{"id":200695,"date":"2016-01-05T08:45:23","date_gmt":"2016-01-04T21:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/uk\/real-weddings\/rachelle-tonderais-romantic-rustic-wedding\/"},"modified":"2022-03-17T10:15:32","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T23:15:32","slug":"rachelle-tonderais-romantic-rustic-wedding","status":"publish","type":"uk-real-wedding","link":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.co.uk\/real-weddings\/uk\/real-weddings\/rachelle-tonderais-romantic-rustic-wedding\/","title":{"rendered":"Rachelle and Tonderai&#8217;s romantic rustic wedding a blessing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1 lead\">High school sweethearts Rachelle Bocanog and Tonderai Mbiba couldn&#8217;t wait to be married.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">They met as 17-year-olds in biology class and when Tonderai plucked up the courage to propose eight years later, in a few short months they were husband and wife.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We decided to get married as soon as possible,&#8221; explains Rachelle, 27. &#8220;Six months after\u00a0getting engaged, we had a small civil wedding with only our immediate family present.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are both Christians so we also wanted to have a big church wedding&#8230; we decided to have a blessing nine months later\u00a0and set a date for\u00a0August 23, 2015. We had to plan two weddings in one year!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Their &#8216;blessing&#8217;, a romantic rustic wedding, was attended by 150 loved ones at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.easyweddings.co.uk\/WeddingVenues\/Kent\/CoolingCastleBarn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cooling Castle Barn<\/a>\u00a0in Rochester, Kent. Both the bride and groom, also 27, opted for a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.easyweddings.co.uk\/articles\/the-right-bridesmaid-dress-colours-for-your-wedding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">green colour scheme<\/a>, supported by whites, creams and natural elements. \u201cWe both like simplicity and we are both very minimalistic people,\u201d says Rachelle. \u201cWe didn\u2019t plan on having a lavish wedding, but to have a romantic rustic wedding instead.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">But it wasn\u2019t just the theme and venue that they agreed on. \u201cTonderai had actually chosen my wedding dress without him knowing,\u201d remembers Rachelle. After dropping in at Davids Bridal, he suggested a dress that, unbeknownst to him, Rachelle went to try on and love, keeping it a surprise until the big day, \u201cHis face lit up when he saw me walking down the aisle with the dress he chose,\u201d Rachelle recalls.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">&#8220;<\/span>Our wedding day will always be a day that we will cherish for the rest of our lives,&#8221; she smiles. &#8220;Seeing all our ideas, plans and all the little details that we thought through months of planning come to life was an amazing feeling!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The couple enjoyed a two-week honeymoon across the Greek Isles of Crete and Santorini. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Photos courtesy of <a href=\"http:\/\/lemonadepictures.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Lemonade Pictures<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-82622 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_002-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_002\" title=\"\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-82621 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_001-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_001\" title=\"\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-82628 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_008-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_008\" title=\"\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-82627 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_007-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_007\" title=\"\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-82595\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_017-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_017\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-82582\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_004.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_004\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-82597\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_019-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_019\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Recalls Rachelle, &#8220;I tried on so many dresses and nothing felt right. I then tried the dress that Tonderai suggested&#8230; It fit me like a glove!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-82598\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_020.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_020\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-82599\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_021.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_021\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-82640 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_020.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_020\" title=\"\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-82641 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_021-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_021\" title=\"\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-82642\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_022.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_022\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-82608\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_030.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_030\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-82609\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_031.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_031\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-82644 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_024-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_024\" title=\"\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-82646 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_026-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_026\" title=\"\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-82603\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_025.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_025\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Tonderai is a professional musician so he called in favors from friends to play at our wedding which made it more personal!&#8221; says the bride.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-82605\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_027.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_027\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-82606\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_028.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_028\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-82615\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_037-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_037\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-82616\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_038.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_038\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-82614\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_036-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_036\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-82613\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_035.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_035\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-82618\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_040.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_040\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;We chose <a href=\"http:\/\/www.easyweddings.co.uk\/WeddingVenues\/Kent\/CoolingCastleBarn\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cooling Castle Barn<\/a> as we specifically wanted our ceremony and reception in one place,&#8221; says Rachelle.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-82617 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_039-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_039\" title=\"\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-82630 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_010.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_010\" title=\"\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-82581 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_003-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_003\" title=\"\">\u00a0<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-82633 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_013-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_013\" title=\"\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-82634 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_014-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_014\" title=\"\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-82632 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_012-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_SBS_012\" title=\"\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-82583 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_005-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_005\" title=\"\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-82593 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_015-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_015\" title=\"\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-82588\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_010.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_010\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-82611\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_033.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_033\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-82619\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_041-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Rachelle_Tonderai_Romantic_Rustic-Wedding_041\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><div class=\"embed-container\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0fdNHtFpJHI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen> frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/p>\n<p>Video by <a href=\"https:\/\/hilario.co.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Tim Hilario<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":200716,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"uk_real_wedding_category":[9085],"uk_real_wedding_tag":[9256,9720,9374,9719,9386,9393,9465],"uk_real_wedding_style":[10478,10479],"uk_real_wedding_location":[10513,10512],"uk_real_wedding_setting":[10482],"uk_real_wedding_colour":[10650,10627],"uk_real_wedding_competition":[],"class_list":["post-200695","uk-real-wedding","type-uk-real-wedding","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","uk_real_wedding_category-9085","uk_real_wedding_tag-green-wedding-2","uk_real_wedding_tag-lemonade-pictures","uk_real_wedding_tag-real-weddings","uk_real_wedding_tag-romantic-rustic-wedding","uk_real_wedding_tag-romantic-wedding-2","uk_real_wedding_tag-rustic-wedding-2","uk_real_wedding_tag-white-wedding-2","uk_real_wedding_style-romantic","uk_real_wedding_style-rustic","uk_real_wedding_location-kent","uk_real_wedding_location-south-east","uk_real_wedding_setting-barn","uk_real_wedding_colour-aqua-wedding","uk_real_wedding_colour-green-wedding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.co.uk\/real-weddings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/uk-real-wedding\/200695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.co.uk\/real-weddings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/uk-real-wedding"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.co.uk\/real-weddings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/uk-real-wedding"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.co.uk\/real-weddings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.co.uk\/real-weddings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/uk-real-wedding\/200695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.co.uk\/real-weddings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.co.uk\/real-weddings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"uk_real_wedding_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.co.uk\/real-weddings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/uk_real_wedding_category?post=200695"},{"taxonomy":"uk_real_wedding_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.co.uk\/real-weddings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/uk_real_wedding_tag?post=200695"},{"taxonomy":"uk_real_wedding_style","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.co.uk\/real-weddings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/uk_real_wedding_style?post=200695"},{"taxonomy":"uk_real_wedding_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.co.uk\/real-weddings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/uk_real_wedding_location?post=200695"},{"taxonomy":"uk_real_wedding_setting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.co.uk\/real-weddings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/uk_real_wedding_setting?post=200695"},{"taxonomy":"uk_real_wedding_colour","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.co.uk\/real-weddings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/uk_real_wedding_colour?post=200695"},{"taxonomy":"uk_real_wedding_competition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.co.uk\/real-weddings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/uk_real_wedding_competition?post=200695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}