Ruan & Melissa
The story started in 2006, during a mission trip I took to South Africa. Melissa was part of our team, and that’s where she met Ruan, a South African friend of mine. He was quite smitten with her, and once she returned to the US, he tried sending subtle messages of interested. They were a bit too subtle, though, and she was confused about who liked her. She thought it was another guy, and did not reciprocate the feelings. However, she finally learned the truth about her suitor, and their trans-continental romance began.
There are so many cool touches to this wedding; like little bits of South Africa culture mixed with American. The park they held the wedding in was where Melissa had grown up, and she had many fond memories of a lot of the places we took photos. My favorite part was that they didn’t feel limited by anybody’s idea of what a wedding should be: they created their own traditions from the ground up, and it was beautiful.
If you want to get to her, you’ve got to go through her brother and her dad.
This wedding (and the new couple’s last name) is sponsored by the letter “P”
Ruan’s family came all the way from South Africa to be there.
Proteas are the South African national flower.
A Scripture reading – in Afrikaans – from Ruan’s brother.
Austin approved of the kiss.
Melissa had her photos taken here when she graduated from high school…
…she learned to drive here….
…and now all those places are memorable in a totally different way.
Go Jill!!!
Ruan & Melissa, I can’t believe you’re moving to South Africa this Friday! I wish I could have had more time to spend with the two of you as a couple… so we’ll have to make it a point to meet up for some boerwors next time we’re in South Africa. You are both such amazing people, and I am dying to see where God takes you in the years ahead! Blessings!