MR & MRS NAIDOO |galagos cullinan wedding - Izelle Labuschagne Lifestyle Photography

Evasen and Celia are the sweetest, kind-hearted couple and it was such a pleasure capturing the moments on their wedding day. They had a Hindu wedding ceremony on the 10^th of February 2013 at Galagos Country Estate, a lush forest venue just outside Pretoria. They kept things simple with a wedding theme that Celia describes as “East meets East and then swings by West”. There are so many special elements in this wedding; I absolutely adored the beautiful colours during the ceremony and the fact that both bride and groom had exactly the same surprise for each other during the reception: videos from friends and family from all over the world!

I asked Celia to describe how/when she knew Evasen was the one:

“I’ve never met a more extraordinary human being. I think it became clear to me that he was the one when I realized that he was always there for me, no matter what happened or what time of day it was, he always responded in a calm and caring manner. To this day, he’s still the same.”

Celia also shared the story of how Evasen proposed to her:

“He proposed in Mozambique. I am afraid of heights, so when he asked me if I wanted to watch the sunset from the rooftop of the hotel, I was very weary, but he was very adamant. To be honest, it was very much a blur because I was terrified. All I remember is we climbed up the stairs, I was ready to come back down when we got up there, next thing I knew he was on his knees!”

Mrs Naidoo shared some advice for future brides & grooms:

“I never thought I’d say this, but all the advice past brides gave me are all true! So even though every bride will have heard this from someone at some point, I’m going to repeat it again:

Enjoy the process; plan as much as you can in advance because it’s going to get really busy right before the wedding. Your wedding day is going to go by in a flash, so try to find some time to take it all in, because a year’s worth of planning is going to fly by like you wouldn’t believe it! Last, but not least, take 10 minutes out of your wedding day to spend alone with your husband. It meant the world to us when we were hidden at the top of the staircase waiting to make our surprise entrance and we had a few minutes to ourselves just to breathe everything in. Those were the best 10 minutes that I’ll always remember.”

What was your favourite part or things about your wedding?

“The venue – it was just breathtaking and the staff, especially Eugene and Yolanda, made everything effortless. All we had to do that day was sit back, relax and enjoy, they took care of everything else. What amazed us most was that they went above and beyond our expectations with everything from decor to food.”

Is there anything else you would like to add?

“We’ve been spoiled by our friends and family from the beginning. It wasn’t easy to go through six years of long distance between Canada and South Africa and to only see each other once a year. But we had the insurmountable support of those close to us. We honestly couldn’t have made it without everyone’s help. I do have to say though, that I couldn’t have gone through this if it wasn’t Evasen on the other end. During those six years, it didn’t matter if I called him at 3pm or 3am, he always answered the phone ready to listen and to help me deal with whatever problem that came up. What I fell in love with in this man wasn’t just a fairytale, but it was reality. I am truly the luckiest girl on earth!”

Congratulations, Mr & Mrs Naidoo, thank you for making us a part of your gorgeous day!