June 20, 2019 was one of the best days of our life! Our wedding was more incredible than either of us imaged! We had a beautiful, stress-free day and we would do it again in a heartbeat! We 10/10 recommend eloping and having the ceremony be the way you want it. Even though it was fun-filled from sunup to sundown, it still went by too fast. We’re so grateful that we’ll always have Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe as our spot.
The Big Day
Kourtney left the backpacker lodge after breakfast to get ready at Bayete Lodge, our honeymoon suite, and Coons stayed behind with less whimsical accommodations. The girls came at 11am to work on her hair and the make-up artist arrived at noon. Sean, our photographer, arrived to take some pictures of Kourtney once she was finally in her dress and wedding-ready. Our driver, Absolom, had brought Coons to falls before Kourtney, so he enjoyed a beer while he waited (get used to it buddy!). Around 3:10pm, Kourtney was walking down the pathway passed the Livingstone statue toward Coons, who was standing facing the massive waterfall with a full rainbow overhead. What a magnificent sight!
The ceremony was short and sweet. Barbara blessed our union, we read our vows, Kourtney sobbed, Barbara handed us the rings and we said I DO!
“You may kiss the bride!” -Barbara
After we signed our marriage certificate and toasted with a glass of champagne, we walked around to different viewpoints to look at the falls for the first time while Sean snapped photos of us. It was so magical! Once we finished with those pictures, Absolom brought both of us to where our riverboat was waiting for a sunset cruise. We cruised the Zambezi river, enjoying drinks and snacks, while we chatted with Sean and he snapped photos of us. We found out that he would be at the same national park as us that weekend so we decided to meet up then to swap photos. We were able to see hippos for the first time along with some giraffes and elephants. Although not our family, they made for pretty fantastic company!
When the sunset cruise was finished, we were shuttled to the Victoria Falls Hotel where we took some more pictures and then finally settled into dinner. Being off season, it wasn’t very crowded so we had the place to ourselves for a bit. Before Sean left we played our song on Coons’ cellphone and danced for the first time as husband and wife.
During dinner, which was a fantastic three-course meal, a pianist serenaded us and we recapped our perfect day. After dinner, we retired to our honeymoon suite at Bayete Lodge and woke up the next morning for breakfast in bed. We decided we had to wait until at least noon before we started contacting family — surely some family would be up at 6am on a Friday!
In an attempt to make the day special for our loved ones, we recorded four videos: one to family, one to our would-be maid of honor/best man, bridal party, and finally to each other. Additionally, we took pictures and made videos during the day as we got ready. We contacted all immediate family first by FaceTime and then started letting friends know before we announced it to the world. This was actually quite difficult because not only did some people sleep in late that day (we won’t mention names), but the situation in Zimbabwe is difficult. We were dealing with little to no access to fuel, daily power outages, and limited access to WiFi in which to contact loved ones, so if you feel slighted in any way, just know we tried our best.
Did you have vows? Care to share them?
Mrs: We did write our own vows, and we chose to focus on the “little” things we do for each other that make our relationship work. Some of them were funny and some serious. While we don’t want to share them all, I will share my favorite funny and serious one from Coons. He did promise me an English Bulldog named Rupert at some point in our lives, so everyone read it here—it’s happening! On a more serious note, he did vow to be my navigator and my compass. If this man is not napping, he is researching and reading about our adventures. He is so impressive in his ability to get us from point A to point B safely, in Spanish, whatever it may be. And I love him for that.
Mr: Alright, jumping right into the serious questions. Yes, we have vows, and yes, we wrote them ourselves. Like actually wrote, because Kourtney refused to be the couple looking at cellphones. These weren’t anything big or earth-shattering, rather they were little things we do each day and some of the things I love most about her. She vowed to always be my adventure buddy and go anywhere with me (see our wedding song below) and to always grab my butt, even when we’re old and gray. What more could a guy ask for!
