Amalfi Blues Wedding Inspiration

Italy’s Amalfi Coast is one of my all-time favourite places on earth. Back in my mid-twenties I went there on what we dubbed the ‘blonde roadtrip’ – three blondes in a convertible, ten days, just driving the coast and stopping over where we liked. It was awesome (except, maybe, for the actual driving part). Because fun! But also because it’s seriously one of the most beautiful places you will ever get to visit, with amazing food, and lovely people, and and and. Heaven, basically. So when my friend, Anneli Marinovich, attended a photography workshop (Moda e Arte) there a while back, I was super envious! And now I’m missing Amalfi all over again, as I get to share these beautiful images that Anneli took at the workshop, which was styled by the insanely talented Joy Proctor. We see our couple through their wedding to their clifftop reception, and on to their stylish honeymoon – in a convertible of course! It’s the perfect ‘something blue’ to finish off the week, and fit into our theme this month! Thanks for sharing, Anneli!

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Whimsical Woodland Wedding Inspiration

Enchanted Forest Dessert Display | Credit: Anneli Marinovich (25)

A while back, my lovely friends (and regular collaborators) photographer Anneli Marinovich and stylist Louise Beukes headed off to a picturesque little corner of the French countryside for the weekend, to create an enchanted woodland-inspired styled shoot, which sounded like the best idea ever to me. And then I saw the results over on Rock My Wedding and I fell in love with its fairytale enchanted forest wedding style, even more than I’d imagined I would. Gold forest creatures, a cake dripping with caramel (and tiny fondant mushrooms), heart shaped macarons, lush roses, moss, a floral chandelier. Each detail is more heart-racingly beautiful and inspiring than the last. So I’m super excited that these talented wedding pros are sharing their shoot on SouthBound Bride today. If you’re planning a woodland wedding (and I know many of you are, especially with the great forest venues SA has to offer), then consider adding a little touch of whimsy and fantasy to your decor as Louise has done here so well – it’s gorgeous, and takes the look from rustic prettiness to all-out enchanting.Read More

Elegant Zorgvliet Wine Estate Wedding by Anneli Marinovich {Marike & Anthony}

If there’s one thing we South Africans know how to do to perfection, it’s throwing an elegant vineyard wedding. As long as I’ve been featuring weddings of all different kinds on SBB, there’s still something about a summer wedding in the Cape winelands that tugs at my heartstrings – the beautiful Cape Dutch architecture, the breathtaking scenery (mountains so spectacular they look like they must have been painted, and I would know, since I spent four years at Stellenbosch looking at them in awe!), the light during golden hour that you just want to eat with a spoon. For all my love of motifs and patterns and colours, sometimes I just like it best when a bride and groom choose an elegant white on white palette and let their surroundings work their magic against the blank canvas. And when that canvas includes just a tiny touch of glitter, a murmur of lace and a puff of baby’s breath? Well, I’m SOLD. Today’s wedding is all of this and more, in that it was shot by one of our favourite photographers (and wedding people), Anneli Marinovich. There’s no dreamier way to end off your afternoon.Read More

Farm Fête Nutcracker Wedding by Anneli Marinovich {Anna & Piet}

Oh happy day! I’m super excited to share this wedding with you, because not only is it full of shabby chic, farm wedding gorgeousness, it actually has a little SBB twist. Back when Anna and Piet first got engaged, the bride found her photographer Anneli Marinovich right here, and I was looking forward to hearing all about the (usually London-based) Anneli’s South African wedding. I’ve worked with Anneli loads myself and love her work, so I knew she would do an amazing job! It was such a pleasure not only to see her gorgeous pics, but to hear about how much fun she had with Anna and Piet and their exuberant families, and after a feature in Wedding Inspirations, it comes full circle with me sharing this farm fête here today. Just some of my favourite details: a custom aisle, a cluster of bridesmaids in pretty pastels, flowers in tins and the cheese cake!Read More

How to Create a Peach Watercolour Wedding

Call me crazy, but the days I get to show off styled shoots that I have been a part of are some of my favourites! And I have been dying to share this one, which I styled with a team of awesome suppliers last autumn. It all started with a conversation between myself and the lovely Anneli Marinovich – she wanted to photograph a rustic table in a field, and we loved the idea of using peach blossom, as peach is such an awesome colour to have in your wedding right now. As the English summer wore on though, we worried that our little dream wouldn’t work as it was getting a bit late in the year, but when the day finally dawned in October, the sun came out for us (even if the wind did too). We had such a lovely day shooting in and around Gaynes Park, which has to be one of my absolute favourite UK venues, and working with the nicest (and most talented) bunch of people you could hope to find. The shoot subsequently was featured in Wedding and Wedding Flowers in the UK, and on Wedding Chicks blog. Honoured! Anyway, today we’re finally bringing it home to SBB.Read More

The EdWed Recap (Part 2)

We’re back this afternoon with the second part of our recap from The Editorial Wedding. From our talented students’ work earlier you will have had a good idea of the gorgeousness that Louise of b.loved Wedding Design and Styling created for us that day, but now it’s time to share the full shoot from my EdWed partner, Anneli Marinovich Photography. Anneli’s love of colour was so perfect for highlighting Louise’s design – like the ‘Kate Spade meets Elizabeth Messina’ theme, it was a marriage made in heaven. Lou’s inspired idea was to mix bold glitzy graphic prints with soft florals, and to introduce colour gradually through the design. So starting with the set-up of the bridal suite, which has just a little touch of gold, black and white to offset the romantic vintage gown and accessories, it moves into an emerald and gold ceremony area and on into a riot of gorgeous colour at the reception. I love it. In fact, I loved it so much that I’m surprised Louise managed to take any of it home, as I wanted to steal every glass, every invitation, every plate, every glittery peg and tassel to hang up in my house and stare at forever.Read More

