A JOINT funeral will take place next week for a couple from Co Down who drowned while on honeymoon in South Africa.
The bodies of Lynette and John Rodgers returned home on Friday.
The couple were married on October 17 at First Presbyterian Church in Holywood, Lynette's home town.
The 26-year-old physiotherapist, who worked at the Ulster Hospital and her husband, John, a 28-year-old University of Ulster engineering graduate who worked for Calvert Office Equipment in Belfast, had only been married for six days when they tragically drowned while swimming at Plettenberg Bay on Friday.
It is believed the couple got caught in a rip tide.
They were discovered washed up on the beach and attempts were made by the National Sea Rescue Initiative to resuscitate them, but they were declared dead by the team doctor.
On Thursday, flowers, resembling Lynette's bridal bouquet, were left on Robberg Beach, Plettenberg Bay, near Cape Town, in memory of her and John, who was from Ballygowan. A cross was also left at the scene.
Among those who attended the ceremony were honorary British Consul in the Eastern Cape, Jackie Barclay, and the local tourism safety and support officer, Ilze Jacobs. Several members of the local National Sea Rescue Initiative also attended to pay their respects. Memory Booysen, executive mayor of Bitou, which takes in the Plettenberg Bay area, offered his condolences.
"On behalf of the whole political leadership, administration and indeed the Plettenberg Bay community, we wish to express our heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased," he said.
It is understood the couple's bodies were formally identified during the week however the outcome of postmortem examinations are not known.
A joint funeral for the pair will take place on Monday at 11.30am at First Presbyterian Church on the Bangor Road in Holywood, where the couple married earlier this month.
The couple will be buried together afterwards during a private committal.
In a joint statement earlier in the week, the pair's families' spoke of their "great shock" at the tragedy.
"Our happiness in sharing their recent wedding has been thoroughly devastated," the statement read.
"Both were very dearly loved and brought us great joy."
A book of condolence in memory of the couple has been opened in Holywood Library and Ards Arts Centre.
