Wedding whiz wowed by own big day
● The world’s best wedding planner says SA hosts the world’s best kind of wedding — his own.
South African-raised Colin Cowie, now a US-based wedding maestro whose client list includes Tom Cruise and Elton John, tied the knot last weekend in Boschendal, Cape Town, amid a flurry of music, fashion and champagne corks.
“It was exceptional, beyond our wildest dreams,” said Cowie of his big day with now husband Danny Peuscovich. About 150 guests joined them on a 10-day wedding “splurge” featuring game lodge safaris in the bushveld and dance parties in Cape Town.
At the wedding itself — a “joint venture” between his own professional team in Los Angeles and South African wedding expert Khali Collins — guests were serenaded by a 22-piece orchestra and African drums.
Instead of rings the couple opted for gold bracelets that were ceremonially screwed into place.
“Then we threw the screwdrivers away, because our love will carry on forever,” said Cowie.
Guests quaffed Dom Perignon rosé champagne while the orchestra played a Barry White love song. “It was very over the top,” said Cowie.
The wedding celebrations continued at a reception featuring Marcela Roggeri, a celebrated concert pianist and, later, international DJ Donna D’Cruz.
Cowie said the event was flawless: “Not one piece of missed luggage, not an incident that went wrong — it was blessed from start to finish.
“I do this for a living. I wrote 10 books on the subject. But I had no idea it would be so great and that we would exceed every expectation,” said the man whose career has spanned 35 years.
Cowie was raised in East London and educated at Selborne College before emigrating to the US in 1985.
There he founded the Colin Cowie Lifestyle company and went on to become the best in the wedding business, later hosting his own television wedding programme and making regular appearances on famous chat shows — notably Oprah.