Like most rebellious teenagers at the time growing up in Cape Town, Gabi & James met at a "friend of a friend's" house party. After plucking up the courage after a few lukewarm beers (likely knicked from the parents' stash!), James made a beeline for this beautiful blonde sitting on a swing that immediately caught his eye. A long uncomfortable silence later, he introduced himself, and they got chatting for what felt like forever (it was 30 mins...). As she was leaving, he shouted after her, "do you want to go to the beach with me tomorrow!?" and, in her nonchalant way responded with "yeah sure, why not" James couldn't believe it, this beautiful human had actually said yes to a date with him. (Turns out, only he thought it was a date). They met the next day at Clifton 4th Beach, where James was full of confidence thinking he was going to try to steal a kiss from this beauty. But in true Gabi style, she kept him waiting until their 4th date (or Gabi's 2nd date, according to her), James eventually managed to get his kiss! And as they say, the rest is history... Now, it's actually the "how they met up for the second time" story that deserves a round of spicy margaritas to be told at the wedding...

Step 1. Tire her out with a hike in the beautiful mountains of Robertson wine lands. Briefly consider proposing on the mountain top, before realizing her fingers swell on hikes and there's no way the ring would fit... Step 2. Get her drunk (artfully disguised as champagne tasting) at Graham Beck wine farm Step 3. Take her on a photographic walk through the vineyard, get down on one knee, and immediately panic when she first yelps “no!” & runs away... Dec 21, 2020 - she (ultimately) said yes!

Don't you just love the romance and rush of immigration systems? Much to the dismay of the bride's Type A personality, our love story hasn't followed the meticulously planned out trajectory that society is used to. We've been thrown a ton of curveballs like international time zones, thousands of miles, and months apart for years -- but all contributors to the reason why we held off having our big celebration with YOU, our forever friends & family, in our favorite place in the world, where it will always truly be our home, Cape Town, South Africa. We're so thankful for the overwhelming support, patience & understanding for loving us through our atypical journey and we can't express in words how much it means to us that we will all be celebrating together... FINALLY!