Make way! Huzzah! It’s time to introduce you to the second of our current season of real life brides – don’t worry, we haven’t lost Candice just yet, but while she’s off adding finishing touches to her planning, it’s time to meet RLB #2, Liana. Like many of our readers, Liana has had the challenge of planning her Cape wedding from abroad – not the easiest of tasks! We’ll be hearing all about her ideas and inspirations, and how she’s overcome the distance challenge over the coming weeks, but for now, let’s make her feel welcome and hear all about how she and fiancé Chris met.

 

They say curiosity kills the cat. Well, I’m the cat then. Because not knowing what’s going to happen absolutely kills me. And so it was with our engagement. My fiancé (Chris) and I have spoken about getting married a few times over the past few years, but in the months leading up to our engagement he was becoming very vague. I was starting to seriously wonder whether he was ever going to ask me and he was playing it cool – which, of course, drove me nuts.

It all began in 2007. I was at the end of my second year of studying and after four weeks of writing exams and trying to pack up my flat at the same time, I wasn’t too keen when I got invited to a braai by some friends. Eventually I decided to go “for one drink” because I hadn’t seen them in a while and the long December holidays were lying ahead. I hadn’t been there for long, when Chris arrived. He immediately sparked my interest. To my disappointment, he went and sat at the other end of the table and we didn’t actually speak to each other the whole night.

I was just getting ready to leave, when he unexpectedly stood up and walked straight to me. He then proceeded, in broken English, to invite me to a night in town with him and his friends. Being a little sceptical I said I’d go if my friend could come along. So off we went. (May I add here, that he was driving an ancient VW Golf, the exhaust of which was broken at the time, and I still got into the car with him!?)

We ended up seeing each other every day after that during my last week in Stellenbosch before leaving for the holidays. Upon leaving, I gave him a long kiss and figured I would probably never see him again. Little did I know… Chris left on a trip through Africa shortly thereafter and bought a simcard in each country he went to so that we could stay in touch. I fell crazy in love.

We both returned to Stellenbosch and so we got to know each other, with the beautiful winelands in the background. We eventually set up home together and adopted two pets – Flopsy, our super soft rabbit and Roxy, our spunky Jack Russell.

In June this year, we were on a gondola in Italy’s beautiful Venice when Chris popped the question. Of course, I said YES!!

Chris comes from Germany, which is where we’ve relocated during this year. But both being big SA lovers, we’ve decided to get married on African soil. This does have an effect on the logistics and planning but so far we’re managing well and having loads of fun with it.