Hen Party Theme: Gold Cup

Sources: Corbin Gurkin Photography via Style Me Pretty (left); Kurt Boomer/Stephan Pappas via Southern Weddings/Sugar & Charm (centre); Cambria Grace Photography/Lauren Wells Events via Style Me Pretty (right)

It’s been a while since I did a hen party/bridal shower theme roundup, but with Ascot in the UK and the Durban July in South Africa last month, I started dreaming up a horse racing themed shower that would give us girls a chance to dress up. Which we love, obviously. Plus, like all my favourite themes, this one’s versatile enough that it can be done in a sedate way, or with a little more alcohol involved for a hen/bachelorette. For inspiration, I turned to our American cousins, who have been throwing Kentucky Derby-themed parties for a good while now, and boy did they have a lot of prettiness to share! So here’s how I would go about throwing a fabulous Ladies Day bridal shower that will get your bride to the marriage finish line in style!Read More

Real Life Bride #11: The Bridal Showers

I am one lucky girl. That’s all I can really say about the amount of love and spoiling that went into the pre-wedding events planned by my wonderful friends and family during my visit to South Africa. Apart from planning one heck of a bachelorettes, my bridesmaids planned not one, but two beautiful love-filled kitchen teas of note. It doesn’t get much better than that.

It all started when, on a Friday night, my sister picked me up from a dinner party with some random person laying in the back of the car. I immediately figured it must be one of her friends who had a bit too much to drink, when suddenly out jumped my dearest friend Inge, with a big smile on her face. She had flown down from Pretoria to surprise me (and to attend the weekend’s activities I would later learn about).

Okay, I was a little suspicious what with someone flying down for a random weekend, but my sister (who I now know is a very good liar), played everything so cool and had me convinced that we were simply going wine tasting the next day, to be followed by a boozy winefarm lunch in Franschhoek. So off we went for a “bridesmaid bonding day”.

I was so busy chatting (and chatting… and chatting…) to my friend, whom I hadn’t seen in months, that I didn’t really pick up on what was going on around me. We walked into the Green House at Babylonstoren and I looked up to find a table full of some of the most special ladies in the world and my MOM! She, as it turned out, also secretly flew down for the weekend. I had to fight hard to keep emotions intact and not become completely overwhelmed by the enormity of such a big moment.Read More