I was intrigued by a headline, ‘the reasons why marriage leads to a long life’ that appeared in The Independent (UK).

According to the article a recent study had confirmed the truth that
MARRIAGE IS GOOD FOR YOU!

Apparently marriage not only boosts physical health in men and mental well-being in women, but the longer it endures, the greater the benefits all round, resulting in a longer and more satisfying life.

Dr John Gallacher and David Gallacher of Cardiff University’s School of Medicine were asked to ponder the question of whether relationships are good for health. They argue that for a long time the benefits of marriage were based more on legend than on actual evidence.

According to their research, traditionally people thought marriage was a good idea and that nearly everyone was married, so it was hard to make a comparison. But over the last 30 years there has been a lot more social diversity which has made them able to make these evaluations. Dr Gallacher (himself happily hitched for 30 years) says that the bottom line is that medically speaking, the group with the greatest longevity are those who are married.

Their study involving millions of people, over many years, across seven European countries, showed that married couples had mortality rates 10-15 per cent below the population as a whole. This figure rises with the longevity of a marriage.

Their paper claims that commitment is also linked to higher living standards, with the associated network of supportive families, shared friends and healthy lifestyles bringing other substantial benefits. They also found that single men are likely to drink alcohol to excess more than their married counterparts.

Unfortunately their research also suggests that cohabiting relationships tend to be less enduring and statistically hasten the sad road to break-up and its resultant health problems.

Do you agree?

I wonder if the idea of flash mob weddings will catch on in South Africa?

Shoppers at the Prudential Centre in Boston were surprised recently when they discovered that suddenly out of nowhere they had became part of a wedding!

Bridal couple, Jon and Caroline’s view on weddings is that they should be fun and  they found a very unusual way to share their nuptials with their friends.

As well as all the necessary elements of surprise, their flash mob wedding at the busy shopping mall contained all the usual ingredients found at a wedding ceremony – white carpet, cute flower girl tossing petals, bride’s bouquet and a choir!

I was impressed to see that many of their 60 guests had been prepared to take part in a unique dance to the tune,  ‘Ain’t no Mountain High Enough’.

From start to finish the ceremony was over in about five minutes and after the wedding I’m sure some shoppers were still a bit bemused as to what exactly they had just witnessed!

I always enjoy visiting Silvermist Mountain Lodge as the views of the valley from their elevated position on the forested slopes of the  Constantiaberg Mountains are stunning. I was therefore delighted when they offered to host our recent Network Evening as it gave many of our service providers the chance to see all that Silvermist Mountain Lodge had to offer.

It was decided to hold the meeting in their Tree House venue which is set high up on the mountainside amongst the trees. The road leading up to  this pretty venue winds around the mountain and passes their newly established vineyards. This charming rustic venue can accommodate up to 60 guests and is the perfect spot for a small wedding. The lawns outside the venue, near the pool, are also a popular spot for outdoor wedding ceremonies. Their larger venue, Silvermist House, situated a little further down the mountain, is more suitable for larger functions as it can accommodate up to 120 guests.

When we arrived we were given a warm welcome by Silvermist’s function coordinator Charmaine Skolnic and our gaze immediately went to  a large beautifully set out table containing a variety of tasty canapes and drinks. Amongst the savoury items on offer was  also a tiered display of  deliciously decadent cup cakes and other sweet offerings.

The Network Evening was well attended with some service providers coming from as far afield as Somerset West and Paarl. After enjoying the delicious fare on offer I gave a short address covering various aspects relating to the wedding industry in South Africa. One of the big values these meetings  afford is that through these discussions certain trends and changes in the way the wedding industry is moving, not only in South Africa but also worldwide, are revealed which means service providers are much better equipped to act on them.

Candace Louw, the owner of Silvermist, then gave a very interesting slide show presentation highlighting all the facilities that they offered and their future development plans. In addition to the two function venues, Silvermist also offers accommodation in beautifully decorated suites and Candace mentioned that being able to offer accommodation on site to guests is one of the reasons Silvermist is very popular with overseas brides. Several service providers took advantage of their generous offer of reduced rates for bed and breakfast and spent the night at the lodge.

