Monday, September 26, 2016

YOUNG, ANOINTED AND MARRIED - A Pastoral Wedding





Exactly one year later I finally manage to upload pictures to this blog-post.So this is also a way of saying happy on year anniversary to these awesome people in our lives.

Just having Fun
The 26th September 2015 was a day we anticipated and looked forward to last year because two special young people were getting married. Two people who are more like siblings to most of us than just friends, a young, beautiful and God-fearing Onica Sigasa and a young, talented, called and anointed Teboho Sengoai. This couple has been serving together in the same department as my husband and I at our local church. I had known the groom closely as he was friends with my husband and he was actually one of our groomsmen at our wedding. So this time the roles were changed and my husband was honoured the opportunity to be one of his groomsmen.

The Groom and his groommen

I have always known Onica as this sweet, friendly and very byoung looking teacher who was dedicated to serving in Children's Church ministry. I just knew that for our brother Teboho to decide to make her his wife, her beauty was really skin-deep. I have been to weddings of my friends who serve with use or in other departments at our church and their weddings were indeed blessed ceremonies. This one was just special on another level. This came just at the best time of the couple's lives.


The Couple and me in the background at our other couple friends' home

Here is why.... 

Ps. Teboho Sengoai
Our groom, Mr. Sengoai, had just been commissioned as a pastor together with my husband and his other groomsman, Mr. Simangaliso Ngidi, who is also our close friend. They were also joined by one special and anointed servant of God as well as our mutual friend, or rather brother, Mr. Lesley Nkosi. One of the bridesmaids was also engaged to be married to one of our pastors who had also been commissioned with the other pastors. The bride's make up was flawlessly done by one of our lady pastors, not pastor's wife but a pastor who was also commissioned with these men I  mentioned. How blessed is that to have a pastor touch your face and make you look flawlessly beautful. Wowwww!!!! Indeed our bride looked like she went to heaven and came back with a heavenly glow. The wedding cake was made by one of our older pastor's wives. She did exquisite work.This was indeed a pastoral wedding.


Cake by Mrs. Nonhlanhla Phake

So here comes the actual reason for this post, the bridesmaid's garments. I had the previledge of designing them. The colour scheme was my favourite colour, red!!!! I made the three bridesmaids, red dutchess satin dresses draped wth matching red chiffon. The dresses were meant to be simple and quick as the decision to get them made came late. Instead I ended up designing dresses accordng to each individual's charecter which took me over 10 hours per dress. I also had to make them Seshoeshoe dresses for the traditonal wedding as well as for the bride, groom and grromsmen.


Oh by the way, my husband's assistant photographer, who is his nephew, was one of the photographers, which was a service our company did as a special gift to the newly weds. It was a beautiful, blessed and perfect wedding of a young, called and anointed couple, Mr. and Mrs. Sengoai.



I had a very exhaustive and difficult two weeks having to go buy fabrics in Lenasia and in the CBD as well as babysit our son, make the dresses and arrange appointments for fittings. I had hired an assistant but because I still had to do the cutting and intructing her what to do it still took a lot out of me. By the grace of God I finished. I never had time to make my own dress so I had to make one in the morning. The only fabric I had available was red in colour which made me match with the bridesmaids unintentionally.
I happened to wear the same colour as the bridesmaids


 


Wednesday, January 27, 2016

A BEAUTIFUL TSONGA WEDDING



If there's one particular culture which I love it's garments, it's the Tsonga culture. I love their bright greens, yellows, cerise pink and blues that are most of the time all mixed as flowers and dots on one plain colour fabric. Like for example, yellow and pink and blue flowers on green.


Growing up when a person wore more than two colours they were said to be wearing Tsonga tradition. But now that I'm grown I love all their colours. These people must be duped the inventors of colour-blocking followed by the Pedi culture. This is one tradition I enjoy dressing up for during our Heritage Month celebration at church.

It was such an honour and pleasure to design for a Tsonga Cultural Wedding last year in October. I had the privelege of dressing the bride, her groom, her two sons and a daughter, her older sister and sister's daughter. The bride's name is Dudu. A beautiful Tsonga woman who was so easy to dress. She was brought to me by her sister Gloria whom I know from gym. These two ladies are indeed beautiful inside and out. Dudu had no idea what she wanted to wear as she was complaining about her weight which she gained after giving birth to her then 9month old fraternal twins, a boy and a girl. We did eventually find a design that was perfect for her. A yellow and blue fish-tail cut skirt and a matching white linen peplum top.



