Weddings

We have been organising weddings in Africa for over 12 years now and it is certainly one of the most wonderful and rewarding parts of our business as we become involved in probably the most important day of your life.

We are able to offer you a fantastic range of options relating to every aspect of your wedding with an expert, personal approach.

Please also see the wedding & honeymoon details on our Migration Safaris website.

The perfect wedding

Everyone has a different idea of their perfect day when it comes to getting married. We really understand this and we work very closely with you towards creating the most wonderful African wedding that lives up to your every expectation and more.

We have arranged many fabulous bush and lodge weddings (including our own) and we absolutely love doing them. It is a joy for us to be involved in the most important day of your life.

So many choices

We organise weddings at a choice of beautiful, remote locations in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Namibia.

Over the years, we have discovered some sensational places to get married, some incredible lodges from which to base your wedding and some equally fantastic honeymoon destinations.

Whether you choose a romantic bush wedding or an exclusive lodge ceremony you can rest assured that the whole thing will be impeccably organised.

We are experts at dealing with the 'red tape'...

 

The ceremony	Some couples prefer a civil ceremony and others a religious one so we are happy to arrange either and we can cater for many denominations. If you have been married before, some priests will not marry you - although a civil ceremony is always possible. Please speak to us and we will be able to advise you.
Rules & regulations	Each country has its own marriage laws and procedures, which are accompanied by a significant amount of red tape. We are very familiar with all the rules and regulations so we know what is feasible to arrange and at the same time, we are able to minimise the amount of time you have to spend on paperwork. Special wedding licenses are usually required and it is imperative that the formalities are completed correctly. We take this burden away from you so that you are free to focus on the more enjoyable aspects of your wedding.
A legal marriage	Importantly, all weddings we arrange are legal when you get home something that is not always the case when getting married abroad. When we got married, we were given a wonderful marriage certificate (above) from the Laikipia Region of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya.

 

The complete safari

We can only organise weddings as part of a fully inclusive safari (owing to the amount of behind-the-scenes activity to which we become committed).

We take care of your legal arrangements, marriage fees, wedding plans, safari and lodge requirements as well as your flights (where required ) and we can also organise your honeymoon.

Your guests

Some couples love the idea of escaping to Africa to get married in a totally private ceremony that’s just between the two of them. Others are keen to invite family and friends to join them. We can help with your guests’ arrangements, no matter how long or short a time they wish to spend in Africa.

We can offer good discounts if there are a number of you staying in the same lodge and we can even arrange for your wedding party to have the exclusive use of a lodge, its staff and facilities.

When you head off on your honeymoon, your guests may wish to extend their stay in Africa with their own safari or beach holiday and we can assist them with that too.

We have a wealth of experience organising multiple plans for wedding parties and if your guests choose to make their plans with us, they will benefit from our intimate knowledge of Africa and our professional care and attention not forgetting our competitive rates.

 

The important extras

We really are happy to help you with all the details and just because it’s an African wedding, it doesn’t mean you can’t have what you want.

You may want simple flower arrangements of local flowers or prefer to have stunning roses and lilies, which we can fly up from Nairobi or Johannesburg.

We can even provide you with a strikingly decorated multi-tier, traditional wedding cake.

The Night Before

You may wish to follow tradition and spend the night before your wedding in separate locations. We have organised some fabulous pre-wedding evenings for both the bride and groom and there are some wonderful options for you to consider.

Here are just some of the arrangements we have previously made for couples the night before their weddings;

• The groom and the male guests headed off into the bush with Maasai warriors for some sundowners and a dinner cooked on an open fire.
  
  Meanwhile, the bride stayed at the lodge with the female guests, where they headed off to the spa for some spoiling treatments before a candle-lit dinner by the swimming pool.
  
  
• At another wedding, the bride went to the local Kawaza village, where she was greeted by smiling local tribespeople. The ladies were very excited about her impending marriage.
  
  They adorned her with traditional beads, told her some of their stories and danced and sang for her. The groom set off from the lodge in a game-viewing vehicle and had a really enjoyable evening with several of the guides.

 

Your Wedding Day

The Bride

We know that you’ll want to feel a million dollars when you walk up to the altar on your wedding day.

You may like help with your hair or your nails. Maybe you’d like someone to do your make-up.

We can organise that for you - and arrange a practice run before the day.

Alternatively, you may simply opt for some out-and-out pampering before your wedding as so many of the lodges have fabulous spas offering wonderful treatments.

The wedding

African weddings are really exciting because there are so many great possibilities on the day. Here are some ideas:

• Go on a game drive to the ceremony (a lovely way to cope with pre-wedding nerves!)
• Go riding on the morning of your wedding or arrive at the ceremony on horseback
• Head off on a walking safari at dawn followed by a breakfast picnic in the bush, an amazing start to the day
• Leave the ceremony on a camel, an original going-away vehicle
• Have your wedding witnessed by Samburu warriors, something we felt was a real privilege when we got married
• Enjoy the singing and dancing of the Maasai to celebrate your marriage
  

You can understand why all the couples whose weddings we have arranged have had a really fun time in the planning stages!

Please also see our Migration Safaris website for further wedding details.

 

The Wedding Reception

After we got married we had a wonderful, sumptuous lunch underneath a huge acacia tree.

We were looked after by the Samburu warriors, who had given Meregan away and had witnessed our marriage.

We had champagne, delicious salads, smoked salmon and beef Wellington. Our wedding cake was the most fabulous, homemade cake beautifully decorated with our names.

We will tailor-make your reception to your exact wishes and can organise anything from a simple, romantic, bush picnic for two to a lavish party in the lodge with your family and friends.

The evening of your wedding

Again, what you do is totally up to you and we can help to arrange a memorable party on the evening of your wedding.

You may like to have drinks on the lawn of the lodge followed by an opulent dinner with your guests.

Alternatively, you could head off into the bush together for sundowners and enjoy the spectacular sights and sounds of the beautiful wilderness around you before returning to the lodge for a romantic, private, candlelit dinner on your balcony.

 

Your Honeymoon

We have created some really special honeymoons for people during the rest of their time in Africa. You can choose from a great range of options and through our experience of organising many different types of trips, we are perfectly placed to assist you.

Our previous honeymoons have included:

• an adventurous self drive safari across Botswana
• a luxury, fly-in, Tanzanian lodge-to-lodge safari
• a horseback safari on Malawi's Nyika Plateau
• a few days in a private villa on the Kenyan island of Lamu
• an indulgent week at a Seychellian spa hotel
• combination honeymoons involving safaris & beach stays

If you would like to discuss your wedding with us please contact Meregan Turner who will be delighted to help. She has been arranging African weddings for over 12 years and will be able to talk you through all the procedures as well as give you plenty of wonderful ideas to think about. Meregan will be pleased to put together a sample wedding itinerary for you, along with a quote and individual lodge brochures.