Weddings are wonderful. A day when two people declare themselves as one in front of their favourite people.
A wedding at Montusi is something extra special. People gather, often from across the world, to spend an extended time together in this beautiful, peaceful space.
What makes a Montusi wedding different?
The lodge becomes their own haven for connection: friends and family adventure in the mountains or relax by the pool, while the bridal couple get pampered and spruced up for their ceremony.
Because the couple has exclusive use of the entire lodge, they can decide where to stage their ceremony and reception.
Since settling back at Montusi, we three sisters have hosted our own weddings at Montusi: each, a festive gathering of the wide Carte Clan, and our Dear Husbands’ families, as well as special friends and neighbours.
These celebrations gave us significant insight into how amazing a Montusi Wedding can be.
Quality over quantity: why each wedding is so special
We don’t do hundreds of weddings, so each occasion is very special for us. It is an honour to materialise a couple’s Grand Wedding Idea.
When people hand us what is often the biggest day of their lives so far, we take it with a huge sense of responsibility.
Every wedding must be The Best Wedding. We get to know our brides and grooms quite well during the planning process, and so it is with joy and love that we gift them an anniversary night each year during their wedding month.
We put thought into every aspect of the event – welcome braais, night walks, specially delivered platters to the bridal suites, the hour-by-hour weather forecast, the lighting, the food, the drinks, and of course, the atmosphere!
The buzz of the wedding day
Because we only do weddings every now and then, there is always a degree of exhilaration and excitement behind the scenes.
Cath and I come into the shared brain-space cultivated by lifelong sisterhood that allows us to buzz around, tackling tasks.
One of our favourite sarcastic catchphrases comes from a wedding over 10 years ago: Cath was arranging the breakfast delivery for the bridal suite and pouring the freshly brewed filter coffee into a flask.
I burst into the kitchen, interrupting the flow of the whole operation by asking if she had “futemezed (heated) the flask”. She looked at me with such disdain because, of course, she had “futemezed the flask! You can’t use a flask without futemezering it first!”
Since then, whenever either of us questions the other about something we assume is obvious, we precede the statement with: “I don’t mean to futemeza your flask, but…”
Nine weddings later, and our shared thought process has become a force of its own.
A battle with the wind
Our latest wedding went off without a hassle, despite the howling wind that threatened to wreck all the décor on the Phumleni.
We do not like the wind. Not one bit.
At one point in the afternoon, I was lying on the patio floor beneath a table, duct-taping the elegant white tablecloth from below, while Cath and the waitresses had a giggle at my moans and groans.
With each gust of wind, we scrambled to save the dainty vases of soft white blooms on the tables from smashing to the floor. Hanging the specially imported, handmade bunting provided another challenge that I had not factored into the day’s plan.
Despite our difficulties with the wind, we ended up grateful as it kept the storm at bay, and our bride and groom enjoyed a perfect evening celebrating their union.
Of windy weddings and crazy canines
In 2012, we hosted another windy wedding, but the greatest challenge for us on this occasion came in dog form.
Montusi has always had family dogs on the property. That year, we had Bravey, a slightly antisocial hound who had an embarrassing habit of public pooping.
Whenever there was a gathering, this dastardly devil would sneak in to deliver a parcel right in the middle of the space! Knowing she would seize this opportunity, Mic decided to carry her away from the lodge to one of the family homes.
As he scooped her up, she started to squeal, so he began to run with her to minimise her impact on the wedding guests.
The squeals intensified, creating a frenzy that incited his own dog, Joey, to jump up and bite him! He had passed halfway to the safety of the house, with Joey hanging off his shorts, so he kept running, a squealing Brave in his arms and a growling Joey on his butt!
Thankfully, the wedding guests had no idea of the unfurling canine drama, as they were all watching the priest’s arrival by helicopter!
That wedding was quite dramatic with our local priest double-booking and calling in a favour from a friend to chopper himself from the first wedding in the Central Berg to ours, 100km north!
A post-pandemic wedding to remember
As we clawed ourselves out of the Covid shutdown chasm in 2021, we hosted a beautiful wedding of a Joburg-based couple.
The uncertainty of the previous year created an element of stress for everyone involved, but we managed to pull off the wedding with only an ice-crisis, which was quickly solved by calling on our cousins up the road at the Cavern.
We were incredibly grateful to host that particular wedding, as it helped with our financial recovery.
More stories, more laughter, more love in 2026
Recently, we welcomed the family back to Montusi as they hosted their new baby’s christening here with the same priest who married them four years ago.
It was such an honour to see them grow their family. Coincidentally, our king protea bush was in full bloom, and we were able to give them a large bouquet of king proteas (like they had had at the wedding) for the christening too!
Next year will see us host two more weddings and enjoy a lot more laughs as we overcome the inevitable challenges that sneak up on Wedding Day!
