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Gerard and Tracie

Gerard and I met in a London night club whilst I was on holiday visiting friends. He was meant to have just been a holiday romance, but then they do say you meet the perfect person when you least expect it. We didn’t have the usual start to a relationship, but rather found ourselves facing over a year of bureaucracy and paperwork to be together. We spent 6 months doing long distance with a million “what if’s”, with him in London and myself in South Africa and finally decided to throw the dice and make our relationship work. Gerard came to South Africa to meet my family, and shortly after I was applying for my first (of many) Australian visa’s to move across the world to be with my soul mate.

We spent a year fighting immigration, bureaucracy and the financial strains of flights and visa’s every 3 months, determined to make our life together. A week before heading back to South Africa to await my permanent visa, Gerard and I went away for the weekend to spend some time together before an indefinite separation. It was one of the first warm days of Spring/Summer and I love the beach, so Gerard booked a hotel in Blairgowrie. Oblivious to everything I didn’t even notice Gerard racing the sun down to Portsea. He took me to London Bridge Beach (a bit iconic of where we met) and as the sun set and I was whinging about how unfair it was that we were to be separated, he began to tell me how nothing could change what we have and went down on his knee. Now, anyone who knows Gerard knows he likes to joke around, so I held my breathe until I actually saw a ring before I got too excited. I just stood and cried, not really getting any words out.

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A month later back in SA, my visa was approved (6 months earlier than we thought it would be) and I was back on a plane to Australia. I had spent the past month distracting myself with Pinterest and getting the big 5 (dress, venue, photographer, celebrant, videographer) organised. Gerard and I wanted a wedding that was “us”, warm and intimate but ultimately a party that everyone would never forget. He was a bit concerned about my black and white wedding dream, thinking Goth, where I was thinking Coco Chanel (my idol) & Audrey Hepburn. It was easy to find a venue as we both wanted a beach wedding and we had gone to one in particular when he was in SA with me.

We had the ceremony on Noordhoek Beach, Cape Town. A gorgeous, white sand beach that stretches forever at the end of Chapman’s Peak Drive. On one side you have the ocean and the other you have a mountain and plains covered in fynbos (local fauna). It was perfect. I wanted to incorporate a little bit of each our countries without making it cliche. Gerard had Australian cufflinks and my bouquet was a King Protea with Eucalyptus.

My dress was a A-line dress with a tuxedo front from Bride & Co, which I added a black sash to. This was probably the easiest choice of the wedding, I was lucky enough to be home to go dress shopping with my mom and I found it in the first store I went in to.  I had the most stunning side tiara and matching earrings and bracelet from Fletcher & Grace to compliment the simplicity of the dress. Gerard and his groomsmen wore black slim line suits by TM Lewin.

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Our reception was held at Monkey Valley Resort in a thatched lodge set in a Milkwood forest that overlooked the beach. It is best described as a treehouse village. It was such a relaxed and warm venue which set the tone for the night. Each table had flower boxes of proteas and eucalyptus with succulents by Leipzig Flowers, with a lasercut table name of one of the cities we’d been together. All our suppliers were absolutely amazing! We have been particularly thrilled with our video by Hand Stitched Films, who are not just unbelievably creative but just such lovely people. They just captured the essence of the day perfectly.

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We were absolutely blessed, with almost half our 80 guests having travelled across the world to be with us on our day. We had everyone we loved and that loved us. When we left that night Gerard and I turned around in disbelief and literally said “I think we just had the wedding of our dreams”. The pure happiness of the day, our families finally meeting, and joining our 2 worlds together completed our lives.

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Images by Veronique Photography | Video by Hand Stitched Films

Ms Gingham says: What a beautiful story! Congratulations to Gerard and Tracey and thankyou for sharing your day with us!

Tracey says: “I am a graphic designer for my own business Muse Brand Studio from South Africa and I moved over to Australia for my partner. I recently got married, back home in South Africa. I love photography, interior design, pretty much all things design related.”