Were there any wedding traditions in Zim that were different from a typical US wedding that you included in your day?
Mrs: People in Zimbabwe are very religious and so I believe ceremonies are probably similar to traditional Catholic weddings. However, neither of us are Catholic and we grew up with different religions, so we just wanted to keep religion out of it which Barbara was happy to do for us. I think one of the coolest things Shannon and Bernie included was African drummers and dancers dressed up in their traditional garb. So they really were responsible for the music — no quintessential “Here Comes the Bride” for me. That was different and wicked fun!
Mr: Excluding the majestic waterfall and picturesque rainbow? The fingerprinting and swearing in front of the magistrate was certainly unique, but in terms of the actual wedding, having the African drummers there certainly made sure we didn’t forget what continent we were on. Way better than some church organs.
Can you share the wedding dress drama?
Mrs: Where do I start….
So in Cuenca, Ecuador I started looking at dresses. However, Latin Americans love their massive ballgown style ensemble, and that is just not my style. Plus, Coons’ one request was to — how should I put this — accentuate my femininity. Luckily for me, it is typical for women to bring in a picture of a dress they love and the seamstress will make that dress. I had already scoured Pinterest, so I had an idea of what I wanted. I found a company online that would make my dress and ship it to me. The man I was emailing back and forth with was named Rowie, and let’s just say I never want to speak to another man about scallop necklines and sleeve length ever again. I got my measurements professionally done by a Spanish man who was appalled that I did not have and might not wear heels, so he insisted that I stand on my toes before measuring for length.
In Cusco, Peru the dress was supposed to arrive. When it didn’t, we called Lima where it was being held captive. Apparently, there is an import tax (I already had to pay more to ship to another country). We extended our stay in Cusco because Coons was feeling ill after Machu Picchu, so I paid and hoped that it would arrive before our bus out of town. It arrived the afternoon we were leaving on one of our night bus adventures. I was able to try it on that day with Yeoibom, a new friend from the Salt Flat tour, because we were hanging out with her and her husband, Dean, before we left. The boys went out for beers and snacks; Coons was NOT allowed to see the dress before the big day! The dress was huuuugggeee! Honestly, it was hard to love right away because it was so big. Either the measurements were way off or my travel diet was working seamlessly—I choose the latter.
For a month, we stayed in Cochabamba, Bolivia on wedding dress avenue. Not really, it was Mariano Baptista, but there were hundreds of shops around! I found a very feisty woman who would alter my dress and was on board for bringing it all in. I was worried I might not be able to sit down! The language barrier here was tough; it included a lot of gesturing and translating with her daughter to make certain we were on the same page. The frustrating thing about learning a new language is that while it might be easy to comprehend, it is often difficult to respond. So when my sassy seamstress was telling me to hit the gym and stop eating arroz and pan, I couldn’t retort and remind her that she was taking my dress in not out.
Then I had to fold that beauty up and throw her in a bag which would hopefully stay dry under a blue tarp in the wooden boat we took from Guanay to Rurrenabaque. I was just pleading with the universe to keep my wedding dress safe. While my gown remained untouched, I did not. The only bathrooms available were nature’s, and in the time it took me to relieve myself, which I did as infrequently as possible, the mosquitos had done their damage. It’s every bride’s dream to have the bottom half of her look like a kid with the chickenpox, right? I probably looked like a crazy person at this point as I was wearing long sleeves and a rain jacket in the freakin’ Amazon because I didn’t want the insects touching any part of my body visible in the dress. The Chimborazo hike was probably the most physically exhausted I’ve ever been, but this trip in the Amazon jungle was probably the most emotionally exhausted I’ve ever been. At this point, our wedding was two weeks away. I’ve been thinking I should write a short story parody about the whole ordeal.
The shoes I found in Bolivia, and the earrings I ordered from Etsy which thankfully made it to Zimbabwe, although some things I ordered did not like the headpiece. So I picked one up in South Africa where Coons rented his suit. The necklace was from one of my favorite shops in Portsmouth, and other jewelry on my wrist were just things I love that I’ve had for years including a special bracelet from my mother.
