wedding weekend II
Continued from wedding weekend.
The champagne toast brought with it a certain sense of relief; it marked the beginning of the party. For myself and the other friends-cum-caterers, we'd been on a frantic high of cooking and decorating, and felt that we had just barely made it. With that first glass of champagne we moved from work to play. For L and A, they had been out late the night before and struggled through hours of tedious officialdom in the kgotla, pandering to the Botswana authorities and A’s traditional family. The first glass of champagne for them marked the moment that the wedding changed over to their style – all of the T’s dotted and I’s crossed, all of the family obligations fulfilled (at least for the day), time to relax and start the party with friends.
For a couple of hours we popped champagne corks like there was no tomorrow. The rain had stopped, the music was blasting, and J was cooking up a storm on the braai. At about 2PM, it was time for the first costume change of the day.
At this point let me say that the wedding costumes were carefully coordinated – the first outfit of the day was, for L, a bright turquoise knee-length bubble dress with a halter top that her mother had made and sent from America. L also wore a wreath of white roses, baby’s breath and leaves, which she kept on all day. L’s mother sent extra turquoise fabric, and a matching dress shirt was tailored for A. He wore it with black tuxedo pants, a vest, and a bow tie. The best man and maid of honor also matched – they wore a dress shirt and a knee-length sleeveless dress, made of a rust-red crinkly fabric, designed and sewn by a friend in Gaborone.
The second costume was spectacular. L had been dreaming of a dress made of ostrich feathers but couldn’t find a way to make it a reality until running into her friend T a fortnight before the wedding. T is an up-and-coming young designer in Gabs, and he mentioned that his father owns an ostrich farm. Serendipitous in the extreme! L immediately described what she wanted, and a week before the wedding T began sewing. He brought the finished dress to the wedding with him, praying that he wouldn’t have to do significant alterations – and when L put it on, it was perfect. The dress had a strapless white bodice and a short skirt made of many layers of black tulle. The front was a frothy fan of ostrich feathers held with a black sash. Paired with extremely high black stiletto sandals, L was breathtaking. The maid of honor kept her red dress. A and the best man wore matching brightly-colored tunics from Ghana, courtesy of a friend.
Following the costume change, we drove to River Lodge to get on the party boat – L and A, trying to provide a special activity for the out-of-town guests, had rented a pontoon for an afternoon river cruise.
Oops... I meant to write more, but at the office we're in the middle of a small crisis related to financial reporting, and I can't find the time to continue... I'm off to Qabo and Grootlaagte till Monday!
The champagne toast brought with it a certain sense of relief; it marked the beginning of the party. For myself and the other friends-cum-caterers, we'd been on a frantic high of cooking and decorating, and felt that we had just barely made it. With that first glass of champagne we moved from work to play. For L and A, they had been out late the night before and struggled through hours of tedious officialdom in the kgotla, pandering to the Botswana authorities and A’s traditional family. The first glass of champagne for them marked the moment that the wedding changed over to their style – all of the T’s dotted and I’s crossed, all of the family obligations fulfilled (at least for the day), time to relax and start the party with friends.
For a couple of hours we popped champagne corks like there was no tomorrow. The rain had stopped, the music was blasting, and J was cooking up a storm on the braai. At about 2PM, it was time for the first costume change of the day.
At this point let me say that the wedding costumes were carefully coordinated – the first outfit of the day was, for L, a bright turquoise knee-length bubble dress with a halter top that her mother had made and sent from America. L also wore a wreath of white roses, baby’s breath and leaves, which she kept on all day. L’s mother sent extra turquoise fabric, and a matching dress shirt was tailored for A. He wore it with black tuxedo pants, a vest, and a bow tie. The best man and maid of honor also matched – they wore a dress shirt and a knee-length sleeveless dress, made of a rust-red crinkly fabric, designed and sewn by a friend in Gaborone.
The second costume was spectacular. L had been dreaming of a dress made of ostrich feathers but couldn’t find a way to make it a reality until running into her friend T a fortnight before the wedding. T is an up-and-coming young designer in Gabs, and he mentioned that his father owns an ostrich farm. Serendipitous in the extreme! L immediately described what she wanted, and a week before the wedding T began sewing. He brought the finished dress to the wedding with him, praying that he wouldn’t have to do significant alterations – and when L put it on, it was perfect. The dress had a strapless white bodice and a short skirt made of many layers of black tulle. The front was a frothy fan of ostrich feathers held with a black sash. Paired with extremely high black stiletto sandals, L was breathtaking. The maid of honor kept her red dress. A and the best man wore matching brightly-colored tunics from Ghana, courtesy of a friend.
Following the costume change, we drove to River Lodge to get on the party boat – L and A, trying to provide a special activity for the out-of-town guests, had rented a pontoon for an afternoon river cruise.
Oops... I meant to write more, but at the office we're in the middle of a small crisis related to financial reporting, and I can't find the time to continue... I'm off to Qabo and Grootlaagte till Monday!
posted by Jenn at
7:05 AM
1 Comments:
i really want to see a photo of the ostrich-feather dress!! xo
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