Put a Rick on It

We all love scrolling down Pinterest at dream weddings, but my real guilty pleasure is Real Weddings. To start off this section, I spoke to the beautiful, now Kayla Rick. Originally from South Africa, but living out her showgirl dreams as a Dancer at the World Famous Parisian Cabaret, Lido de Paris.

Venue : Bellwood Cottages KZNSA
Photographer and Videographer : The Shank Tank
Caterers : CHC Catering
Flowers : Gail Cornhill from Spotted Owl
Decor : Michelle Mann from Hire Standards
Cake : Cynthia Laybutt
DJ : Tyrone Smith

The Venue

We searched for a venue that could offer a row of trees (my dream aisle) that would be green in Winter (The only month Shannon has off every year is June) and Bellwood completely had our attention. The accommodation for family and friends really caught our eye. We had a Braai (a South African version of a Barbecue) the friday night in order to see the people that we would not yet have seen, with everyone staying at the venue and the Bride and her ‘Tribe’ relocating to a house in the morning in order to get ready. We really wanted to have our friends and family close to us all weekend. Quality time with everyone was important to us as we live so far away and hardly ever get to see any of our loved ones.

The Dresses

The dresses! What a story.... So my mom came to Paris in the hopes of finding the dress with me. We didn't find 'The One' unfortunately but I did find the style that I potentially wanted. I found my first dress in a small boutique in Paris (Metal Flaque) and ended up buying a simple dress with plans to have it changed to fit the picture I had in my mind. I enquired at Lido if there were any dressers who were qualified to work with wedding gowns that could potentially alter and add to it for me at a reasonable cost.
This is when I met Angeline. She is a sweet, timid lady who kindly offered to give me a quote to help change it (although she speaks not a word of english ). When I asked to look at her previous work I was blown away to see Beyonce on the red carpet in her see-through diamanté show stopper that I am sure everyone remembers. Followed by Cara Delevingne and numerous other singers, actors and actresses in outfits I had only dreamed of and read about in the magazines. I was sold, thus Angeline helped me with my dress and showed me how to hand stitch my chosen lace to cover it in a fashion I preferred, and then started making my second dress... which I intended on wearing at the reception only so that I could ‘break it down’ on the dance floor without a worry over spills and rips.
With the first dress I went for a very simple and relaxed dress, with a beautiful lace finish and covered in a few ‘bijouxed’ lace highlights. The Lace I handpicked at a fabric store in Montmartre next to the Sacré Cœur. It was a mermaid shaped dress with thin straps, a low back and a hand beaded belt I made myself (after many hours of backstage stitching between dance numbers). I also hand beaded flower crowns for the flower girls and made a few gifts for my bridesmaids to wear on the day. I loved the fact that nearly everything on my wedding day was touched by my hands (handmade or altered).
The second dress was a very comfortable tight fit beige number, covered in a very expensive Indian lace that I found in South Africa (keeping the Fun Alive) ... I unfortunately didnt get the chance to finish this dress off the way that I had hoped to but I plan on finishing it for our one year anniversary shoot ;) A friend of mine from South Africa who is a make up artist and hair stylist helped change my hair for the reception to better suit the more relaxed feel.

The Ceremony

I walked down the aisle to the music that was specifically composed for Lido, I have obtained the rights to use it for the ceremony and should it be used in any screening, mention of this would be necessary. This particular piece of music is used to perform the pas de deux to. I am one of a few dancers that is privileged enough to dance a duet on pointe during “Paris Merveilles”, Shannon suggested the use of this particular piece of music to walk down the aisle to (after seeing Kayla in the show numerous times). At first, seeing as though I am performing to the same music twice a night six nights a week, this idea seemed strange and not enticing. Then after listening closely and envisioning what the day would look like, I asked permission to use this piece and it will be kept as a special momentum of both the dancer in me and the special day. Shannon handmade the arch that we stood under between the trees... We had a pastor that I grew up with as a family friend, doing the ceremony.. So it was a very comfortable ‘homey’ feeling throughout the ceremony. We are both Christian so the ceremony was religious yet ‘hymnless' and modern.. We ended off the ceremony with a symbolic moment of pouring soil from ‘Two Worlds’ into a jar with an olive tree, symbolizing how we will bring our grounds together to grow our family and reap the rewards of our hard work to come in the years.

