It’s hailed as the local wedding of the decade, an opulent affair in which one of South Africa’s most popular singers marries the woman of his dreams.
Kurt Darren has given petite model Dunay Nortjé the wedding day she’s always wanted.
Some 5 000 metres of fabric, 50 000 blooms, 3 000 crystals and more than 1 000 candles were used to transform his game farm in Mookgopong in Limpopo into a wedding venue fit for royalty.
As Dunay steps out of the car guests marvel at her gorgeous gown, the bodice embroidered with 20 000 Swarovski crystals and 40 metres of delicate netting making up the billowing skirt.
Kurt is resplendent in a pure-silk three-piece suit with Swarovski crystal buttons. The gems also adorn his Italian shoes and his cufflinks are made of American stainless steel and onyx.
Dunay walks to where Kurt and the minister wait, escorted by Jakkals, a tame black-backed jackal. She wanted the animal to walk with her as a tribute to her father, Barry, because Jackal is his nickname for her. Barry, who suffers from emphysema, walks only the last few steps with Dunay.
The ceremony is touching and master of ceremonies, opera singer Kevin Leo, concludes by serenading the newlyweds.
While the bride and groom’s pictures are taken guests mill about outside the massive white reception marquee.
Tables are covered with silver tablecloths and crystals sparkle on the tables and in chandeliers. The centrepiece is a bouquet 1,5 metres high made up of 550 flowers that include roses, carnations, lilies and white orchids. The scent of lilies and tuberoses fills the air all evening.
The sumptuous dinner starts with mushroom soup with crayfish, followed by a palate-cleanser of strawberry and black pepper. Next is rainbow trout in a creamy poppy seed sauce followed by a litchi and vanilla palate-cleanser. Then comes beef fillet – and with each course the lighting in the room alters in varying shades of purple and pink.
Kurt and Dunay open the floor with a song he’s written especially for her, which is performed by Afrikaans band Romanz.
“My bride looks breathtaking,” a beaming Kurt says. “It’s exceeded all my expectations,” a radiant Dunay adds. “Our wedding is better than I ever could have dreamt.”
The couple can’t wait for their honeymoon in the Maldives and Egypt to start – then to begin their new life together.
See the beautiful wedding photographs in YOU, 20 January 2011.