In the end, my bug bites cleared up, the dress made it to Africa unharmed and fit like a glove! It had all the things I love: lace, buttons down the back, and a trumpet style train. I’m also pleased to say that I paid for everything myself. I have never felt more radiant in my life!
Mr: I’m sure Kourtney has covered this extensively. My job was to try and keep her calm and make sure she had wine & dark chocolate when she got too stressed. Already crushing this whole husband thing.
Were there other locations you had in mind? How did you decide on the location?
Mrs: Yes! It was always going to be outside; we actually never discussed that, but all of our ideas centered around it. Coons was the one to mention waterfalls because he knows how much I love them. Sweet man! We thought maybe Iguazu Falls in Argentina, but South America is tough, for there is not a lot of separation between church and state. Neither of us wanted a church wedding, so it would require the legal ceremony to be at the court. Plus South America has a lot of different requirements that seemed a little extreme like a blood sample if you’re in Brazil — no thanks! We quickly realized that Africa is more chill, yet legal, which is exactly what we were looking for. We did have a discussion–what is the most bad-ass place in Africa? We decided without having been that Zimbabwe sounds wicked cool, and then realized that Zim has Victoria Falls, and Vic Falls is a huuuuggge waterfall. The fact that it is the largest in the world and one of the seven natural wonders of the world is a big bonus!
Mr: We looked at a lot of places in South America like Patagonia, Iguzau Falls, etc. but once we started researching the legal requirements in each country, we quickly cooled on the idea of a South American wedding. Blood samples, residency tests, and religious ceremonies were very common here and really didn’t fit with what we were looking for in a wedding. Once we turned our sights to Africa, and knowing Kourtney’s affinity for waterfalls, Victoria Falls definitely stood out for us. A quick Google search returned Pure Africa, the company that handled our wedding arrangements, and we were sold.
How far in advance did you plan and did you have a wedding planner?
Mrs: Coons did some researching and found the Pure Africa Elopement package in Victoria Falls which included a hairdresser, photographer, the venue, the ceremony, the minister, champagne toast, drinks and boat cruise on the Zambezi River, transportation, and dinner at the Victoria Falls Hotel. Shannon and Bernie were our coordinators and took care of everything! When we decided we wanted to get married in the national park, they set that up too (which cost a little extra but totally worth it! ). They gathered all the paperwork, organized the transportation, found a local to perform the ceremony, photograph the day, do my hair, etc. Shannon even organized for me to have maintenance on my dreads by Mabel before the up-do, all included! Fun fact: the women working on my up-do actually put a needle and thread to sow my hair in place! She found Angela to do my make-up for $50. They made everything so easy and relaxing on our special day! It was just incredible.
It’s difficult to pinpoint when we started to plan, because when we decided to go on this fun-employed vacation around the world for a year is around the time we thought eloping would be wild and exciting. Perhaps February? That’s when we were in Ecuador and I really started looking at dresses. However, everything was set in stone three weeks prior to the wedding.
Mr: This definitely came together over the course of the trip. We started talking to Shannon, our wedding planner, pretty early on in the trip about the possibility of a wedding there. She provided us with a list of documents we would need to make sure the wedding was official in Zimbabwe. Once we determined we could get them all and got Kourtney’s dress ordered in Peru, we knew we could actually pull it off there.
What are the steps for eloping while abroad and getting a marriage certificate?
Mrs: As I said, Shannon and Bernie really took care of everything, but there was a lot of documentation to provide just in case, and as always, the officials looked at none of it. We had visited a lot of U.S. embassies to obtain certified copies of birth certificates, passports, affidavits for marriage, etc. all at $50 a pop. There was a criminal record in there too. This was a big expense, an insurance policy, I suppose, but we could have saved a lot of money here.
