Nandi & Ruan

Saturday 13 March 2027 · Sandberg Farm, outside Greyton

How we got to the werf

Nandi was marking Grade 9 maths books in the staff room at Bridge House when Ruan came in to fix a projector that did not need fixing, and stayed until the bell went. That was March 2019. Since then we have moved four times, collected a dog nobody planned on, and driven the Riviersonderend road past Sandberg on more Sundays than either of us can count. It took eight years to notice that the place we always stopped for coffee was the place we wanted to get married. Elmien Kruger is taking the photographs. She shot Nandi's sister's wedding in Napier, and has been told in writing that nobody is to be asked to jump.

Saturday 13 March 2027

Sandberg Farm, Riviersonderend road, 14 km outside Greyton

15:00 · Aankoms

Park in the lucerne field and walk up past the dam. Somebody will be at the gate with cold water.

16:00 · The ceremony

Under the bluegums behind the shed. Half an hour, and Nandi's father will tell you when to sit.

18:30 · The long table

One table for everybody under the oaks. Find your name on a river stone and stay in that seat.

21:00 · Dancing

In the shed with the doors open. The bus back to Greyton leaves at midnight and again at 01:30.

Eight years, roughly

Agt jaar om te besluit, en vier sekondes om seker te lyk. Sit my stoel voor, ek wil dit hoor.

Ouma Katrien, 91, Riviersonderend

Getting there

Fourteen kilometres from Greyton on the Riviersonderend road, the last three on gravel any car handles. A bus leaves the Post House at 14:15.

Where to sleep

The farm rooms are full of grandparents. We are holding beds in Greyton at the Post House, Rouxwil and the caravan park until 31 January.

What to wear

Something you can stand on grass in. Thirty-two degrees at four and properly cold by nine, so bring a jacket you do not mind sitting on.

Bringing the kids

Bring them. There is a jumping castle behind the shed and Ruan's cousin Anja is watching it from six until nine, when they turn back into yours.

The register

We have a kettle, a toaster and more mixing bowls than two people will ever need, so there is no gift list. If you would like to give something anyway, here are three places it will do more than our kitchen can.

Sandberg Primary feeding scheme. Sixty-two children eat there every school day and R150 covers a week of it. The account is at the school office, reference NANDIRUAN.

Greyton Animal Welfare. Where the dog came from. Sterilisations mostly, and they take dog food as happily as they take an EFT.

Overberg Fire Protection Association. The volunteer crews who stopped the March 2024 fire two kilometres short of this werf. Without them there would be no oaks to put the table under.

Ask anyone at the gate for account numbers, or bring nothing at all. Coming is the thing.

RSVP by 31 January 2027

One form per household, please. If something changes afterwards, WhatsApp Nandi on 072 419 8836 — a table is easier to re-count in January than in March.