenges of being your own boss?

C: We are responsible for everything: hopes, dreams, finances and creative juice. This is our baby now & we have to carry & nurture it through teething problems etc.

L: We’re both juggling full time jobs and dreams at the moment, so I think it’s important not to lose sight of where we want to go with ‘met Liefde’ and work hard to make all our dreams a reality. There is so much still to learn and the best thing to do is to take it one challenge at a time! 

How do you perceive the South African creatives/design landscape?

L: I’m quite excited about what’s happening with local design at the moment. For a while the design scene has been taking off and it’s great to see that creatives aren’t nervous to start their own businesses and to follow their hearts and dreams anymore. They are not scared to take risks for what they believe in. It ‘s causing such an exciting movement in the cities and it’s spreading like a wild fire through the whole country. I’ve been to Italy and Switzerland recently and realised how much we as South African designers have to offer. South African design is at a very exciting place and growing rapidly. In a developing country there is a lot of opportunity and it’s great to see how the designers are using it!

What is your favourite colour/ material to work with, and why?

C: Beige/Grey/Blue/Green/Coral! Fabric (I studied fashion design & I get extremely inspired by fabrics & prints) the texture & feel is just amazing & wood (natural & nature, say no more)

L: I don’t have favourites, but I do get excited about interesting colour combinations that just ‘sing’ together be it brights or naturals. I love getting colour inspiration from nature. You can never go wrong by stealing a little from the Creator Himself ;)

What would you do if you won the lotto?

C&L: Quit everything else & just run this wonderful little gem. We would love to employ some people from the community & let them help us create something wonderful and truly South African. Creating jobs is definitely high on our priority list and close to our hearts.

Oh, and maybe a shopping spree, a trip around the world in a hot air balloon, free Gelato for everyone & world peace.

Where to from here?

L: Infinity & beyond! We want to go big, keep on creating and be innovating, make homes prettier, people happier, collaborate with other creatives and expand.

C: We are looking at more stores & markets where we can sell our products. Santos in Parkhurst is currently stocking ‘met Liefde’ products and we have a big market coming up in October – November. If you know of some amazing places & spaces, please let us know!

What has been your proudest moment since you started?

L: The amazing response that we’ve had so far! We’ve been able to connect with so many great people and met Liefde has been so very blessed from day one.

C: When our facebook page & all our images went up!!

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Met Liefde is currently running a giveaway on their facebook page. Check it out.