The Cape Flats couple whose engagement video in a Clicks store went viral has tied the knot.
Stephen Claassen and Noleen Gysman dated 35 years ago when they lived in Oudtshoorn.
They rekindled their romance last year and got married on Saturday in an intimate ceremony
Last year October, the Daily Voice brought you the oulike love story of Stephen, 53, who popped the big question at Noleen’s work, Clicks store in Vangate Mall, Athlone.
A video of the magic moment, captured by a staff member, went viral on Facebook with more than 150 000 views in two days.
Noleen, 52, from Parow, is the manager at the store, where she’s been working for the past 30 years, while Stephen is a boiler maker at Atlantis Foundries.
Noleen says they were supposed to get married on 6 February but had to delay it due to the lockdown.
“We postponed and also scaled down [to 40 guests] due to the pandemic,” she says.
“But we weren't going to postpone again because as the saying goes, ‘van uitstel kom afstel’, and that we both will not allow.”
Noleen previously explained that they were high school sweethearts who were separated when Stephen moved to Atlantis with his family.
“After two years of dating, he moved and I stayed behind and we never saw each other again,” she says.
“We both got married and had children. I was divorced and Stephen’s wife died six years ago.”
The pair were reunited after a mutual friend put them in contact and they fell madly in love all over again.
“Since October after the proposal, we grew even closer and we decided to move in together with our children's permission. He doesn't want me to travel from Atlantis to work,” adds the blushing bride.
Noleen looked pretty as a picture in a dusty pink gown while her husband was uitgevat soos ‘n nat kat in a pink shirt and maroon suit, and their guests wore shades of blue.
The wedding was held in Athlone at Noleen’s daughter’s house where both the ceremony and reception took place.
They went to Nantes Park for photos and then surprised Noleen’s colleagues at Clicks to take pics with them as well.
“Clicks have become part of my family. I had to include them as I know they had to work and couldn't be at the wedding due to Covid,” says Noleen.
The couple departs today for their honeymoon in Montagu.
subhead 36: long-lost lovers wed in shop
Caption: VIRAL: Stephen and Noleen’s proposal at Clicks
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