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Zanie Ferreira (29) never wanted to get married until she met her new husband, Jonathan Ferreira (35).
They are non-conformists and choose to do things differently. In fact, their relationship started off in an unconventional manner as they met on Twitter and dated long-distance before Jonathan popped the question nine months later. Both had been single for five years before their romance started.
Zanie was working in Europe at the time but they managed to make their relationship work.
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For their wedding, they knew from the onset that they wanted something classy with elegant flowers, but not a white dress. “Wearing a white dress represents virginity, purity, and virtue, which I do not subscribe to. So, it would have been a nightmare for me to wear a white dress. Black made my skin pop,” says Zanie.
Since Jonathan was in South Africa at the time, he did the planning and searched for venues. After they looked at the costs of the preparations, the couple felt they did not want to spend R100 000 on a wedding when they could just do something simple and avoid starting their marriage on debt.
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Zanie’s parents were not happy at all with her decision and a lot of words were thrown at her for not having a traditional Christian wedding. It didn’t help that their families only found out about the upcoming wedding only a day before it actually happened.
“We sat our families down and told them we were getting married on the following day. They were disappointed but in the morning they all pitched, even Jonathan’s family from Port Elizabeth,” says Zanie.
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On the morning of their wedding day Zanie did her hair and makeup, then put on her black dress which she bought in Europe. Jonathan wore a black suit. They then went to the Department of Home Affairs to make their union official and after the ceremony they went to have lunch with family.
They only exchanged their vows at a later stage, privately at their honeymoon.
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Zanie feels proud of herself for not following society’s opinion about how weddings should be. “People forget that at the end of the day it is about what the two of you want. The family and friends will not be there when we are faced with financial struggles,” says Zanie.
What do you think about this unconventional way to get married? If you were a family member how would you have felt with being invited to the wedding a day prior? Share your thoughts with us here.
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