The day before the wedding, we went to the police station in Victoria Falls to get our fingerprints done and submit all of our paperwork. There were five separate pages for each of us and required all ten fingers for each page! We did this out in a field as their office is a very small shack. Then we went into the building to submit and sign all of the paperwork. The rooms were so tiny, but the people were lovely and happy to have us, and it all went by smoothly.
After paperwork, we went to drop it off at the court where we met her magistrate, the big boss. We weren’t expecting this and were dressed for the 97 degree day which she found offensive. Sorry ma’am! She asked us to repeat after her and make some vows, and then we left!
Mr: One thing we learned was each country is very different. Some are easier for foreigners to get married, some make it very difficult. Zimbabwe was on the easier side which was a big selling point. We had to produce a lot of documents – certified copies of birth certificate & passport, an affidavit saying we were not currently married (no impediment letter), recent copies of our criminal records, and passport photos. This involved a lot of trips to US embassies in various countries as well as some correspondence with a lawyer in the US to get the criminal records. Had we planned it out more we could have gotten most of it done in the US, but alas, it’s more fun this way. Additionally, once there, we had to get fingerprints (5x sets each) as well as spend an hour or so at the police station and courthouse filling out other forms. But at the end of it all, we got our official marriage certificate!
Is the marriage legit? Who performed your ceremony?
Mrs: Our last stop the day of the 19th was to visit the minister of religion, Barbara, who would perform our ceremony. She was a lovely woman who presented us with the marriage certificate that we put our thumbprints on, but would officially sign the next day!
On June 20th, Barbara gave us a blessing that was a poem on marriage by Kahlil Gibran. And she also helped me surprise Coons with the exchanging of our rings. After the ceremony, we got to sign the certificate–me with my new name–right in the national park and it was official! We’re married!
One funny thing to mention is that our marriage certificate lists Coons as a bachelor and me as a spinster! HAHA
Mr: Too legit to quit! But yes, it’s legit in Zimbabwe. The US recognizes foreign marriages as long as it’s legal in that country, so it’s all official. We took a few steps when we went home in August to change Kourtney’s name and open bank accounts and our marriage certificate was accepted everywhere. We’re no long bachelor & spinster! Our marriage officer was Barbara who was provided by our wedding coordinator. She had a great Zimbabwe-style blessing (minus some religious bits we cut) for the ceremony.
So the rings were a secret. How did Coons react?
Mrs: Yes! He was shocked! I purchased them also from Etsy before we left in October and carried them with me through each country for eight months! He had no idea. One thing I made sure the photographer captured was Coons’ face for the “first look” and then his face when Barbara pulled out the rings. Both images are priceless.
The rings are engraved on the inside in Spanish, and they say “en la enfermidad y en la aventura” which translates to “in sickness and in adventure.” I connected this saying and our song into my vows to tie the whole thing together perfectly!
Funny story: Coons has lost so much weight (even with that big beard) that I had to contact the shop to make him a new, much smaller ring. We joke that now he has a travel ring and a U.S. ring.
Mr: Very, very, very surprised. Looking back, I should have known something was up because Kourtney never mentioned what we were going to do for rings at all. I had wanted to do those rubber/silicone rings but she was not having any of that. I had no idea she had gotten them before we left, although apparently I lost so much weight that my ring finger dropped down a size. Luckily we were able to get a new one made for me while we were home so it’s no longer in danger of falling off my finger. The inscription in Spanish inside was a really nice touch and fits us perfectly.
How did you choose a photographer/officiant? Did you do a “first look”? Had either of you seen the falls beforehand or was that the first time? Your first dance was in a banquet hall – did you crash another wedding?
