Kim Tracey Photography

Whispering Thorns Wedding in White River, Mpumalanga | Jane + Gerrit

Whispering Thorns is one of my favourite wedding venues in Mpumalanga. It is a family owned guest farm and is situated only an hour’s drive to the Kruger National Park. Which is awesome if you want to extent the wedding celebrations and make a trip of it with family and friends.

Some tips on getting married at this location: The best time of the year to get married here are the in-between seasons such as spring and autumn. Winter is also a popular time, considering how hot it can get in the Lowveld. Unfortunately it can get really hot during the summer months and thunderstorms make it hard to plan ahead.

Whispering Thorns has a beautiful glass structured hall which is spectacular for hosting an intimate reception or can also be utilised as a chapel.
Surrounded by the beautiful views of the Paper Bark thorn trees it is a timeless setting. Just imagine candles and your nearest and dearest. Perfection!

Whispering Thorns also have a guest house on the property, which makes getting ready on the day much easier for the bride and groom. No rushing about spending your time driving to the venue. They are able to host up to 24 guests, however if you have more attending they are situated near enough to White River and Nelspruit to find well-suited accommodations.

Marinda and her team are amazing at what they do. They offer an in-house florist, wedding co-ordinator and bridal consultant. This is great for couples that are busy and/or are planning everything from afar.
Their food is also really good and their staff are excellent and super helpful. I have always been very impressed and I am a vegan!

I asked Jané and Gerrit to answer a couple of questions for me about their day and thought it would be nicer to hear from the beautiful couple themselves.

1) How did you two decide on Whispering Thorns?

We wanted a venue where the setting and scenery was just so beautiful we didn’t need a lot to decorate and make it look pretty. We aimed at something “Wow!” but still calm and warm as we wanted our guests to see our personalities shine through. We also wanted the event to be formal, yet easy and comfortable.
We chose Whispering Thorns specifically as they have been established for quite some time already and this ensured they knew what they were doing. I was studying full time and Marinda and her team were EXCELLENT and made my work load much more manageable. They paid attention to detail, didn’t create impossible expectations and were just as excited as we were for the event.

2) Did covid affect any of your plans?

Covid did affect our plans. We planned a honeymoon to Maldives and Dubai and all were fully paid when the Covid prevented us from travelling. It was quite a hassle to replan a honeymoon with limited funds a week before the wedding BUT praise the Lord, the wedding was not in any way affected and we were able to have a fantastic wedding and honeymoon in our own country.

3) What was a memory of your day that you value the most and what effect did it have on you?

The biggest or most valuable memory from the wedding was our church service. The message we got from Jamon, our officiant, was beyond my expectations and hearing that he could see that the Lord has big plans for Gerrit and I was very heartwarming. The biggest part that had an effect on our relationship was to finally be husband and wife. We were not living together before our wedding day and the feeling was just amazing!

4) When did you have a good laugh?

The funniest moment would definitely be the cake cutting ? We struggled to cut the cake as it had tall layers. I definitely expected this to be much easier than what it actually was.

5) Where did you go for your honeymoon? Why there?

We were supposed to go to Maldives and Dubai but plans changed due to covid and we travelled through SA to the following locations.

Becks safari lodge in Hoedspruit, 5 star lodge (WAS AMAZING!)

Clarens in the Free State (Travelling through the Free State was very nice as I haven’t seen a lot of it yet and with all that rain it was just BEAUTIFUL!)

Mount Camdeboo in Graaf-Reinette, 4 star lodge (This was a lodge created in an old farm house)

6) Any advice or wisdom you would like to share with future couple who are getting married?

The advice we would give to future couples getting married are the following:

Don’t be engaged for longer than what is needed, if we could get married any earlier we would’ve – IT’S WAY BETTER than being engaged.
Create a separate email address for the wedding, it helps a lot to keep things organised.
If you are not living together before marriage, save some of your wedding budget for decorating your home together. This lasts way longer than any flowers, decor and all those little extras you don’t really need.
Make sure to get the best photographer FIRST and then use what is left for videography. Trying to save money on a less expensive photographer and videographer is only going to cost you. Photos are what people will see 90% of the time.
“Stick to your roots”. If there is anything that I have learned in my life is that trends don’t last. Yes colour blocking is very trendy now but I knew that I have always been comfortable loving an all white wedding. This also applies to picking a dress. I live by the saying “Wear what you are complimented on and not what is trending”