Follow-up: Matthew Boshoff surprises couple in need with full wedding package

On 4 August, Matthew Boshoff from Johannesburg shared on Facebook that the venue he booked for his wedding couldn't give him a refund after he was forced to cancel his special day. 

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Here's the message he posted on Facebook. 

Hello Facebook peeps, I need your help.

Due to unforeseen circumstance, I have to cancel my wedding. The venue will not give me a refund but I have spoken to them about gifting my package away and they are ok with this. So, I am looking for a couple who is planning on getting married and maybe struggling a bit financially. I would like to help them with their special day by giving away my full package at no extra cost. 

The Package: Makiti Wedding Venue (Ballroom Venue)

This package includes:

• 60 people 
• The venue hire
• The catering (starter, main and dessert) the options can be changed to cater to your needs. (The cake will still be required on your side)
• Makiti's beautiful outside chapel by the river
• Starter drinks for after the ceremony (these can be changed as well)
• Open bar afterwards
• A corkage fee has been paid for 16 wine bottles, this amount may change depending on your wine selection. 
• All the decor I have paid for; floral, vases, cutlery, cake stand etc. If you would like your own decor you can liaison with the decor lady and change as you please.
• A professional photographer, her hours will be discussed in further detail once I have found a couple.

This is basically a full package excluding the cake and pastor. You will, however, need to choose a date that falls between a Monday-Thursday exclusive of public holidays. You are able to change any and all options as you please and any extra costs will have to be covered by you. 

Please share this far and wide so I can find an appropriate couple to give this away to. Pop me a message if you know of someone or you are that someone. Thanks for the help! 

After receiving hundreds of e-mails, Boshoff decided to give his wedding package to Nicole and Jaco Pietersen. Their message inspired Boshoff the most, so he decided to give it to them, hoping it would help with making it the most memorable day ever. 

Here's Nicole's message:

Good day, Matthew.

I am Nicole. 

Me and my to be hubby would love to win the wedding package. We actually got married in 2009 at a pastor's house in his living room. 

We were together for about three years when he proposed to me. Soon after we found out that I was six weeks pregnant. So, the pressure was on to get married. We didn't have the funds to have a nice wedding to include our family and friends. So we heard about the pastor! We went through the whole proses, saved up to pay for it, and then got married in his living room.  

After four months we went to home affairs to get my ID and they told us there is no record of us being married. In confusion, we called the pastor and he told us that we should wait six months. So we did and still no record, we phoned him again, and he told us that the register book was lost in the post and he will try to figure things out. After about two months we called him again and the sim card was no longer in use. 

Since then we have tried saving up again and again to have our special day, and halfway through we end up having to use the money for the household, as we have three kids now and my partner's parents are living with us, it's kind of hard trying to save up. I have phoned and tried to get some places to help us pay of a little at a time until every cent has been paid. But it never worked out. We have decided to try again two years ago. I got a very beautiful dress, for a bargain price and we saved so I could buy the dress and now it's been in my closet since then. We decided to do a very low budget wedding, invite all and do a bring and braai, just plain white cloth on the table, no decorations or colour, not even flowers. I will let my mom do my hair and makeup, so it's no extra cost.  I have been in conversations with a venue, and they have said we can look at paying off. So, for now, we are standing on an amount of R6000 to pay, then we still need a pastor, and it is also costly.

We have also decided not to have a photographer because they are way too expensive and Dj as well is too expensive. 

I am trying my best to save to pay at least an amount of R300 every month for the venue, but we don't know when we will actually be getting married, this could take a while to pay off. 

I really like my dress, but I am anxious that it is just sitting there and if it's in there too long I'm gonna end up throwing it away.  

Through all this time of trying to plan and save our wedding, everyone wants to help and we or I especially get so excited that we are gonna have our big day, until we start to ask, OK now is the time we need you then you don't hear anything from them. 

I have literally cried my eye out more often then I can think off. My partner is the oldest of his siblings, they are all married, I have seen the joy in their eyes as they had there big day, and we are still stuck. I would love to have that special day in the near future with the love of my life, we have been through so much and I still love him to the moon and back!

And being able to maybe win this amazing wedding package you have, would truly make us so happy if we would be chosen. 

Kind regards 

Nicole. 

Niquille van Graan from Hart en Siel Bakery won the #MyKoek competition - and will bake their wedding cake. 

A special thank you to SA Baking Supplies, that sponsored R5 000 to Niquille van Graan to buy the ingredients and decorations for the wedding cake.

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