All about the bling

NOV 2, 2011 | ZENOYISE MADIKWA |

DESPITE high levels of unemployment, financial insecurity and increasing personal debt, there is still a place for lavish weddings in South Africa.

EXTRAVAGANT: Fikile and Phindiwe Bili entertained 600 guests at their lavish wedding at Tikwe Lodge in Free State. Photo: VELI nhlapo

MAKING A STATEMENT: Shawn and Sbu Mpisane after the renewing of their vows at their wedding at Zimbali. Photo: JACKIE CLAUSEN

For new money, walking down the aisle is the ultimate excuse to show off the bling

For new money, walking down the aisle is the ultimate excuse to show off the bling. BEE weddings seem to be the latest, grandest of affairs, with media coverage and public interest soaring.

Renowned designers personally oversee made-to-order gowns, top wedding planners are engaged to handle the proceedings and venues prohibitively expensive to thegeneral public are fair game for the famous.

Sowetan took a look at some A-list nuptials:

• Robert Gumede

Billionaire Robert Gumede and Dr Portia Mkhize celebrated their wedding at the exclusive Nelspruit Golf Club. Gumede spared no expense, rocking up in a black Rolls-Royce. The guests were entertained by the 100-strong KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra - flown in for the occasion.

The three-day, cream, gold and vermilion-themed wedding was attended by about 2500 guests.

Mkhize's dress, by Durban-based fashion designer Gavin Rajah, was a silk-duchess gown made of fabric imported from Paris, with a six-metre train decorated with hand-beaded roses.

Guests were treated to lunch served in over a dozen marquees - followed by dinner.

The cake was an eight-tier creation by a lavish boutique bakery.

The guest list included suspended national police commissioner Bheki Cele, ANCYL president Julius Malema, TV personality Gerry Rantseli, businesswoman Basetsana Kumalo and her husband Romeo, and other luminaries.

• Shaun Mpisane

Not to be outdone by the Gumedes, Shawn and Sbu Mpisane celebrated their wedding anniversary in style at Zimbali. They celebrated seven years of marriage, 20 years together and Sbu's 40th birthday. Their guest list boasted businessman Kenny Kunene, socialite Khanyi Mbau and various other who's who celebrities.

• David Mabilu

Property mogul David Mabilu put most lavish weddings to shame with his R15-million Mauritius nuptial.

With a slew of celebrities, journalists, entertainers and friends to celebrate with them, Mabilu's five-day fiesta was a wedding designed to impress.

And it had the desired effect on the media and guests at the no-expense-spared bash in Mauritius.

Mabilu and his wife Phala walked down the aisle in an over-the-top ceremony at the Long Beach Resort.

• Fikile Bili

Tenderpreneur Fikile Bili walked down the aisle with Phindiwe, his sweetheart of three years. Their extravagant wedding took place at Tikwe Lodge, a resort in Virginia, in Free State.

It was a show-stealing event, where 600 guests were treated to a four-course dinner among other things. Bili boasted that he paid the whole ilobolo and did not owe the bride's family a cent.

Andile Mngxitama, a social commentator and activist, said these bling weddings were "spitting in the faces of the poor".

He said most of the people hosting these flash weddings were politically connected tenderpreneurs.

"This rising wasteful elite with shocking amounts of wealth are sending a wrong message to the poor that you don't have to work hard - but you can be politically connected to be rich.

"How do you splash on a wedding when you know there are people who go to bed without food in their stomachs."

Independent financial adviser Mandisa Yoko said lavish weddings allowed people to be celebrities for a day. She said delayed marriages also perpetuated the trend of pricy nuptials, as later on in life people could afford to spend more on their wedding.