Jenna and Gerhard and a missing bridesmaid

A missing bridesmaid and dropped wedding cake may have reduced some brides and grooms to tears but Jenna Watson and Gerhard Schoeman are made of sterner stuff. The couple met in a night club where Jenna was part of a hen party and her bunny girl costume, particularly the tail, attracted South African Gerhard’s attention. Jenna admits that his taut backside was also a major attraction for her!

Gerhard first asked Jenna to marry him while the couple were on holiday in Mexico, but a combination of nerves and too much sun resulted in a less than romantic proposal following a row and Jenna suggested it might be better to ask her again when they were in a better frame of mind. 

She happily accepted his proposal when he came home from working a night shift and simply asked her to be his wife. The wedding was planned for six months later and Jenna’s organisational skills were put into practice.

Everything was soon booked and arranged, Jenna found her perfect dress in the seventh bridal shop and the bridesmaids Jessica and Nicola were delighted with their stunning red dresses. The men had chosen smart matching suits with colour co-ordinated cravats and waistcoats and the final countdown to the wedding was underway.

The girls decided on a hen trip to Naples but a day or two before they were set to leave, disaster struck. Jenna’s chief bridesmaid, her brother Sean’s partner Marlene, was returning from a skiing holiday. An American citizen she had lived and worked in the UK for several years and travelled extensively across Europe but she was stopped at passport control and told there was a problem with her visa. Marlene was send back to America with no chance of making the hen trip, for which she had the tickets, or more importantly the wedding. A flurry of calls and emails meant that the girls could still go to Naples without her but she would not be at the wedding.

Gerhard’s mum, brother and best friend back in South Africa were also having problems obtaining visas and he asked his Usher Geoff to step up as best man.  He was saddened that his family were unable to be at the wedding but happy with friends rallying round. A speech was sent over for Geoff to read so that there would be some links with his family and friends back home.  

A day or two before the wedding a phone call from Gerhard’s mum revealed, to his delight,  that she had been granted an emergency visa  and she would be flying into Heathrow on the morning of the wedding!

On the big day Gerhard was dispatched to the airport and Jenna was left to oversee the arrangements at the hotel. As the bridal suite was not ready she decided to check the reception area.  The stunning flower arrangements made by Ann Watson were simply beautiful and Jenna was starting to believe that everything would go to plan when the wedding cake arrived. A four tiered confectionary delight with four different flavoured layers became a three tier cake when the caterer accidently dropped the lemon tier. Jenna’s mum arrived to the chaos of cake with Jenna consoling the tearful baker.

 “I just laughed” Jenna explained. “There had been so many silly things go wrong and my chief bridesmaid was missing so a dropped cake seemed very unimportant.”

The Wedding was finally underway but a further glitch presented itself when the recorded wedding march began to jump and Jenna and her dad had to do without the music.

The wedding itself though, was perfect. Jenna looked stunning and Gerhard’s happiness as they made their vows was the highlight of the day for the bride.

“I can only really describe it as a sparkly blur.” she told me. “The day went so fast, I loved the speeches, which were really funny.  We danced our first dance to the romantic If I Knew Then by Lady Antebellum and the evening went by in a whirl. Marlene was a guest by Skype. I was lucky enough to have my family with me including my lovely Nan Grace and my Grandad Arthur who is known as Grand, as well as my mum and dad. Gerhard’s mum being there was the icing on the cake.”

“It was so lovely to see everyone enjoying themselves and our DJ, Ash from Floor Fillers kept everyone up dancing all evening.”

The new Mr and Mrs Schoeman enjoyed a romantic honeymoon in the Maldives and Jenna is looking forward to spending another evening wearing her wedding dress when Marlene finally gets her visa approval and can wear her bridesmaid dress.