For Dudu's husband I made him a white linen shirt detailed with a blue Tsonga fabric. I made a matching shirt for their older son and a matching romper for the younger son (one of the twins). For their daughter I made a pink tulle dress with the Tsonga fabric as the top part of the dress.







I made Gloria, Dudu's sister a purple Tsonga fabric dress as she requested but then she was not excited about it. So i made her a blue Tsonga peplum top with a matching skirt. For her 13 year old daughter I made her a tulle skirt which she wore wit a yellow Tsonga top.
Gloria's daughter carrying Dudu's daughter

Cousins in Tulle
Sisters and their aunty


Despite the fact that I worked through out the day till the next day I really enjoyed this project. I don't have to say much as the pictures will speak better than I would write as my husband brought his camera happily
snapped away the beautiful event and people.


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The bride Dudu now dressed in the origal Xitsonga



Monday, January 4, 2016

A WEDDING OF HAPPY ENDINGS

2015 was somehow my year of making Sepedi garments. It was as if Bapedi people were referring each other to me. Oh but what a beautiful tradition this is with brigh colours and embroidery. I was entrusted with designing Sepedi outfits for my former colleague Wendy on her traditional wedding day as she was being married by her sweetheart Ezra. Their white wedding was the day before so the traditional wedding was actually the welcoming of the bride by the groom's family. Wendy is actually Zulu by origin and therefore they also had a Zulu traditional event at the bride's family home to  welcome the groom just the day before their wedding day. The groom is Mopedi (Nothern Sotho) and so Wendy and her bridesmaids had to wear Sepedi-inspired dresses.

My aquaintance with Wendy goes as far as 2007 when I met her as a friend of my friends. We thern got to meet again in 2009 through mutual friends who were my colleagues then and happened to be her former colleagues. One of those friend's of mine is Nomfundo who was my first client last year just after my maternity leave. I made her an outfit fo her 30th birthday.

Wendy and Nomfundo
I had do watermark my pictures because some people take my pictures and work and use as their own.
Wendy and Thuli

Here I am with the Wedding Entorouge



The Bridesmaids


Nomfundo
The Lovely Couple


Wednesday, December 23, 2015

A HAPPILY EVER AFTER AND FOREVER KIND OF MARRIAGE

This one is a beautiful love story about a Princess who was living in her Father's Kingdom doing all that pleases her Father. Then she met with a Queen from far away who told her about her son who was a Prince. The Queen arranged for the two royal prince and princess to meet and walla just like a fairy tale, the two fell inlove.


I know this sounds like a fairytale but in reality Temogo and Bongani Zondi are the children of the Most High King who is God and both have had the blessing of being raised by God. Their story is beautiful and even their wedding was of Royalty. I got to know about Mr. Zondi through his wife's beautiful writing. Check her blog http://timorapple.blogspot.co.za/2014_06_01_archive.html


Temogo had given me the priveledge of making her bridesmaids' dresses as well as her mother's dress. Her colour was the first time I've ever heard of, cypress green. She brought me a sample of fabric to match it. I have never made so many trips for so long to find the exact colour. It was not emerald green and not even avocado, nor bottle green but cypress green. I finally found the fabric in the colour required but all different fabrics at different shops. The fabric for the dress bottom at Pay and Save in Lenasia; the tulle for the inside skirt at HRN in Lenasia on another side, the lining at Chamdor in Roodepoort and then because I could not find the lace for the top at Oriental Plaza, Market street and at 109 Plein I had to go back to HRN. I found the lace in the same colour though embroidered with a bit of gold. I also had to go back and buy cream wite ribbon for their belts.

The bride and her younger sister
Mother and her daughter




Sisters united in prayer

 Mr. and Mrs Zondi's pictures were just also so breathtaking I could not choose which to post so I posted all their pictures I got from Mrs. Zondi's Album by permission.


I love this picture





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Mother of the bride in a dress by ForeverFaith Couture


And they are living happily ever after. Read their love story here: http://timorapple.blogspot.co.za/2014_07_01_archive.html