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A wedding under African skies

By Genevieve Richards

When South African friends of mine living in London decided to get married they had no hesitation in deciding to get married “at home, in South Africa”.  They wanted a real “African wedding” and set about organising things from London, which is no mean feat, let me tell you.  The date was set, the photographer and minister booked and they had yet to decide on a venue.  They didn’t want the usual church wedding with Country Club reception, or even a beach or garden wedding. They had their hearts set on getting married surrounded by friends, family and local wildlife…in the middle of the African bush!

Amazingly enough, the biggest dilemma was where to actually have the wedding….and eventually they settled on Tala Private Game Reserve. Tala is a 7,000 acre privately owned wildlife conservancy and game reserve a mere 45 minutes from Durban (which is on South Africa’s east coast).  In addition to hosting weddings and conferences, Tala offers several outdoor activities including game drives, bass fishing and bird-watching; and different styles of accommodation (from rustic a frame huts with communal bathrooms to middle of the range rondavels with indoor bathroom and share kitchen, to luxury lodges with all mod cons, albeit no electricity just gas).  It therefore seemed the perfect venue.

The day of the wedding duly arrived awash with both sunshine and the expectedly high temperature (February is Durban’s hottest month, with temperatures constantly hovering around the 28°C mark, and with an average of 80% humidity!)

The wedding ceremony was held on the deck of the Acacia venue, overlooking a dam and with two rhinoceros in the adjoining grassland. Many a nervous glance was cast their way and after a while they thankfully wandered off in the opposite direction.

After the ceremony the wedding party went off for the photographs, and the other guests mingled on the terrace over sundowners before moving inside for the reception.  Decorated in a truly African fashion the room was beautiful. From the huge fairy light chandeliers, to the ethnic table cloths, table decorations and wedding favors it was a sight to behold. 

Following the speeches and delicious supper the dancing began and carried on until the small hours of the morning, when those who were not staying the night at the reserve began to leave and make their way home.  For those of us who were staying over (roughly 30 out of the 100 guests), the party carried on until there was just a handful of people left, the bride and groom included!  No sloping off early for them, it was their party and they intended to enjoy every last minute of it!

We had been told by Tala that when we wanted to leave the venue to go to our accommodation rangers would be on hand to drive us back.  This is an undeniably sensible idea because not only are the different lodges and cottages a fair distance from the wedding venue, but there are of course no street lights (or streets for that matter!) to help us get our bearings and find our way.  That is why it still amazes me that we decided to forgo the invitation of a guide and hopped into our cars intent on making it home ourselves.  An hour later, and after passing the signs saying “Deliveries only”, we finally agreed that we were well and truly lost.  Then, still in convoy, we backtracked only to find the rangers patiently sitting outside the wedding venue waiting for us…something tells me this happens frequently!

The bride and groom (Jo and Darren) were escorted to their luxurious lodgings, called Paperbark lodge, where they slept in a four posted bed and enjoyed all the mod cons of the modern world while being in the middle of nowhere!

Finally we made it to our respective campsites, lodges and rondavels, in my case after a very long and bumpy ride down a dirt track, and promptly fell asleep only to be woken for breakfast minutes later (or so it seemed!).  After a quick shower we ventured outside only to be met with rainfall and a dark sky – thank goodness the weather had held for the wedding!    

While we were all having breakfast the rain cleared and the sun peeked through the clouds so by the time we were ready to leave Tala it was another gorgeous African day and perfect for a drive around the reserve to see which animals we could spot. Tala is home to kudu, hippo, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, rhino and ostrich but unfortunately we only got to see some kudu, giraffe and zebras.  It was still a great thrill to be so close to them and see them in their natural habitat though.

Bio:
Genevieve Richards was born and educated in South Africa and has lived in London since 1995. A graduate in public relations and journalism, she has now branched out into freelance writing.

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