Faye & Ryan’s Wedding | La Petite Dauphine | Franschhoek
Faye and Ryan met almost 19 years ago and then started dating properly in 2010. Last year May, while they were in Antigua, Ryan totally surprised Faye and proposed to her. Their closest family and friends flew over from the UK (where Faye & Ryan also live) to celebrate their wedding day with them, at one of my favourite South African wedding venues, La Petite Dauphine in Franschhoek. They decided to have a ‘first look’ with Ryan patiently waiting on a path surrounded by olive trees. Faye walked up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. He was completely blown away by Faye and her gorgeous dress. Following the creative shoot, family and friends gathered on the lawn overlooking the pond with a gorgeous view of the mountains and the ceremony took place. I love it when weddings have a unique touch. Faye and Ryan created and made a cocktail for each other, using the ingredients to describe each other. The drinks were then given to family and friends. It had everyone laughing so much!
I always love listening to the wedding vows and readings. Father John McCormack KSJ (knight of St John of Malta) from the UK performed their ceremony. He used to be a vicar before becoming an independent minister and celebrant. He is also close friends with Faye and Ryan which made the service extra special and personal. Faye’s Mom Vilna did a beautiful reading. Here are a few lines that were really powerful: Within your circle of love, your marriage encompasses all of lifes most important relationships. You are each other’s best friend, confidant, lover, teacher, listener, and critic. Marriage understands and forgives the mistakes life is unable to avoid. It encourages and nurtures new life, new experiences and new ways of expressing a love that is deeper than life. As you get older you will find out that true happiness is not in how much you make, or how many degrees you have, how big our house is, or how fancy your car is. It is finding peace, joy, and calmness in your life that will soon become the most important things to you….things of quality not quantity. And then she ended with a quote from the bible. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, nor boast, nor is proud. It is not rude, or self-seeking, or easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs or delights in evil. But rejoices with truth. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
Such beautiful pictures that have completely captured all the wonderful emotions of this unique wedding shared with Ryan and Faye, surrounded with love by family and friends.
Dear Monica, months before the wedding we were talking about our wedding and how the photographer took over and everything had to be staged and posed. It disrupted our whole experience and we warned Faye and Ryan to be ultra careful of who they chose to record their day. In brief, you have been wonderful. You have woven your magic capturing the very essence of the day with your images. You were so unobtrusive that apart from the very few posed photos ( which most look perfectly natural) that took an absolute minimum of good natured direction from you, we hardly noticed your presence. It is uncanny that you captured so much and vividly show what a joyous, loving and at times sentimental occasion it was. You have even managed to include the beauty, charm and little quirky bits that make La Petite Dauphin such an outstanding venue.
A huge-big all encompassing thank you from Vilna and I (Faye’s parents) complete with hugs and kisses.
Graham.
Thank you so much Graham! I really appreciate your kind words!