Mrs: Sean was our photographer and another local Zimbabwean. He, like all of the other wonderful people we met, was booked/taken care of by Shannon and Bernie. No stress. We did do a first look that Sean captured perfectly! Coons’ immediately reaction from the pictures is probably “damn, you look fine!” And then he remembers it is our wedding and he’s on camera. The great thing about Sean is that he just let us enjoy the falls (for the first time), blending in the background and snapping photos. So we were really just able to take in every moment! I’ll never forget walking in to see Coons in that beautiful blue suit facing away from me and the magnitude of Victoria Falls with an enormous rainbow overhead. What a dream! Sometimes Sean was too good at blending in as we have a handful of pictures that none of you will ever see! Mostly of me crying/orating during my vows, Coons trying to figure out how to smile, and Bernie trying to coach us through “loving” poses.
We did not crash anyone else’s wedding! Haha. We had dinner at the Victoria Falls Hotel in the Livingstone Room, which is incredibly expensive, and the reason we did not spend the night there. Thank goodness dinner was included and it was off season, so it looks like we were all alone, but that’s just Sean’s magic touch. Although Coons has always had a way of making me feel like I’m the only woman in the room. We had a wonderful dinner while a pianist serenaded us and there we shared our first dance as husband and wife!
Mr: Wow – lots of questions in this one. Photographer and officiant were provided by the wedding planner and both worked out great. We met with the officiant, Barbara, the day before to go over the process and see what her blessing was going to be (we struck the more overt religious lines). Our photographer, Sean, just showed up the day of the wedding and really got some great shots. Our first look was me standing with my back to the “aisle,” enjoying the view of the rainbow over the gorge, until Barbara told me to turn around to get my first glimpse at my stunning bride. She was perfect. Sean got some good reaction pictures of my face as well. That was our first time seeing the falls and I think we’re both glad we waited. We ended up going back Saturday morning to walk the whole length of them and take some time to soak it all in (getting those dad jokes ready!).
While it would have been really funny if we crashed another wedding, we did not. We had dinner in the Livingstone Room of the Victoria Falls Hotel, an incredibly nice hotel overlooking the falls. Sean got some nice pictures to make it look like we were the only ones there, but there were a few other couples scattered around the room. There was a pianist who played for us while we had our first dance before our fantastic dinner.
What song did you choose for “your song” and how did you choose it?
Mrs: Our song is by Passenger and it’s called “Anywhere.” I came up with a list of four songs that I really liked which I felt spoke about us and our relationship. I always listen to lyrics and Coons always listens to the beat, so I played each one on YouTube with lyrics, and he chose his favorite. I loved that he already seemed to know the words to this one when he listened! I’ve always enjoyed it. It talks about standing by each other through bad times and good. We like that this one is upbeat and focuses on adventure.
Mr: Anywhere by Passenger. Kourtney spent an unknown (at least to me) amount of time finding potential wedding songs and narrowing it down to her top 4. Then she sat me down and had me watch them with lyrics to see which one stood out to me. While I liked them all, our relationship has been defined by travel and this song definitely spoke to me. It doesn’t hurt that it’s fun and pretty catchy – while it may not be the ideal song to slow dance to, I think we can make something work.
What was your something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue?
Mrs: My something old was a silver bracelet that my mother gave me which is engraved and says “loved” on it along with other miscellaneous jewelry which I’ve had for decades. My something new was the dress, earrings, necklace, headpiece, and shoes. My something borrowed was from Kristian. In true sisterly fashion, I borrowed a beautiful white beaded headband which I wrapped around my flowers to give them a little more sparkle! My something blue was a pin that I put in my hair that looks very old and Victorian. It has the outline of a woman in white with a navy blue background which I think my mom also gave me. However, I think my dreads ate it or it fell out because it’s still in Zim somewhere. I think she’d be happy a piece of her is in Africa.
Mr: I think this one is outside my area of expertise, but… the falls are old, but new to us, and my suit was borrowed and blue!
Thank you to friends and family for submitting/asking questions. We love you all very much. We’re going to enjoy married life and our extended honeymoon, and we’ll see you in February 2020! xoxo
