Interim images from the wedding...

Thanks for the requests for more pics of the wedding! The reason for the delay has been to wait for the professional ones to come through to give you the good stuff.

If however, you're happy for the amateur offerings to suffice in the meantime... here goes...

Fingers crossed the professional pictures will be coming by the end of this month so I'll be able to give you much clearer detail shots...

Otherwise...

The bridesmaids dresses were Vogue 8416 in navy blue silk from Hong Kong.

Cake was two layers of fruit, two layers of carrot cake with cake topper of a dressmaker's dummy and a grand piano made from oven-hardening clay.

Venue florals were by a good friend and featured roses, hydrangea, vibernum berry, various foliage and a bow made by my Mum!

Bouquets were ranuncula, roses, vibernum berry hand-tied with antique navy velvet ribbon given by a family friend.

My shoes were from Italian leather from Sniff, adult bridesmaids were navy patent from Faith and little patents were from an online boutique, Panache.

Hair flowers were antique silk from VV Rouleaux and Mum's fascinator was made using one of those flowers along with feathers and beads taken from her dress fabric.

Any other details I've forgotten? Will share other pictures with you as soon as I have them: trust me, as excited as you are, I fear I may be more so!

Thanks to various friends and especially my sister for the above pictures.

Honeymooning Journal Day 6 Friday

A big bulk of driving today. Woke up in Hermanus to glorious sunshine so a quick bout of whale spotting on the beachfront boardwalk before hitting the road.

Ostriches and blue cranes on the road from Hermanus to Stanford - absolutely huge wingspan, flapping at one another in the field by the road.

Picnic by the N2 and a brief stop for milkshakes at Mossel Bay before following the shoreline further east.

Arrived in Knysna (pronounced Nice-Na - took us ages to get that one right!) in glorious sunshine to find a small and perfectly-formed harbour front self-catering apartment with a well-timed washing machine in situ. Very cute layout with balcony view over the quays.

Luxe deli (34 Degrees South) in the harbour provided wine and nibbles then home for fish & chips and a film on telly which was funnily enough the film we saw when in San Francisco 2 years ago. Long day but beautiful views and stunning weather.

We could get used to this...

Honeymooning Journal Day 5 Thursday

Early start from CT to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens then on the road to Hermanus along the coast, via baboons and penguins.

Beautiful plants at the gardens and a picnic on the way followed by torrential thunderstorms in Hermanus, but not before a beachfront stroll and a spot of whale watching.

Caption of the pic to the left here: The Boy: Helen, Helen, I'm going to climb rocks and then you can take a picture of me.

Me: Yes dear...

Dinner in the oldest building in the village now the smallest pub in South Africa. Amazing food underscored by a symphony of pelting rain on the corrugated iron lean-to roof that made conversation almost impossible!

Honeymooning Journal Day 3 & 4 Tuesday/Wednesday

A busy and SUNNY couple of days touring Cape Town. Yesterday we did the obligatory red tour bus around the city, climbed Table Mountain (remarkably free of cloud), had a late lunch at the V&A docks and then finished the day at Rick's Morrocan bar (styled en Casablanca) down the road from our scrumptious B&B.

Tintagel Guesthouse has four rooms dating from the 1890s and is just up our street. Central in the Garden district, it's handy and incredibly friendly as well as being surrounded by a series of fab eateries within spitting distance.

Tomorrow, we're off to the Botanical Gardens and then driving on to guesthouse number two at Hermanus for whale watching.

Our luggage arrived last night. My husband and I are smiley, happy and entirely at peace. We can single-handedly solve the world's problems and have none of our own. I love him totally and completely and it's humbling to feel so utterly ... *fill in word to complete this sentence-I'm struggling*

Honeymooning Journal Day 2 Monday

Just touching down in Cape Town having flown via Dubai and Jo'burg. Bags have gone goodness knows where but after 27 hours of travel I'm ok with it! The sunset flight has been beautiful - primary colours swept across the sky and miles and miles of flat horizon.

Achey, tired and not a little unwashed, my husband and I arrive at the Tintagel guesthouse delighted with the look of the antique bed and settle in immediately for our first night on honeymoon!

Honeymooning Journal Day 1 Sunday

I am Mrs Helen Burridge. After 16 months of engagement and years in the planning, The Boy & I are wed. We wend our way to Gatwick airport to begin 12 days' honeymoon in South Africa. He has a pizza baguette and I a salad. Thus the positions of our marriage are set.

Gorgeous wedding present from a good friend of H & R cookies along with the cutters. Very cute and worth remembering for future married friends!!xx

Honeymooning

Well we're back and well and happy and deliciously loved up and all is right with the world. I kept a journal while away in South Africa so will be uploading the day to day notes I made along with pics once I've got through three loads of laundry and countless pieces of consolatory wedding cake!

In the meantime, I'll leave you with this image...

Married bliss indeed. The coastline of Storms River at Tsitsikamma National Park will now forever be engraved into my mind as my new found 'happy place'...

Been and Gone

And the feeling that keeps coming back to me is that everything and nothing has changed all at once.
It was delicious, delirious and so quick! Full of weeping and laughing and a plethora of fabulous pockets!

We are now in Cape Town enjoying evening cocktails before going out in relatively smelly garments as our bags got lost en route but hey. Not a thing matters.

I am Mrs Burridge and I couldn't be happier in the whole wide world.