Branco Prata Love Shoot

Sometimes it amazes me that I’ve been working in this little wedding blog industry for three years now. I remember when I started, and I would go on Twitter, and all these other bloggers would be chatting away like the cheerleaders at the cool table. But it turned out, that unlike every John Hughes movie I ever saw, these particular cool kids were more than happy to let me ‘sit’ with them, and in no time I found myself making friends. Some I have been lucky enough to meet in person (or even just by phone) since then, others not yet, but as I have watched this little community of talented people rise to great heights and become significant industry names, I feel so proud of them. Plus, I get such a kick out of having these industry friends all over the world. Sofia from Branco Prata was one of the first I started following, and since then it has been such a pleasure to see the wedding business she has built with her partner Andre (he does the photography, she does the flowers & styling) thrive, both in their home country of Portugal and overseas. I never fail to be seduced by their gorgeous work (check out, for example, this dreamy e-shoot and this fab invitation download Sofia did especially for SBB). But today, Sofia and Andre are on the other side of the lens, courtesy of the awesome Anneli Marinovich, who caught up with the pair on a recent trip to Portugal. No props, no gimmicks, just golden hour on golden sands, and a whole lot of love. :) Read More

Urban Johannesburg Bridal Shoot

Hello lovelies! Things are all a bit hectic behind the scenes here at SBB, as I put the finishing touches on my course material for The Editorial Wedding, which is happening next week. So excited to show you what we have been up to – and photographers, if you haven’t booked yet, tomorrow’s your last chance! It’s going to be an awesome day, and I’m particularly excited to be co-hosting it with a photographer who I admire not only for her beautiful, colourful, crisp photography and ability to capture the moment, but for her business savvy as well. It’s been such a pleasure getting to know Anneli Marinovich over the last year, and I’m so happy to have her as one of SBB’s sponsors – anyone still looking for a wedding photographer in SA for the end of this year should give her a shout. Anneli is so enthusiastic about her work and the industry, and she makes it very easy for her subjects to relax. She’s also a true creative, and loves taking on new projects and shooting different things. I always love sharing her work here on SBB, and today we have a gorgeous urban bridal shoot that she did in Newtown, Johannesburg. I love the mixture of soft, romantic bridalwear (not to mention gorgeous Jannie Baltzer headpieces) with the industrial urban backdrop, and the way Anneli has her model interacting with the Joburg architecture. It would make for an awesome rock the frock – just sayin’! Anyway, big welcome to Anneli as always, and enjoy!Read More

Q&A with Anneli Marinovich

Good afternoon my dears, and a good afternoon it is when I get to introduce my readers to one of my very favourite industry people. Anneli Marinovich is a long-time supporter of the blog – she was one of our first sponsors and since then I have had the pleasure of getting to know Anneli both as a person (she’s lovely!) and as a businesswoman and photographer. And let me tell you, this girl is going places. Not only does Anneli shoot the most beautiful pictures that really capture the moment, but she’s super switched on, which has made working with her a pleasure. In fact, Anneli and I are currently working on a special project that I can’t wait to announce very soon! In the meanwhile, I thought it was high time I got my friend to answer a few questions for us. And remember – although Anneli is based in the UK as I am, she also shoots during the season in South Africa, and she’d love to hear from you!

Hi Anneli – thanks for joining us on SBB today! How did you get started as a photographer?
I’ve always enjoyed photography, especially travel and street photography and after we tied the knot in Cape Town in 2009, having had a wonderful experience with our own wedding photographer (Andre van Niekerk), I decided to look into wedding photography. I took an intensive course focusing on building a successful wedding photography business when we returned to the UK and realised that this was what I wanted to do… full time. I shot my first solo wedding in London in May 2010 and absolutely loved it. The decision to leave my full time job in advertising came in July 2011 after having shot weddings part-time for just over a year as well as second shooting with established wedding photographers, and I haven’t looked back since!Read More

Indieberries Engagement Shoot

A few years back, my dear friend Lenore sent me a link to a South African blog called indieBerries. Think you’ll like this, she said. And that was how I entered the deliciously barmy world of Che, writer of fun blog posts, drawer of hilarious cartoons, scrapbooker extraordinaire. Che is one of those people you instantly like, even just via the internet – she’s bubbly and warm, creative and ever so slightly mad. She also makes beautiful stationery, which I used as a thin pretext to get in touch years ago (she kindly wrote a guest post for me then). So of course, when she got proposed to in spectacular fashion and started planning a wedding, I declared myself her new bestie. Conveniently, she was going to be in London for a few months, so I’ve since got to spend some time with her and she is exactly as I’d imagined – which means that I dig her a lot in person as well as online. All of these would have been reasons on their own that I’d be excited to feature her engagement shoot with fiance Warren (or ‘The Warr’ as I can only ever think of him after Che dubbed him that on her blog – it’s fine, he calls me SBB), especially when I found out that their photographer was none other than the awesome Anneli Marinovich. But when I discovered that they had the CUTEST concepts for their shoot, I knew it would be one of my favey couple shoots ever. First, Che and Warren brought the ‘love locks’ tradition to London, adding their own little lock of love to Hungerford Bridge and throwing the key into the Thames. Then they headed for the London Eye, and had a quintessentially London picnic, where each gave the other a love letter to read while Anneli snapped away. What I love most is that these concepts weren’t just used as props – they were catalysts for genuinely romantic and emotional moments between these two lovebirds, and the expressions of happiness on their faces just say it all. They both seem to glow in each other’s company – just imagine how amazing their wedding is going to be! Be sure to read on below for details on the shoot, and for the AWESOME story of how they met (make sure you head over to indieBerries for how he proposed too!). Che and The Warr: huge congratulations!Read More