Creating a wedding website is cheesy business… although it does come in handy in an age where lot’s needs to be communicated to guests from all over the world, while the bride and groom themselves are shacked up in another country… pheww! Oh and it also saves the trees and some moola… win win! But do you know what's even more cheesy? Writing about your love story and sharing it in such a public forum. If you had asked Danni, at 25 years old, if she ever imagined gushing over wedding dresses, vows and flower arrangements, let alone, posting her & Louis’ love story publically… she probably would have laughed out loud before firmly answering “uh…NO!” But then she met Louis and that’s the thing about love. It puts you in touch with parts of yourself you never knew were there. So, since the website had the option, indulge us, as we tell you how we met and a little bit about our life together so far. Here goes…
Some may say we met in a really romantic twist of fate but I guess that depends on your definition of “romantic”. Perhaps it really was fate though, as neither of us expected to meet the love of our lives in the wee hours of the morning in a bar in 2014. We were on an ordinary, jolly night out with friends in Greenside - the local hang-out spot at the time, for young Joburgers often on the prowl for an easy hook-up. Louis didn't really have a choice but to use his quietly confident charm and good looks (ok, fine and maybe some Dutch courage) to strike up a conversation with Danni. You see, Louis friends were all a little…shall we say…“preoccupied”, if you know what I mean, (some even with Danni’s friends wink wink..) and a guy standing alone in a bar is really not a good look. But Louis insists that Danni’s “striking blue/green eyes” were what really enticed him to introduce himself to her. Danni, on the other hand, was unimpressed. As the “dezzy dave” of the night, after hours of dancing and bar hopping, she was ready for some Maccy-D’s and her bed… quite the opposite of being chatted up by a stranger in a bar who had lost his mates to some girls. However, what a surprise… no cheesy pick-up lines… no attempts at stealing a kiss…no premature requests for her number. Rather, Danni found herself absorbed in a long conversation about music, festivals, their mutual love for Red Hot Chili Peppers and some of their dreams for the future. Safe to say, Danni didn't pull the usual trick of fibbing about the last digit of her phone number that night.
Looking back, it may have been a little mad to begin a new relationship at the start of Danni’s Masters - known as one of the most experientially and personally challenging years of study as a Clinical Psychologist. But somewhere in the midst of moving in together a year in; writing board exams and Louis being admitted as an attorney; an intense psych internship at JHB Gen and Baragwanath Hospital; periods of unemployment; close family moving overseas and the loss of Danni’s Dad, Mark and her grandad, Dave… our relationship, although pushed to it’s limits, flourished into a beautiful, honest union. As they say, no rain… no flowers. There were also weekends away, braais on the 151 balcony, far too many laughs (and drinks) with friends, countless walks and runs in Delta Park, exploring new countries together, milestone birthdays, Louis’ dad jokes, graduations, holidays, music festivals, home cooked meals, vulnerable conversations and lots and lots of dreaming. Somewhere in between it all, we created a pretty amazing life together.
So four years later, a day after Danni’s birthday in 2018, Louis took the plunge and asked her to marry him on a surprise weekend away in Knysna. When he went down on one knee, Danni confusedly thought Louis had fallen over…maybe dropped something, who knows?… and she tried to help him up. But she quickly cottoned on and… well… it was the easiest question to answer, of course. Since then, trying to actually get married has not been very easy.
Just one worldwide pandemic and an emigration to the UK (at the height of Covid in SA) later and not only did we need to postpone our wedding celebrations by a year, we also decided to legally get married before moving overseas. We felt it was really important to move forward in life as we had planned, despite the world going mad and we really wanted to start our lives together in the UK as a married couple. On 12 December 2020, we shared an unexpected but truly intimate and special wedding day (Part 1 ;)) together, with two witnesses and a handful of guests on Zoom, in the beautiful KZN Midlands.
We’ve stepped into many roles for one another over the years and have given each other the support and courage to achieve things we would never have achieved alone. We’ve been each other's pandemic partner, lockdown-work-colleague, study buddy, confidante, cheerleader, soundboard, nurse, lover and best friend. We are so pleased and incredibly excited to ask you all, our nearest and dearest family and friends, to witness as we say our vows and join hands in a role that includes all of the above and more… husband and wife!
Wedding Day PART 2, here we come!