Yvonne and John Nosworthy. Photos: Denise Crawford
Lovebirds Yvonne and John Nosworthy finally got to marry. They tied the knot on 27 May at the gracious Blue Bay Lodge near Saldanha Bay. It was 37 years since the two Velddrift residents had first met and fallen in love.
Yvonne is 54 and John 58. She was only 17 when she met her future bridegroom. On the day of their wedding the long years in between disappeared. Mercifully, the skies also stayed blue as the wedding took place on the lawns of the oceanfront lodge.
Greece and Ireland and horses
Yvonne wore a Grecian inspired wedding dress. She chose the style in honour of John’s mom, the well-known impressionist painter Ann Nosworthy, who loved that country.
The blue ribbons were only put on for fun.
Every detail was chosen with equal care. Yvonne chose Irish Claddagh wedding rings in memory of her father, who was a horse trainer, as is her brother Harold.
A horse also led to her meeting with John. Yvonne and her father were busy searching the farmlands of Philippi for his race horse, Precious Path, that had been stolen, when they bumped into John, who was a civil engineering student at the time. He promptly joined in the search.
A sushi cake
And so it was only fitting that two horses, with beautifully plaited tails, stood on either side of the wedding gazebo. Yvonne left the planning of the menu in the hands of Blue Bay Lodge. She was adamant about the wedding cake however. She hates traditional wedding cakes, and so Sushi Langebaan created a magnificent three-tiered sushi cake. Deciding upon the venue was easy. It simply had to be Blue Bay Lodge.
Blouwaterbaai Farm
The place is part and parcel of John’s family history, Yvonne explains. His family has had their holiday home here from when this used to be Blouwaterbaai Farm. They spent their holidays with the Wicht family, who lived in what is now the 33 bedroom lodge. Nowadays John co-owns the holiday home with his sister, and so Yvonne and her son, her maids of honour, bridesmaids, and her sister Denise Crawford, who was the official wedding photographer, could simply walk from the house to the wedding venue.
The weather held, and under a beautiful blue sky Yvonne Stoutz finally became Yvonne Nosworthy. Here’s to the next three decades, Mr and Mrs Nosworthy.
Also read West Coast Love Story.
