Image: CHARLENE ENGELS/ INSTAGRAM
“Baby you light my fire” could become shorthand for cricketer Jacques Kallis and his bride, Charlene Engels, after their weekend wedding was able to go ahead‚ despite a wildfire cutting a swathe through the Western Cape’s Overberg.
The pair wed at an estate in the Hemel-en-Aarde valley near Hermanus‚ in an area where – fortunately – the fire had been contained on Friday.
On Saturday‚ the bride-to be shared that their wedding could go ahead.
“My wish for you is that you always keep the ‘fires burning’‚” their wedding planner Nick Nicolaou shared on Instagram‚ seemingly trying to find the positive in what must have been a worrying period for the wedding party.
While the bridal party have kept the details private so far‚ Nicolaou revealed this snippet: More than 300 stems of “ice white” hydrangeas from Spain and 200 phalaenopsis orchid plants from Singapore had been flown in for the wedding.
On Sunday afternoon‚ the Greater Overberg Fire Protection Association said the wildfire was still being actively fought in the Hermanus area.
The association expected more smoke from Hemel-en Aarde and Franskraal.
“The fire is spreading between the farms and [is] threatening homes and infrastructure,” it said.