Alex and Mary Ann

Alex & Mary Ann are both Malayalee’s with their parents being from Kerala, India. Alex was brought up in East London, South Africa and Mary Ann born and raised in Düsseldorf, Germany.

They met first in 2017 when Mary Ann came to South Africa for a wedding of her cousin and something told both, that they would spend the rest of their lives together. After a year they got engaged in Alleppey, Kerala with a big engagement celebration on the banks of the famous backwaters with relatives in attendance – since it was clear they want to get married in beautiful South Africa. By chance both are Mar Thoma Christians and wanted to get married in their denominations’ first church in Africa located in Pretoria, South Africa – being the first wedding at the newly built church.

Remarkably close by they found “The Blades” – a hotel and wedding venue on the banks of the Roodeplaat Dam. Their vision was to unite their roots and cultures, being authentic and to show and include their families and friends from all over the world so that everyone genuinely enjoys the festivities. From choosing cream white & gold traditional Indian lehenga and sherwani, combining the traditional ceremony including the Minnu and wedding saree Manthrakodi with individual written vows read aloud, designing their own stationery and décor items e.g. with personalised scratch cards and thereby gave the entire event their own signature and flavour. Their programme included songs performed by a friend, speeches and a dance medley fusing German, Hindi and South African songs culminating up in a group performance with the whole wedding crew. After a great party night, they ended up with their close friends at the boma under the stars inhaling all the magic of the South African skies and reviewing all wonderful moments of this incredible wedding.