On Saturday morning, at around 9am, just after Celebration House had opened, a car with two young men roared up and parked in one of our parking bays. These bays are clearly marked as being reserved for visitors to Celebration House and we jealously guard them as we have heard just about every excuse in the book as to why we should allow members of the public the right to park in them. The reason we hear most often is:  ‘But, I’ll only be a minute!’.

As male visitors, without a female in tow, are not the usual visitors to Celebration House, I was a bit sceptical when the smartly dressed guy who got out of the car, politely told me his mission was very important and that he wouldn’t be very long. ‘Yeah, right’, I replied, ‘I’ve heard that one before!’

He then implored me to let him park outside Celebration House as he told me the suit he was wearing didn’t fit properly and he had to urgently visit the hiring company where he had got it from so they could adjust it for him.

Suddenly something inside my head clicked and I said: ‘You’re not perhaps getting married today?’ A broad grin confirmed my suspicion, ‘Yes, he replied, in two hours time!’

‘What are you waiting for?’ I shouted – ‘Run, go now’ and off the pair of them took, racing across the busy street.

They returned about twenty five minutes later, both of them now looking very dapper in their formal attire and roared off in their car.

I wish I had asked where the wedding was taking place, but I was much more eager to see them set off than to delay them in any way. I sincerely prayed that the ceremony wasn’t being held far out of town and that they would make it in time. Let’s face it – it’s usually the bride’s prerogative, because of delays in dressing, to arrive late for the wedding – not the grooms!

Celebration House Top Tip for Bridegrooms
The minute you get home with your hired outfit or any outfit that you have had altered in any way – TRY IT ON! If at all possible try on the garment at the hiring company or fetch it with time to spare, should per chance you find you find that you require any alterations.

Thank goodness, for the groom mentioned above, that he wasn’t getting married on a public holiday, ‘cos then he would really have been up the creek without a paddle!

At school we were always taught to strive to achieve the perfect mark of ten out of ten.

During the 1976 summer olympics in Montreal, Romanian Nadia Comaneci  further elevated the world’s obsession with the number ten and made history by becoming the first ever gymnast to be awarded the perfect score of 10 in an olympic gymnast event. Recently while watching a TV series, Dancing with the Stars, it was very apparent that receiving the magic score of 10 from the judges was what the celebrities taking part strived for most.

Is it little wonder then that the date 10/10/10 holds so much appeal that world wide last weekend it became such a popular wedding date?   From Las Vegas to Gretna Green in Scotland to Australia and Canada thousands of couples seeking the perfect wedding chose to marry on 10/10/10. Several news reports have predicted that in the United States alone more than 32000 weddings took place on this magical date. Amongst Asian couples in particular it held a lot of appeal as according to a Chinese wedding coordinator the number 10 means perfection in Chinese culture and apparently at Chinese weddings there are ten people at a table and ten courses served.

Even the controversial Rev. Sun Myung Moon got into the act in South Korea with a mass ceremony celebrating 1200 weddings and blessing 6000 couples who rededicated their marriages.

At another mass wedding of sixty couples in Beijing, the wedding ceremony for good measure, started at 10.10 in the morning.

Aside from the benefit of having a wedding date that will be hard to forget,  the date is also significant to those who love binary code which is supposedly the answer to the universe!

Only two other dates remain this century in which the day, month and year will be the same: 11-11-2011 and 12-12-2012 – I wonder if they will have the same appeal as 10-10-10?

We were delighted recently to receive a request from a young man, Gudani Nangammbi, asking for permission to propose to his girlfriend, Greta Clarence, at Celebration House. We were honoured by his request and of course had no hesitation in agreeing as we were eager to share in this happy occasion. Gudani had said that he wanted his proposal to be a surprise and Nic of NB Media kindly offered to design two large posters saying: ‘Greta will you marry me?’ We also had a smaller A4 poster with only her name and an arrow on it. The idea was for Greta to come around a corner at Celebration House, see the sign and follow it to the boards with the proposal posters on them.

On Saturday morning Gudani arrived at Celebration House along with Greta’s mom and a close friend and hid in one of the rooms. Greta, meanwhile had been on a mountain hike with a friend who managed to get her to agree to visit Celebration House. We had prepped all the other visitors to Celebration House as to what was about to happen and when Greta arrived the excitement in the house was tangible. We were amazed at how nervous we all were and couldn’t even begin to imagine how poor Gudani must have been feeling!

