The ever so talented Taylor Swift could not have been more accurate when she sang:  “Cause when you’re fifteen and somebody tells you they love you – You’re gonna believe them”. This would ring true for fifteen-year-old Nikki Steenkamer when she met the handsome Lloyd McConkey at a high school party.

After matriculating, Nikki graduated with a master’s degree in industrial psychology while Lloyd pursued a career in commercial diving. “Lloyd works extremely hard and his ambition and determination to achieve his goals, makes me appreciate him that much more” – a beaming Nikki explains. “

“As for how it happened, he told me we were going on a quick scenic helicopter flight with our brother in law, as he is a pilot. We had done this before so it wasn’t very suspicious. Mid-flight, his brother in law said that one of the dials wasn’t working and he had to land. We landed at Haute Cabriere in Franschoek where we enjoyed an amazing lunch and after leading me down to a private cellar, dessert was brought to me with the words ‘will you marry me Nikki?’ written on the plate. I knew that he was the one and I immediately said yes!”

When I asked Lloyd about the wedding and his best part of the day his answer was simple: “Listening to Nikki say her vows. I felt so lucky marrying my best friend in the world! Also, it was so special seeing our little dogs in their tutus walking down the aisle. They were too cute!”

Their wedding ceremony and reception was held at Longridge Wine Estate situated on the slopes of the Helderberg Mountain near Stellenbosch.A lingering summer’s sunset shared a few golden moments with us before guests sat down to enjoy what can only be described as a mouth-watering culinary masterpiece.With a custom cake topper as unique as the couple, this is indeed one happy family that I would love to photograph again, even if it’s just a furry portrait session… how cute is this dog?