It is time for another Lilac spectacular! The Lilac team always delivers great work and it is always a such an honor to feature their work on Wedding Friends. Today we have the privilege to feature the wedding of Adriaan en Ilé. This is a stunning venue, especially because Ilé created a venue out of an old house near her parents farm in Grabouw. Enjoy this spectacular wedding with us and we hope that you will be inspired!

{I Propose} - Elaborate on how the two of you met or on how the proposal went down.

Adriaan and I met through mutual friends while we were both studying at Stellenbosch University. The relationship was working perfectly right from the start. We started dating in 2008. Adriaan received a business opportunity in Nelspruit, I didn't want to stay behind so we got engaged in September and got married in December. As December is the most popular month of the year for weddings, we couldn't find a suitable venue on such short notice. My parents live on a farm in Grabouw area. Luckily the farm next to them has a beautiful old manor house with a big garden, so we decided to make that our venue for our perfect day.

{Bride & Prejudice} - Express some memorable experiences you had during the planning.

My dad walked me down the isle. I was so stressed at that stage, I could hardly breath. As we walked down the isle, my vale started slipping, he stopped trying to fix it, we started giggling and the guests started laughing. That was the moment that broke the ice, from there on the knot in my stomach was no longer there.

At the end of the ceremony the only thing I wanted was to kiss my new husband, the reverent keep saying, not now, then the next formality will follow. At the moment that it was now time to kiss the bride, Adriaan leaned forward to kiss me, I pulled away, looked at the reverent and asked if we may kiss now. The guests burst out laughing. I think that is the happiest I've ever been.

{My Fair Wedding} - Describe an event that you feel was unique or even funny.

The theme of the wedding was French vintage/ Romantic. The whole atmosphere had that romantic feeling. There was so many small details that created this atmosphere, small bottles with flows hanging around the tent, live music, lanterns and lots of candles. I couldn't have hoped for a more perfect wedding day.

{Don't Tell The Bride} - Reveal something that happened behind the scenes.

We did most of the wedding ourselves and used very few service provides, the coordination was a big job, the majority of it went well, but not all of it.

We getting dressed at the manor house. So there was a bit of a buzz of activity outside. My mom was running around with some of the last things to sort out. Adriaan was in charge of all the drinks, so the bar was stocked up and there was a fridge full of ice. He how ever forgot to tell the caterers where they've put the ice. About an hour before the ceremony, my mom came to me, trying not to looked stressed at all, and asked where is the drinks that was supposed to go to the pre-drink area. I was struggling to keep calm asking her "You haven't put the drinks on ice?" Later on I found out that they couldn't find the ice and went in a frantic mission to buy all the ice they could find at the near by lodges. Every thing was there, the coordination was just not perfect. In the end it all tied together nicely, so the guest had cold drinks at the pre-drinks the was too much ice.

{No More Wedding Woes} - Share your wedding advice for future brides.

To make it easier for the bride, I would not recommend have a wedding at a private venue. Venues that are set up for weddings think of all the detail and coordinate the whole wedding with all your different providers. I Would also recommend that the bride don't get ready at the venue, rather get a beautiful place nearby to get ready. The buzz of activity and last minute things put a lot of stress on the bride. (especially if you are a bit of a control freak like me)

{Service Providers}

Photography: Lilac Photography | Stationery: Adam and Eve Weddings