Our First Wedding Anniversary!
Yep, one year ago today Derek and I got married! Goodness, time really does fly when you’re having fun!
Ok, let me set the scene for you guys:
We always knew that we wanted a small wedding (luckily we both agreed on that!). So when the time came, we decided that we would really love to get married at a cottage (since we are in love with cottage life and all…). It was a brilliant idea, because not only do we get the vibe that we want for our special day, we also get a build-in mini vacation for our families! We finally found one cottage that could accomodate our party of 15 and booked it without ever even seeing it (well, we only saw some pictures). I was a little bit nervous about this, but when we pulled up to the cottage a few days before our wedding I was totally blown away by the property. It was so much more than we had expected!!
Ok, I will back up a little. Yes, I said 15 guests. And that includes Derek and I. It was one of those situations where we either keep it really small, or go really big, because we couldn’t decide where to draw the line as far as invites go. We ended up spending an intimate week with parents, one set of grandparents, our brothers (and their girlfriends) and a couple of cutie pie nieces.
Our actual wedding day was on the Wednesday (after several days of sitting on the dock, kayaking, volleyball, campfires, s’mores, boardgames, reading and making wicked espresso with the fancy machine we discovered in the kitchen!). The morning of our wedding I went to the Deerhurst Spa to get my hair, makeup and nails done. (Total side-note: Deerhurst is coincidentally the location of the G8 Summit THIS weekend. Weird!)
We did everything ourselves (decorating, food, flowers, etc) and got a couple of girls from a local restaurant to serve the food during dinner. I will touch on our prep work a bit in the next post – but I HAVE to mention here how amazing it was that we were all so involved in the wedding! I loved all the little personal touches and seeing everyone working together to make our day so special! I had all these lists going on things that needed to be done, but after I got back from hair and makeup I was ordered to just hang out in my parents’ bedroom and let others take care of the last minute details. It turned out beautifully!!
Our ceremony took place on the dock by the boathouse and there was this stone pathway climbing down from the main cottage. This was the isle that I walked down on my dad’s arm. I remember him telling me to walk slowly, breathe, look up and take it all in!
The day was suuuuuuper hot, but there was a great breeze down by the water. My veil kept flying around in the wind, but after a while I just let it do its thang! I love how we are standing here with a only our very closest people to witness the occasion :)
One of the most special things about our wedding is that my Dad married us! My dad is a minister and I ALWAYS knew that he would officiate at my wedding. This also brought a whole new level of intimacy to our already small wedding.
Us looking at each other again. During the whole ceremony it felt like we were in a bubble and I just wanted to look at Derek the whole time!
We’re married!
Here I am with my two handsome brothers! Judging by their height you would never guess I am the oldest, would you?!
My parents. True love. They make life make sense. I am who I am because of them. That is the bottom line of everything I do and think.
We got some really great photos and I have to give props to our awesome photographer, JB Smith Photography. Jessica is super talented and also so easy to relate to and deal with!
Three generations! My mom, me and my maternal grandmother “Ouma Coby”. This picture is extra special, because my grandma suddenly passed away a few weeks after our wedding and I will cherish these memories forever. My grandparents came over from South Africa to attend our wedding and I am so blessed that they were able to make it!
This was the nice and cozy Muskoka room that we had dinner in. I just loved how the whole room was glowing and warm and how all my loved once were sitting around one table!
My parents and my father in law
Cheers!
Derek’s nieces were the best little flower girls!
These are such great photos! It really shows how the room was glowing and the amazing view that we had!
And then they rode off into the sunset together (Ha-ha! Sorry, the cheese ball in me couldn’t resist!!)
Happy Anniversary babe!!
Awww, it was so much fun going through all these pictures again an reliving the day!! I only gave you guys a little sampling, since we have over 1200 photos. Hey, I have to leave some photos to blog about next year on our anniversary, right 
Today we are off to an undisclosed location to celebrate our anniversary. Derek is totally setting the bar high for future anniversaries by whisking me away on some mysterious getaway. I will check in with you guys later to tell you all about it! But for now I have to go pack – I’m thinking I am allowed to pack a lot, since I have to pack a lot of ‘just in case’ stuff. Who knows if we are going mountain climbing, beaching, or partying like rock stars in some city……..
Happy Anniversary Nienke! The photos are absolutely incredible, I’m sure the actual day was immeasurably more incredible. Enjoy your surprise celebration!
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oh my goodness, there are just no words to describe how beautiful you are! and your wedding was fabulous! thank you so much for sharing
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Oh my gosh, you looked stunning! I loved that you had a small wedding that was very intimate. Have fun on your anniversary.
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This post made me sigh in a really good. What an absolutely stunning wedding! I sincerely hope that after my wedding I can have equally lovely memories to look
back on.
You’ve probably been told this before but the two of you made an
absolutely gorgeous bride and groom!!
Happy Anniversary!!!! Here’s to many more!!!
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I meant to say “…in a really good way”
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Happy Anniversary Nienke and Derek! The photos are nice memories of a special day.
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so gorgeous!!
i totally want to have a super small wedding like that.
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During a week can’t be over fast enough, I’m so glad you put up this post! Made me smile ear to ear. Have a fantastic weekend and Happy Anniversary to you and Derek!
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Happy anniversary! Your wedding looked beautiful and perfect!
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happy anniversary!!!! what an absolutely perfect wedding!!! hope you’re having an incredible getaway– excited to hear about it when you’re back
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Happy First Anniversary, Nienke and Derek! Congratulations on putting together such a great blog.
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Oh my word. I don’t even know where to begin… First off, I have major goosebumps. Second, you are stunning and your dress is gorgeous. Your husband is adorable as well! I would have expected nothing less for your wedding. Everything is more than perfect. You know I’m in love with your design sense and again you have confirmed that. The colors, the location, the table settings, YOUR bouquet [!!!] were all 100% amazing. Even though the size of our wedding varied, there were so many similarities…with being so involved and designing every detail and really getting the family in on everything. My family loved that they got to be so involved on our special day. Oh, and HAppppppy Anniversary!!! Chris whisked me away last year too, to the mountains in NC, a few hours from where we were living. We stayed in a 1 bedroom house on a large piece of property with no one else in sight and even brought the dogs.
Have fun girl!
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Revel! Reply:
June 29th, 2010 at 7:48 am
Thanks for all the WONDERFUL! comments and wishes – you guys rock!
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Beautiful pictures and the dress is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing and congratulations. Will be celebrating my first anniversary soon.
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