Photographer Clifford Alexander tucked himself out of sight into a corner of the room and with camera to hand was ready to capture the moment.

Although Greta was caught completely off-guard she had no hesitation in accepting Gudani’s romantic proposal. The couple’s engagement was celebrated by all with glasses of chilled bubbly and fresh strawberries.

We wish Greta and Gudani much happiness in the future and look forward to seeing them again soon at Celebration House.

A big THANK YOU to them both for allowing us to share in this special moment in their lives.

(For more photos please view our Facebook page)

A very big THANK YOU to the NH Lord Charles for hosting a Celebration House Network Evening at their large, well-appointed hotel in Somerset West.

Somehow, to those living in Cape Town’s southern suburbs, Somerset West seems to be far away, and yet on a busy weekday afternoon we were pleasantly surprised at how little time it took us to get there. We had decided to take advantage of the special accommodation offer that the Lord Charles had kindly made available to Celebration House service providers, and so arrived in good time to unwind a little before the meeting.

The hotel had laid on a generous supply of canapés, ranging from delicious smoked salmon, smoked chicken and sweet chilli to mushroom and sun-dried tomato, and these were thoroughly enjoyed by those attending. Other equally tasty fare on offer included smoked salmon and avocado maki rolls, deep-fried salmon and avo and goats milk cheese rolls.

The focus of the Network Meeting was the many changes the wedding industry had seen in the last few months, and ideas for the way forward. At the end of the meeting, Jaco du Plooy, Sales Executive at NH Lord Charles, supplied interesting information about all the facilities that the hotel offers and then gave us all a guided tour of the hotel and its many function rooms. The ballroom was in the process of a revamp and the painters were still hard at work when we arrived! It is certainly an impressive room, and capable of holding 350 guests. Interesting facts gleaned on our tour were that interleading function rooms can be adjusted to accommodate up to 700 guests, and that Halaal and Kosher menus can be catered for. The suites we were shown (one boasting an impressive four-poster bed), led onto the garden and had beautiful, sweeping views right to the sea. After dinner in the La Vigna restaurant with its most attractive modern layout, we retired to our rooms, where the mini-bar and its choice of chocolates proved to be too much of a temptation for some!

Breakfast was served in the attractive, bright and airy Garden Terrace restaurant, which had recently been revamped.  Jaco had told us that when the hotel was full, this room could be extended to accommodate all their guests. The breakfast choice was impressively wide, and some members of  our party made good inroads into the delicious pastries and fresh fruit and berries on offer, while others favoured the cooked breakfast alternative. As it was a weekday and work beckoned, we were unable to linger as long as we would have liked to, and all too soon had to bid farewell to Somerset West and head back to Celebration House in Claremont. Although our stay at the Lord Charles was short, we all returned to our desks feeling invigorated and ready to face the day!

More photos can be found on our facebook page.

On a cold winter’s night, the warmth of a beautiful fire was a most welcoming sight for service providers attending a recent Celebration House Network Evening, held in The Barn at Monchique. For many, it was the first time they had visited this venue, which is one of Cape Town’s little hidden gems. I was told to travel towards Hout Bay, and that exactly 2.2km from Constantia Nek I would find them on the right-hand side – and their directions were spot on!

While Monchique has much to offer summer brides, with its beautiful garden setting, mountain views and lawns to the river, it is just as attractive in winter. The large, tastefully decorated Barn with its huge fireplace (I reckon you could do a spit-roast in it!), provided a wonderful ambience for our meeting. I have never understood why more couples don’t get married in winter, as you can achieve such a romantic atmosphere with the use of a log fire and candles. Throughout the evening, I heard many service providers describing the venue as ‘magical’.

Owner Kathy Whittaker and her cordon bleu chef daughter Simone make a great team, and as I had often heard from brides who had married at Monchique about their great food and hospitality, I was  looking forward immensely to the evening. Needless to say, I was not disappointed. Before the meeting we were treated to an abundance of tasty snacks, from crudités to breads and pâtés, and after the meeting hot savoury items appeared. Vegetarians are often forgotten when savoury snacks are provided, but in this case the vegetarians among us were delighted that Kathy had taken her guests into consideration. In fact, the wide range of interesting fare we were offered – ranging from veggie quiches to filo pastry containing the most delicious spicy butternut filling – had us all oohing, aahing and reaching for more!

