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Sorry, ladies, I couldn’t help myself. The Big Five featured in the photo above are the buffalo, elephant, rhino, leopard, and lion. The phrase ‘The Big Five’ was coined by hunters years ago, and were given the name not because of their size, but because they were the five animals that were a) the most dangerous to hunt on foot and b) they were the most popular animals to hunt as trophies. But, alas, my post has nothing to do with these five magnificent animals. I just thought it would be a fun fact. Well, that, and my wedding is in Africa. How can I resist that connection?

Anyway, the Big Five that this post has to do with happens to be the five most important things at our wedding. Cotton Bud’s post ‘The Big 5 – Part 1“ inspired me, so both Dahlia Dude and I made our list of what’s most important to us, and decided to see how well they matched up. Amazingly, every single one matched. So, I thought I’d take a page out of Cotton Bud’s book and introduce/explain our Big Five. These are in no particular order, just the order that they popped into my head as I write.

Attire
I’ve named it attire, but, honestly, as selfish as this sounds, my biggest concern is my dress. I mean, it’s my wedding day. And I’m honestly not interested in spending an exorbitant amount of money on a dress I’ll wear twice (okay, more than twice, but I don’t think wearing it around the house after the wedding counts!). I know EXACTLY what dress I want, but, unfortunately, it costs more than $4k. Definitely not something that I want to spend on a dress. So my plan is to take images of my dream dress, as well as other pictures from my inspiration boards, and have a dress custom made by a seamstress (I’ve already mentioned all of this in my ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ post). I just wanted to reiterate my unshakable desire to have the dress of my dreams without paying and arm and a leg.

The other half of the attire is what Dahlia Dude will be wearing. I trust his sense of style immensely, so I’ve mainly just been letting him figure out what he likes. However, the groomsmen will be dressing similarly to him, so comfort is definitely something that’s important. I believe we’ve pretty much nailed it down to flip flops, tan linen pants, and a nice button down shirt. Maybe a vest to match the pants, if Dahlia Dude wants. That’s all I’m asking for, and I’m letting Dahlia Dude pretty much handle the details. I have told him that I need to sign off on the final outfit before he makes anything official. You know, being my normal control-freak self.

Venue
Our ceremony and reception venue is the next thing on the list. Dahlia Dude and I really aren’t interested in paying a lot of money for decorations and flowers. We are on a budget and, honestly, don’t see the merit in paying hundreds of dollars for flowers that will be dead in a few days. So, we decided that we’d rather pay a little extra for a beautiful venue that won’t need too many decorations. We’ve chosen an absolutely breathtaking restaurant in Simons Town, which is a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. It has beautiful windows that provide a full view of the sea, as you can see in the pictures.

Personal Photo

Isn’t. That. Gorgeous? I fall in love all over again every time I look at it. And Dahlia Dude and I just love the simplicity of it all. I mean, it’s so elegant that it doesn’t even need anything else! Our wedding planner found it for us. Seriously, our wedding planner is basically the best thing that ever happened to Dahlia Dude and I. Other than each other, of course.

So, that’s Part 1 of our Big Five. Did you have a Big Five? A Big Three? What was most important to you?