The Food

The guests were served with a choice of cheeses and aperitifs as a starter outside on the harvest table. There were cocktails provided and soft drinks for the less party inclined. We cut the cake outside after we had finished having photos with our bridal party. Kayla’s grandfather just recently remarried after her grandmother passed away a few years ago. His new wife (Cynthia) once a proffessional wedding cake maker, offered to do the wedding cake making Kayla and Shannon excited for them to play a role like this in the wedding. The cake was beautiful and delicious (Chocolate, Vanilla and Carrot layers).
Once all the guests had moved indoors, we started with speeches as the waiters brought out ice cold champagne bottles decorated with heavy duty sparklers and set them out at each table. We had a lamb and chicken spit out back (as we expected with a large number of rugby boys to feed, this the best option) to be served with a buffet of salads and vegetables.
Spit roast rolled leg of lamb with teriyaki marinade and a red wine demi place mint sauce, spit roast chicken with sosatie marinade and she style gravy will be presented with potato dauphinoise, roasted potatoes, roasted medley of seasonal vegetables with balsamic and olive oil, French beans and mange tout with hazelnut and orange roasted butternut and red onion with tahini and za’atar spice. Also greek salad with danish feta, olives and a yoghurt dressing all to be served with soft knotted rolls and butter. Dessert will be made up of a cheeseboard and then sweet treats on the side (lemon meringue tartlets, baklava, date balls, chocolate brownies, chocolate dipped fruit and koeksisters).

The Decor

Growing up in Durban meant that Kayla was a Sharkette (the local rugby cheerleading squad). One of the other Sharkette's mothers, Michelle, is an Event Planner and owns her own decor hire. Using Michelle's recommendations, they used Gail Cornhill who set everything up on the day.
The decor was kept simple yet chaotically bohemian and classy. The colors we decided to keep throughout are whites, cremes, rose gold and dusty pinks, with purples with a hint of deep red. A romantic picnic feel was setup infront of the venue for people to relax and play lawn games while snacking on the harvest table and drinking the cocktails or refreshments provided. The reception hall was warm with a big fire place at the centre infront of the dance floor and main table. Long wooden tables running down each side of the dance floor were covered in greenery, a mixture of flowers and rose gold candelabras with a few rose gold touches here and there. The bridal table had a hanging trellis of flowers and lightbulbs over it and an array of greenery and flowers covering the table. Bags of lavender were dotted around the venue hall and the buffet at one end of the room.
I had no set restriction as to which flowers were used, as long as they adhered to a soft nude color. A small Starbucks hint in the wedding favors and seat names is due to the fact that starbucks symbolizes our reuniting every once in a while and waiting at train stations for the other to arrive mostly carrying a cup of starbucks coffee to welcome them with. So we thought we could add that personal touch for the wedding favours, also considering the cold weather we were expecting, there's nothing wrong with a take away coffee.
The party was one of endless dance moves and lots of laughs thanks to the Gin and Tonic on tap that we served... Our wedding was one to remember forever and we both loved every second... People came from far and definitely made the most of it!

Put a ring on it

Now, if you're like me, i.e. you are quite highly strung and know exactly what you want, when it comes to an engagement, the thought of the right ring can be daunting. I have friends who have said 'no' to marriage proposals purely on it not being the right ring alone! Men also being men and not sharing our passions in all things sparkly need a bit of a push in the right direction. Obviously, we all have our own style, tastes and wants in jewellery, be it one hell of an enormous sparkling diamond solitaire, something quirky and unconventional, or a beautiful antique vintage piece. Here is where budget comes in to play a little bit too (girls with Blake Lively's ring dreams look away now). We've all heard that your partner should be spending 3 months salary on your ring, and well sometimes, that is just not possible. I have always had a love of vintage jewellery, so I had been looking for something along those lines and potentially using an alternative centre stone to save costs and still having some wow factor ring. I found via Instagram a ring designer called Heidi Gibson and was just completely mesmerised by her beautiful designs and work. She can work with you to design a piece that is perfect for you, design rings around heirloom stones, or pick from her many stunning settings. You choose the metal, the centre and the surrounding stones too, with options of any precious gem stone, white sapphires, diamonds, you name it. With prices starting from around $2150 up to whatever your budget can take you to.

