A couple of Big Five and their close relatives showed up at a wedding I attended this weekend.
Festivities actually started on Friday afternoon, yep, they could not wait another day, and continued the next morning with an early morning game drive followed by a hearty breakfast.
I told my Hive friends about how wedding Celebrations evolved from simple affairs back in my day, when all and sundry were invited.
Nowadays lavish weddings are held at exclusive, remote venues, so getting an invitation is quite an honour.
My late hubby and I were invited to this wedding as both bride and groom grew up in front of our eyes. The bride, being family, was still in nappies and the groom was a little boy who used to come and play at our home, so we were really chuffed when we heard about a budding romance between these two special souls.
One of my besties accompanied me to the wedding which was held at Tala Game Reserve that is home to Rhinos, and some of their closest relatives, Zebras. Yep, that surprised me as well!
There are many other species of game such as Giraffes, Hippos, Wildebeest, Antelope like the Eland. plus a host of other animals, but only relatives were invited to come and take a peek at the wedding festivities ;)
Of course, some of my close relatives were there as well; cousins came all the way from New Zealand. Our family is spread across the globe as is the case with many South Africans!
Sadly, the Rhinos are dehorned to protect them from poachers, but whenever we spotted Rhinos, a game ranger with a rifle could be seen walking discreetly at a distance.
The Big Five visitors left the wedding venue but later that evening we were warned that two Rhinos were back, this time near the car park, and we needed to be careful. It was dark outside, and one could barely see them.
The stunning wedding cake was made by the groom's Mom. Don't you just love that phrase!
This wedding was no stiff formal affair, there were many fun moments like putting on large heart-shaped pink sunglasses while pulling faces so our photo could be taken for a fun TikTok video the bridesmaid is putting together.
We were all given cards to write a special message to the couple with our table number on it. We were table eight, so they would read our messages on their eighth anniversary.
We threw petals, formed a tunnel for a fake sparkler send-off which looked so pretty, but of course only the photographer got to take that photo!
I ended up giving them two gifts, one the 'real gift' which was a smoothie maker with ice lolly moulds; the second gift was something I promised the bride when we held the bridal shower, as those pesky flies wanted to join in the party. Have you noticed how flies never take any offense when trying to chase them, so the only solution is to cover the food with a food net, just like our grandmas did.
We got to bed late that night, catching up and getting to know the other side of the family as well.
The wedding was awesome, but our fun did not end when we said our goodbyes and drove out the gates of Tala, as we hit the road along the Midlands Meander. We visited Netherwood Farm's Blueberry Cafe to buy some homemade goodies to take back home, see the quirky decor, and peek into their 'loos with a view' where only the cows can see one. Then it was onto a goat's cheese farm high up in the mountains where I thought our vehicle would end up rolling all the way to the bottom and we'd be headline news the next day; it was a very bumpy and perilous ride indeed!
We landed safely both on the top of the mountain, and way back at the bottom. I was surprised to see so many visitors up there, despite that scary ride, but it may just be because once you start driving up, there's no turning back!
There were two more stops along the Midlands Meander before getting back to the hustle and bustle of the highway; our last stop was at a honey shop, where the bees were buzzing around the honey-on-tap, desperately in search of their Hive!
I was exhausted and happy to 'lay me down to rest' but took home fabulous memories of a very special wedding weekend!
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