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Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Autumn, Franschhoek & Red roses…

Wow, what a weekend. We flew down to Franschhoek on Friday morning to attend Jay & Phillip’s wedding. As usual things were rather rushed, but we made the flight easily and arrived in Franschhoek at around 3pm. The first thing that struck me was how Autumn had cloaked the countryside in it’s colourful splendour. The old oak trees lining the roads looked magnificent in red, orange and gold. And the vines were touched with the same glorious warm colours. This was our first visit in the Autumn, and although there was a cool wind, the sun still had retained some of it’s Summer warmth. It really is beautiful to visit here in the Autumn.

We stayed with Rika & Neal in a cute little apartment in the Ivy Apartments. Beautifully decorated in a clean, contemporary style. Friday evening we had dinner at Col’cacchio’s which was conveniently just across the street. I was unfortunately being hassled by a filling which had come out and my rough tooth was scraping against my tongue. So I didn’t enjoy my food too much the entire weekend. Not pleasant I can tell you!!

Saturday morning we walked a bit around the shops and then got ready for the wedding. Jay was a little more than customarily late. (and hour and a 1/4!) But we enjoyed teeny milkshakes in shot glasses and a small jazz band outside the chapel and took in the beautiful gardens of the Franschhoek Inn.

The Chapel was all white, with clear perspex slatted chairs with black cushions. The Aisle was draped with wide white paper printed with words from sms’s and emails the couple had sent each other with scattered red rose petals printed in between. This was so striking and so unusual! The front of the chapel was twinkling with countless candles. So pretty.

Against all this, Jay walked in in a stunning red ball-gown wedding dress.

The reception was held in Le Verger, the hotel’s restaurant. A really beautiful setting. Having only 35 guests, we all sat at a long banquet-style table draped with a silvery grey cloth, thousands of red roses and teaming with tiny tealights. Then from the ceiling, hung red wineglasses, which caught the candlelight beautifully. We were provided with small scissors with which to cut the wineglasses down should we want to drink water. Such a cute idea!!

The food was delicious (despite the ache in my mouth!!) and we thoroughly enjoyed our evening with our friends. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the cake! Really stunning! It was around 5 layers, tiered from large to small. Topped with a black icing bow. Each layer looked like it was about to topple over and each one was decorated in a different pattern in red, white and black. To me the entire wedding had a contemporary baroque feel to it. Just my thing!

We left for the airport at 09h30 Sunday morning, having not been able to see much more of Franschhoek or take any good photos. Instead, I had to settle for taking some quick shots out the car window. I also couldn’t take photos at the wedding as we were asked not to take cameras. I couldn’t resist taking a  few shots with my phone just so I could show Shannon how pretty everything was. I’m hoping Rika sends me a few or posts some on Facebook.

Now back to our usual weekly routine. Tomorrow is Shannon’s audition for the SA Talents Competition, so she has some practising to do this afternoon. This afternoon I’ve managed to grab an appointment at the dentist thankfully due to a cancellation they had. So I am relieved!!