The  pleasant, friendly atmosphere, coupled with the allure of the fire and the fact that the hectic summer wedding season had ended, meant that everyone had more time to socialise, and the meeting ended far later than usual.

More photos can be found on our facebook page.

Photo by: Alexander Photography

The Cape Town Wedding Festival The Cape Town Wedding Festival was held in a stunning, glass-sided marquee at the V&A Waterfront this weekend – and what a wonderful weekend it turned out to be!

On arrival at the Festival, visitors were warmly greeted by Nic and Sue at the ticket desk and given their copy of the Festival Directory, which, in addition to containing all the names of those taking part in the event, also contained lots of other useful information.

The emphasis at the Festival this year was on the environment, and at www.weddingtree.co.za, the stand opposite the entrance, couples were encouraged to plant a tree to commemorate their wedding and in so doing, give something back to the planet. To spur them on, they were told that if they visited Celebration House, they would receive a 30% discount voucher on their purchase of an indigenous tree from Stodels Nurseries.

Displays in the Inspiration Zone showcased a variety of different ideas for wedding table decor and themes. These varied from the traditional, chic table layout to the ‘cluttered’ look of the vintage-inspired table, with its brightly-coloured, original vintage tableware. A layout that drew a lot of interest was the Social Consciousness table, encouraging couples to give back to the community by supporting local bead artists. The table demonstrated how to create a vibrant layout using beaded bowls and candle-holders. In the spirit of 2010, beaded soccer balls and vuvuzelas were included in the decor. Among the table gifts displayed were copies of The Big Issue, tied with red ribbon, along with an example of wording that could be used by a couple who wanted these as table gifts at their wedding.

Service providers experienced in all aspects of wedding planning were on hand to offer good advice to visitors, and the exhibitors ranged from photographers and videographers to venues, travel agents, chocolate fountain suppliers, flower wholesalers, marquee specialists, gents’ wear and more! As all those exhibiting at the Festival were members of WAHASA (The Wedding & Honeymoon Association of South Africa), visitors could be confident that these were names they could trust.

A highlight this year was the new format of the fashion show. This had been filmed on location at the Mount Nelson Hotel and was shown hourly on a big screen at the back of the marquee. (Watch www.celebrationhouse.co.za, where we will soon be showing snippets of the work of the various wedding dress designers featured.) In between shows, visitors were entertained by some of South Africa’s leading musicians, varying from jazz singers and trios to more classical performers.

Wedding wear on sale at bargain prices was too good to miss, and many brides-to-be could be seen trying on dresses at the designers’ stands. Plenty of changing rooms in the marquee meant there was no long wait for brides wanting to try on dresses.

Plans are already afoot for next year’s event, as we aim to ensure that it is even bigger and better than 2010!

Did you visit The Cape Town Wedding Festival?

Why should we visit The Cape Town Wedding Festival?

This might well be a question asked by couples getting married, so I decided to put together the many reasons why we think a visit to the Festival should be on the agenda of anyone planning a wedding.

Here are today’s 5 good reasons to visit The Cape Town Wedding Festival, at The Lookout marquee, Breakwater Boulevard, V&A Waterfront, from 17-18 April 2010:

1. All exhibitors at the Festival are there by invitation only and are either members of Celebration House, WAHASA (The Wedding & Honeymoon Association of South Africa), or are V&A Waterfront tenants – so you can be assured that you will be meeting people who are specialists in the wedding industry, and names you can trust.

2. Visiting the Festival gives you the chance to meet, face to face, the many service providers in the industry and to see first-hand what they have to offer, as well as how they present themselves.

3.  The Cape Town Wedding Festival is a very interactive event and our aim is for visitors to leave feeling inspired, with lots of interesting new ideas for planning their weddings.

4. At this year’s Festival, our designers have agreed to offer visitors the chance to purchase wedding dresses at greatly reduced prices (as much as 50% less!). Don’t miss out – this promises to be the Wedding Dress Sale of the year!

5. Looking for inspiration? Throughout the marquee we will be showcasing table layouts, providing visitors with great ideas for a variety of wedding themes, ranging from environmentally friendly to vintage.

Visit: www.capetownweddingfestival.co.za

More good reasons to follow soon!

Cape Town's biggest ever wedding dress sale!