While Maria lived in Brighton and Nick in Woodley, Maria’s friend turned out to be the link - and it was bull’s eye!  Maria joined her friend one evening to play darts for a pub in Woodley, The Woodley Yeoman, and joined their team as they needed more players. The pub was Nick’s local and he was a regular there with the rest of his football team mates.

After many weeks of all their friends trying to get them together, Maria was the one who made the first move: “We were both guests at my friends wedding and I plucked up the courage to ask Nick to dance. He said yes so we started dancing. We danced to about two lines of the song when Nick’s friend tapped him on the shoulder and told him it was his turn to buy the drinks! Nick said sorry and proceeded to leave me on the dance floor! At this point I really never thought we would end up getting married. But Nick redeemed himself, apologised and we danced together for the rest of the evening. That was the beginning of our eight year courtship!”

So when did Nick pop the big question? Nick surprised Maria with a trip to Barcelona for her birthday. “I had no idea he was going to propose. Nick had booked a table at a beautiful Spanish Seafood Restaurant for dinner. During dinner he pulled out a ring and asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes, but I was in total shock (thought I had food poisoning for about a week as I felt sick) so even after eight years, these things still can come as a fantastic surprise.”

Maria and Nick thought their big day (which took place on 13 November 2007) was fantastic, Maria says: “Everything we ever dreamt of, or could have ever imagined. The day went by so quickly, we tried to follow our coordinator’s advice and take time to look around and soak up the day but there were so many amazing things happening that we felt we could have carried on for another few days! It was like a total fairytale.”  While Nick experienced it as quite an emotional affair… “The moment I saw my soon-to-be wife appear I could not hold back the tears. She was such a vision of beauty and coupled with the stunning location it made me realise that we had done the right thing in getting married in South Africa.”

Guests enjoyed light pre-ceremony drinks on a deck overlooking the dam at Le Jardin. From there they moved to the Ceremony which was the grass area at the dam. The service was followed by pre-dinner drinks on the porch and surrounding grass areas by the main house.  Here everyone enjoyed Bobotie Spring Rolls with a Date and Fig Dipping Sauce, seared Fillet rolled around Chilli Harissa Goat’s Cheese and Rocket, served on forks, Cajun Prawn Skewers in a sweet Chilli Vodka Shot accompanied by Kir Royales.

The reception was held on the lawns in front of the Manor House in a chic Bedouin tent.  After all the speeches, starters and mains were taken care of – guests were invited to view a breathtaking display by fire spinners – definitely one of the highlights of the evening. Then back into the tent for the couple to cut the cake and to open the dance floor to Aerosmith’s “Don’t want to miss a thing”.

Looking back, Maria and Nick had so many “best moments” that not one can be pinpointed, but if pushed, it was when they just signed the wedding certificate … “Aleit brought us both a glass of champagne and we walked out on to the terrace to greet our guests. It was the best moment for me as I thought - ‘I am finally Mrs Romero!’ All our friends and family were waiting to greet us (with huge smiles across their faces) and it was time to relax and just have some fun.”

One of Nick’s favourite moments was during dinner: “The way Maria and I changed tables after every course, enabling us to spend quality time with all of our guests was one of my fondest memories.  I truly believe all our guests enjoyed it as well.  With the smaller wedding party it worked perfectly.”

“Aleit and his team are sheer professionalism, every small detail was attended to without making us aware of any problems, to us the wedding was seamless. The coordinator that Aleit matched us with was amazing. We really felt like we connected with her, she took all our dreams for our wedding and turned them into reality, which is something that we could have never achieved on our own.”

Advice to future Brides and Grooms:

• Book The Aleit Team - it will be the best money you'll ever spend!
• Try not to be nervous, looking back on our day I was, and there really was no need.  Rest assured Aleit will have everything under control. Remember you are marrying the woman or man you love, and nothing else matters!