Our 2011 Couple of the Year

Lloyd and Erin Dunn 8 October 2011 Farm barn, Mpumalanga. Erin shares her thoughts on her special day, a year of marriage and gives new brides some good advice.

How did you meet?

Lloyd and I met at a dance bar in Fourways, Johannesburg. Lloyd told me that he was not single and I brushed him off. A few weeks later we added each other on Facebook and started chatting. To my surprise, I saw that his relationship status on Facebook said single. When I asked him about it, he said that the reason he said he was not single was because he was not interested in meeting a girl in a club. A few weeks later Lloyd invited me to go on a date to watch the Tattoo production at Montecasino and we have been together ever since!  

Tell us about the proposal

1 year, 8 months and 23 days after meeting, Lloyd surprised me with a hot air balloon safari over the Magaliesburg Mountains. Once we landed, he went down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. Needless to say, I started crying, laughing and jumping up and down before he asked me if that was a yes. I then said YES!

Tell us about your wedding:

Did you have a theme?

The theme for our wedding was rustic romantic. This was such a no brainer for us as we both really love antiques and vintage things.

How long did it take to plan?

The wedding took about four months to plan, booking everything that was needed and getting quotes and so on, but most of the hard work was getting suppliers to go out to a farm in the middle of a little town called Carolina in Mpumalanga.

What did you splurge on?

The whole reason we decided to do our wedding on a friend’s farm is so that we could do most of the things ourselves such as the décor and desserts as this would save us a lot of money, and of course we would be able to party until the early morning. The one thing that we splurged on was the food. We both agreed that we wanted the food to be AMAZING!

What was your favourite part of the day?

Waking up that morning, knowing that it was the day I would marry my favourite person in the world was just overwhelming. All the planning and excitement was finally culminating in this big moment we had been waiting so long for! The ultimate was walking down the aisle, looking into Lloyd’s eyes and suddenly feeling like nothing else mattered. Everyone around us disappeared and I just gravitated towards my husband-to-be with the most amazing feeling in my heart!

You lost your wedding pictures and your venue was overbooked. How did you deal with all that?

When we had finally decided that we were finished partying and wanted to head off to our accommodation, which my sister had booked for us. I phoned her at 3am to ask her for directions to the place. She then told me that they had double-booked the room. I started laughing in disbelief, thinking this was just a prank but it turned out not to be, so my hubby and I made another plan. The guesthouse on the farm, which had all my overseas family booked in, had a long narrow pantry or ‘spens’ with shelves and shelves of bottled jams and fruits and Lloyd and I were convinced that we would be able to fit a single bed in there. Waking up with the sunlight streaming through the window was so beautiful. I was married to my man and nothing else mattered!

A few weeks after the wedding, I asked my photographer when I would be getting some of the photos to send to family and friends who couldn’t make it, but his reply was that he had very bad news for me. I felt sick to my stomach when he told me that over 600 of the images on his second camera had been corrupted. I had a good cry over the whole thing, said a prayer and let it go. A few months later I got a call from my photographer telling me that he was able to recover some of the photos! My prayers were answered and I was over the moon!

Do you have any advice for other women planning their big day?

The only advice I can share is that you should try and book and finalise as much as you can at least six months before the wedding! I did everything myself and it was VERY stressful. On your wedding day remember to have fun.

How has married life been like so far?

Married life is AMAZING! I thought that it wasn’t possible to fall more in love with my husband, but I was wrong! He is the most wonderful husband and support system. I love calling him my husband and let me tell you that the best thing about after the wedding and honeymoon is getting your new ID with your new surname, it makes everything so official.

How do you feel about being winners?

I am still in such shock about winning this competition. Initially when I thought of entering, I saw all the other amazing bridal couples and read through their awesome love stories and I just thought to myself: What are the chances? When I received the call I started to laugh and cry in disbelief! I thought it was a mistake and asked them if they were sure! I told my husband and he said that he wasn’t going to tell me but he initially wanted to take me to Victoria Falls to propose but it was a little bit too pricey at the time. Now we get to celebrate another honeymoon in such a beautiful part of the country and I cannot tell you how excited we are! We would really just like to thank all of the sponsors for the amazing prizes! We feel so spoiled and grateful! Thanks so much to the FAIRLADY team! Your magazine is such a helpful tool in the planning of weddings and full of such amazing stories and ideas.

Vendors

Dress

My dress was made by 3 different ladies.

Cake

I had my mom make my cake!

Decor

Myself, my hubby and all our wonderful family and close friends helped to decorate the venue all on our own! This was such an amazing bonding experience for us all.

Hair & make-up

Kim Winterscale Freestyle make-up artist 082 8100 178