Claire's 21st Party...19th January 2008.

The Bryanston Room... at the Bryanston Country Club, Sandton, South Africa...was elegantly decorated in shades of sea green and maroon. Tall vases, with fairy lights within, towered above a wreath of white roses on the crisp white, linen clad tables.
Claire looked stunning in her matching sea green evening gown, its bodice adorned with bead work. With her hair swept up she looked like a film star.

Her guests began arriving at 19:00 and were greeted with welcome drinks on the patio outside.
Everyone was beautifully dressed, in keeping with the "black tie" request.

Doug started the evening by welcoming everybody to this special event,
the celebration of Claire's 21st Birthday.
He read a Birthday Greeting from his brother Grant's family in Australia.
A welcome was extended to those who had travelled some distance to share Claire's special day:
Granny Pat - Nelspruit
Gan-Gan Ann, Caryn, Kristin & Blaine - Durban
Jeanie & Bryan - Zimbabwe

Craig Elliott, Claire's Pastor, said grace.
The waiters served a most delicious Smoked Salmon Salad starter.

Doug said a few words about his beautiful daughter.
21 words that best describe Claire;
Sensitive
Affectionate
Impulsive
Loving
Ladylike
Dedicated
Faithful
Untidy
Sophisticated
Empathetic
Fussy
True
Genuine
Shoppaholic
Beautiful
Impatient
Transparent
Faithful
Friendly
Easy going
Truly wonderful

During the week he sent Claire the list of 21 words by mistake, and just had to share her response with everyone at the party;

"You’ve put faithful twice, I must be really faithful!
You can’t tell everyone I’m untidy! I need to find a husband still!"

Doug referred to Claire's silver charm bracelet she received for her Birthday and read a couple of the prayers from the book about it. Many of the guests enjoyed paging through the stories during the course of the evening.
(They can be found below.)

The choice of main course was;
Chicken with Chinese Noodles / Roast Lamb with vegetables.
Both seemed to go down well with the guests.

Claire's Godfather, Craig Hunt, introduced Claire with some flattering words.
Then Claire responded to her Dad's speech, it was very moving the way she shared the importance of having God in her life. (See her speech below.)

Good friends, Irena & George Willman, put together a beautiful slide presentation of Claire's life. You could have heard a pin drop as we watched Claire grow from a new born baby into the beautiful woman she is today.

A dessert buffet and dancing followed.
Grant, Claire's brother, organized the band Smoke Screen to play at the party, they were very good.
Grant also took all the official photographs.
Ross, her younger brother, went around entertaining everyone with his sense of humour.

An ice-cream cake in the shape of 21, decorated with fresh white roses and twenty-one candles, concluded the formalities, as everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to Claire.

The youngsters partied until after midnight.
It was an evening to remember.