Mishka Kadir

Bride: Mishka Kadir

Groom: Quaanit Bester

Location: Cape Town, South Africa

Wedding Date: June 14, 2015

Venue: Recreation centre in Observatory & Barrons Estate, Cape Town (we had two receptions, one hosted by groom’s family and the other hosted by bride’s family)

Number of Guests: Total of the two receptions, about 380 guests

Country or Cultures Represented: South African, but I (the bride) come from a mixed background, with my father being Indian, from Pietermaritzburg on the east of South Africa where there is predominantly Indians, and my mother is a Cape Town local, what we call “coloured” which is the equivalent to “mixed race” but they have become their own race now in South Africa. My husband, he is also a local from Cape Town. I am too, I just have mixed parents.

Description or Theme of wedding: Groom’s reception theme: DIY/ Rustic. Bride’s reception theme: White wedding.

The most memorable part of your wedding: The traditional ceremony, in the mosque. I stood behind all the men gathered there, and my husband walked towards me and greeted me for the first time as his wife. We then sat together and prayed alone, as man and wife. Also, another memorable thing was having most of my family, who could come from Pietermaritzburg, because I only ever see them once a year or so.

Did you do anything unique, crazy or fun: it was totally unplanned, but the venue messed up my décor so when I arrived to walk in to meet my guests they were all standing outside! Luckily, they didn’t see the wedding car pull up so my brother in-law, who was driving us, took us to McDonald’s and I sat in the car munching on yummy fries while we waited at McDonald’s for my guests to settle in at the venue! Very unexpected and such a fun memory!

What was the most difficult part about planning your wedding: The most difficult part was trying not to offend my parents and hurt their feelings. I am still a student and was very busy with exams during the wedding planning process. I finished my exams two days before my wedding, so most of the planning and organizing was done by my mother and father, while I was busy with academics.

What was the easiest part about planning your wedding: The easiest part of the wedding was knowing how I wanted the venue to look and making sure it happened that way.

Any words of wisdom to the couple planning their wedding: Just smile! If anything goes wrong, the best thing you can do is smile. No one knows that anything is not going according to the plan, only you do, so you don’t need to get upset about it. This was advice my husband gave me before the wedding.

Vendors:

Bride's attire: small, private dressmaker in Cape Town. The design was taking from Lebanese Designer, Krikor Jabotian. I wanted to be different and I love fashion!

Makeup: Me

Hair: My hair was covered with a headscarf because I am Muslim. My dressmaker made the head scarf

Groom's attire: hired his suit

Photographer: Sachi Saville Photography and Radz Photography

Wedding Planner: Parents and I

Wedding Decorations & Lighting: Provided by venue

Invitations: My husband and I designed it using Microsoft PowerPoint

Catering: Provided by venue

Transportation: Brother-in-law

Traditional clothes: my Indian family was quite involved- my father’s cousin made my traditional dress that I wore for the traditional ceremony in the morning before receptions; and my father’s sister in-law did the henna on my hands and feet

#SouthAfricanbride #Muslimweddings