Ok, something you don’t know about me – I am a HUGE big band fan. Which may not seem that strange, but when I was in high school, it made me a little unusual. I was, for example, the only kid I knew who begged my father to bring Harry Connick Jnr CDs back from a business trip in America instead of, I don’t know, MC Hammer or Boyz II Men (don’t get me started about my love for Harry). The only person I know who puts Ella, Dean and Frankie on my iPod when I’m feeling the mean reds and can sing along to pretty much any Gershwin lyric. So you can imagine that when I saw Jackie and Japie had pulled off a 1940s Glamour-themed wedding at Molenvliet, I was super excited to feature it! As we all know, love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage, and the two of them wanted to celebrate theirs in style – getting a kick out of champagne with their besties, facing the music and dancing all night and promising to love each other come rain or come shine. (Ya, I know. I couldn’t stop myself. Throw your tomato if you must.) They had a shindig old Frank himself would have been proud to have thrown, co-ordinated by Jaco van Loggerenberg of Just Jack and photographed by the fab Andre from Zara Zoo. And now I get to share it with you. Ain’t THAT a kick in the head?

Both Jackie and Jaco sent over some background on the day:

Jackie: Japie and I met a few years ago. He was friends with my friends’ friends, and vice versa. One night visiting them we met. Soon after we were in love, but best of all we became best friends. I think the best way to describe it is “Friendship on Fire”.

He proposed a few years later, when he took me away to Arrabella Hotel and Spa near Kleinmond. He did this whole story book romance. He went down on his knee and told me how much he loves me, a red rose in the one hand and the ring in the other. It felt like a fairytale.

Jackie: We both just love the 1940s era – the mafia was big, peep-toe shoes and red lips were the fashion. So we decided to use it as a theme for our wedding. Jaco, our wedding planner, told us about a wedding venue that would enhance the theme. So we went to look at Molenvliet Wine and Guest Estate. It was perfect!

Jaco: What more could a coordinator ask for, than a bride-to-be contacting you to ask you to plan her wedding…because you planned her friend’s wedding?  This was the case with Jackie and Japie, whose wedding took place in October 2011, at MolenVliet Wine and Guest Estate, on the Helshoogte Pass, Stellenbosch.

When Jackie first contacted Just Jack, her brief was that she wanted a 1940s-themed wedding.  Now, we don’t often get requests for themed weddings, especially not something as interesting as the 1940s, with red as the main colour.  You can imagine that the first thought that popped into my head was, “Oh my word, this is going to look like Valentines Day…how terrible”.  Luckily with the help of a great florist (Jo-lize of Floral Affairs), we pulled it off and the wedding was beautiful.  Keeping with the 1940s theme, we incorporated lace and a BOLD red colour into all the decor.  Something Different Concepts and Shows specially made lampshades for us to enhance the overall look.

Jackie: The ceremony was held at the Manor House under a big oak tree which overlooked the estate and mountains. At the ceremony everything was white and pure with strings of pearls here and there, keeping it traditional. The guests then took a walk down through the vineyards following a classical trio and there was plenty to drink along the way. Guests were then welcomed by pre-dinner drinks and canapés at the river while a band played music in the background.  They could find their seats by looking at the photos of 1940s celebrities hanging from lampshades with their names attached to them. At the reception everything was bold using black, silver and red with little touches of white. All the flowers were red in glass and silver vases giving it a real pop from the grey and black tablecloths. Lots of mirror balls in different sizes were hanging from the ceiling just above the black and white dance floor.

Jaco:A 1940s wedding would not be complete without music of that era.  We therefore made use of the highly acclaimed Sticky Triggers‘ eight piece band, with a small brass section, to keep guests entertained throughout the evening.  Musical favourites such as Ella Fitzgerald, Glenn Miller and Frank Sinatra worked perfectly during dinner time, but after the main course, the Sticky Triggers made sure that all the guests were kept on the dance floor.

Jackie:Piet from Stir Foods did an amazing job with the food using alternating starters, plated mains with recipes from our mothers’ kitchens and bowls of salad and vegetables, and desserts were served canapé style with the bar in front and the coffee bar at the back. Mini boerewors rolls were served much later as a midnight snack. 

Jackie: The wedding was even better than I ever could’ve pictured. I’m a big sucker for romance, and I could say that I had the perfect fairytale wedding!

Congratulations, Jackie and Japie! Here’s hoping that the best is yet to come! (Ok, I’ll stop now.) And to Jaco and Andre from Zarazoo, big thank you for the feature! You can find more on the Zarazoo blog here.

Service providers:

Venue: MolenVliet Wine and Guest Estate
Catering: Stir Foods
Co-ordinator: Just Jack Wedding and Events Coordinators
Photography:  Zara Zoo
Videography: Tolken Media
Flowers: Floral Affairs
Lighting: Something Different Concepts and Shows
Hiring: Top Table
Bar & staffing:  Shake and Serve
Hair & make-up: Luciano
Music: The Sticky Triggers