There's always Tiffany, Cartier and the other big greats, which are lovely for inspiration, but if you haven't got the budget to stretch to that, then try not to get too attached to anything from them. After a lot of research as well, you pay a LOT just for the name. For example, in a local jewellery store in Cheshire, UK, a 1 carrot diamond solitaire in a D on the colour scale and very slightly included, was around £5000, but the same ring in Cartier had a £16,000 price tag. If you can afford that, then go for it, but if you look around at the more unknown names, you can get a lot more for your money. Try also looking in the diamond districts, New York's is situated on West 47th Street in between the 5th and 6th Avenue, and for London in Hatton Garden. These jewellery shops cut out the middle men, keeping prices a lot lower. We found my engagement ring in the New York diamond district when we were there on holiday, it's not as fancy as the Heidi Gibson rings, but it still has a vintage elegance about it that is perfect for me.

A very good friend of mine, got engaged a few months after we did, and her fiancé had bought her ring from Brilliant Earth, a conflict free American website. I sometimes joke with her that her ring isn't really a diamond at all, as the rainbow colours in it are so vibrant it is simply blinding. Again, like most stores, you choose the quality and size of the diamond etc making it something truly unique. It has a build your own ring process, where you choose the setting first, followed by the diamond, or stone of your choice.

It's always a nice idea to google celebrities engagement rings, especially with newer stones such as Morganite and Moissanite around, they also offer an affordable alternative. Moissanite is laboratory created, it's look and durability is so close to the diamond, but as it is created in a lab, has a minimal effect on the environment. Morganite is from the same gemstone family as Emereald and Aquamarine, it is slightly pink in colour and set in rose gold is just a dream of a ring, it also means that if you want the size, but don't have the funds they are both exceptional options.

Before the ring

I was what some might have called a mess, but for me, I was LIVING! I had been living in Paris for 3 years, a showgirl at one of the Worlds top cabarets, and really living up to expectation of a single girl living out her dreams in a new and romantic city. Now the French men, from my experience fall under 1 of 2 categories, they either fall in love with you in a second... or after a month or 2 of dating, you meet his other girfriends (or he brings them to see you in your show in my case)! I'd been given the amazing opportunity to be the 'Dance Captain' of our new show and threw my mind, body and soul into it whole heartedly. One night after a particularly long and gruelling day of rehearsals, I had decided to go for a drink with a friend who was going to meet a guy she had just started dating from Tinder and his friends, so I had agreed to go along. I always remembered friends saying to me 'it happens when you're not looking for it' and oh how that happened. That night, turning up in a gym bra, leggings, not a scrap of make up on and hair in a sweaty pineapple, there he was, sitting just across the table to me. We had said hello and then continued to ignore each other for at least the first hour of being in the bar, his friends and him chatted easily to each other (in French, which I was still blissfully incapable of learning) whilst we spoke to my friends new date. After sharing a few coy smiles and looking away quickly, he disappeared outside for a cigarette, from outside the window he did the famous "fake walking downstairs comedy trick" and I was done, the search was over! Back in the bar, I had decided a round of tequila shots was called for before dragging everyone on to one of my favourite bars of the time, 'Titty Twister'. Now I was "out out" every weekend, and most nights in between, so the owners of all of the big bars and clubs knew me like family, but bouncing around in my Nikes and lycra, was a sight they hadn't ever encountered, but they still found us a table and let us all drink for free. Tequila now running through my blood I had plucked up the courage to speak to François, and garbled away in English, as I'd found out he was the older brother of my friends new guy who had spoken so fluently in English all night and had just presumed he spoke English perfectly too. I kept thinking what a great listener this guy is, he seems to really get me, nodding and smiling all the time... or later, as I found out, doesn't speak a word of English! Anyway, it was time to go and after making my round of Goodbyes, I left him for last. As the French are so well renowned for their famous 2 kisses on the cheeks, or 'Bisous' we did what came naturally, kiss one cheek, then the other... then looked into eachothers eyes for a second too long, resulting in, well, an embarrassing show of french kissing. From that moment we were hooked, I can't actually remember a day that we didn't see each other, neither one of us played it cool at all. So my friends had been right, that 1 night had changed my whole life, a night I was completely unprepared for, I didn't have time for love, certainly hadn't gone out to find love, it just somehow, in the middle of my crazy and hectic life, found me. A few weeks ago I learnt that later that night, François had been in the car after the club with his friend and had said that he was in trouble. A kiss with some nutcase of an English girl and he knew that this was something different. I have always craved this love, having watched it as a constant with my parents, finding that something special and not settling for anything or taking me away from my fabulous single lifestyle. Now my crazy single days are a thing of the past, but this is just the start of our journey. I'm going to share with you tips, ideas, inspiration and everything else that helps you say 'I do' with a Phew.