Cape venue refuses gay wedding

For engaged couples looking to find a place to tie the knot‚ Beloftebos promises to be a "place where heaven meets earth”. But not if you’re in a same-sex relationship.

Marketing manager Alexandra Thorne and her American fiancée Alex Lu were told they could not host their nuptials at the Stanford farm venue just two hours outside Cape Town‚ after Thorne enquired about an available date in October next year.

Thorne showed TimesLIVE e-mails she sent to Beloftebos in which she shared details of their “dream” wedding‚ describing it as “whimsical‚ with a touch of fantasy”. She also included that her and Lu were a same-sex couple and “hoped” the venue was “open” to it.

Thorne wrote that they were both in love with the venue.

But in an initial response from Beloftebos‚ owner Coia de Villiers said only that they would not be able to host the wedding‚ without providing an explanation.

Thorne then wanted to know why.

“The reason is that we only host heterosexual marriages‚” De Villiers said in her responding e-mail. “We wish not to offend with this but it is our venue policy.”

A shocked Thorne then posted De Villiers’s response on Facebook to highlight the “discrimination” her and her screenwriter fiancée had experienced.

“Nothing like the smell of bigotry in the morning ... Thanks Beloftebos Wedding Venue for reminding me that pretty things are reserved for straight people. Real classy‚” she wrote.

Thorne said that she was “saddened and disappointed” by the experience‚ but that she had not given up on having her wedding in her home country.

“The outpouring of support has been overwhelming‚” she said. “A few venues have offered their services. It's amazing how people have jumped on this.”

De Villiers and her husband Andries replied to an email from told TimesLIVE saying: "We are in the process of taking legal advice and have been advised not to do any media interviews until such time as we have consulted on the issue and the way forward. Once we’ve consulted with our legal representatives, we are happy to revert to you. We trust you understand."