For those of you lovely brides planning a whimsical wedding in an enchanted forest or field of wildflowers (which may very well not have catering facilities), the great advantage of hiring a food truck is that they come armed with their own food prepping facilities and are ready to serve! Fast, convenient and tasty. What better combination can you get? And the even bigger plus is that most of them are also just oh-so-aesthetically-pleasing. Have a peek at some of our Top 10 local food trucks. We love that our selection of mobile kitchens are willing to serve a wide variety of palates and tastebuds. From organic and ‘rawsome’ to some sugary goodness, all your foodie dreams for your wedding can come true. Why not choose a few?!Read More
Today’s wedding is all about modern elegance and simplicity. Against the breathtaking backdrop of the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, Salubona and Olivia celebrated their wedding with family and friends, taking full advantage of the Mother City’s abundant natural charms. Just looking at the light glinting off the water, at Table Mountain striking a pose in the background, at the range of guests suited up in both fashion-forward and traditional Swazi attire, reminds me what makes Cape Town so special. I love that Olivia and Salubona let this vibrant city speak for itself, accenting it with graceful white flowers, navy suits for the boys, and pretty baby blue for the bridesmaids. Like Olivia’s philosophy on her gorgeous wedding dress – she wanted to wear the dress, not let it wear her – this couple struck the perfect balance with their nuptial style, and the fab Lindy Kannemeyer of Lindy Photography was on hand to capture every sun-kissed, romantic moment.Read More
Today’s post is partly aimed at the overseas brides and grooms, who are considering whether South Africa is the right place to celebrate their weddings (hint: it SO is). But let’s be honest, for those of us blessed to be born or live here, it’s nice to remind ourselves why this is one of the best destinations on earth. A little smugness never hurts, right? ;) To make the deal even sweeter, we’re featuring images from a styled wedding shoot put together by photographer Tania Timkova and Michele Steyn of Passionately Weddings. Tania, a destination photographer, was a visitor to our shores herself and fell in love with SA, especially Cape Town! She wanted to show off the potential to those back home, so worked together with real-life-couple Chantelle & Retief to capture the beautiful scenery, the tenderness, and of course, the love!Read More
You guys, I have been DYING to share this engagement shoot with you! It has been burning up my Dropbox since before Christmas, waiting for the perfect moment to share its massive amounts of romance with the world, and today is the day. Now I know e-shoots aren’t something all of you follow, but this one is just perfection. It’s not only unique and fun, and photographed to perfection by the always-amazing Moira West, but what I love best about it is that it has a little story behind it. Charles & Liné didn’t actually meet in a bar (read on for how they did meet, so cute), but because it was really love at first sight for them, they wanted to recreate that incredible moment when sparks flew. Butterflies! Be sure to read Charles’ hilarious version of how this love story began – it culminated in an amazingly romantic proposal (a scavenger hunt that started where they had their first date, created the perfect day and night complete with spa treatments, a fancy dinner and a red convertible, and ended with a room full of roses, a sparkly ring, and a bride-to-be saying “A thousand times, yes!”). Thank you so much Liné and Charles for sharing!Read More
Some questions are hard. What’s the meaning of life? Where is Lord Lucan? When Miranda and Steve got married on Sex and the City, did their son become Brady Brady? But when photographer Shireen Louw asked me if I’d like to feature a gorgeous couple out on a yacht with incredible views of Cape Town and a Vera Wang dress, it might have been the easiest question I’ve ever answered. Hells yes. So here it is. Drop whatever you’re doing, and enjoy the abundant loveliness.Read More
Good morning friends! I have another very special inspiration board to share today – this time we’re featuring the photographs of photographer Jo-Ann Stokes. Going through a photographer’s portfolio to put a board together is so interesting, as it really allows me to get a sense of their style, and I love the way Jo-Ann uses shadows and light to create atmospheric pics that are a little bit fashion and a little bit cinematic. I couldn’t help but be drawn to some of the moody blue images, as they remind me of the changeable weather in the Cape, and all of that natural beauty. So that’s where we went with the board. I think this is such a good look for a local wedding – soft naturals, a whole range of shades from grey to blue, and again that interplay between shadows and light. I love it, and I hope you will too! Head over to Jo-Ann’s blog to see examples of her lovely work, and remember that she’s taking bookings for your big day!
In the time I’ve been running SouthBound Bride, I’ve had submissions from photographers, brides, planners, florists – even grooms. But I’ve never had a submission from a bride’s sister before! So I was intrigued when Katherine wrote to tell me about her sister Melissa’s love story, and to share the super sweet engagement shoot that she and fiance Gavin had done with photographer Yvette Gilbert. I think it’s just so lovely that Katherine wanted to share Melissa’s happiness with us! And who could resist an adorable shoot in blue, red and white, with cute props to add to the beautiful Cape scenery? I love the little details, from a boho crown to a stripey towel, and of course, I also love the bookshop alternate setting. These are clearly pics that not just the couple, but their famlies too, will treasure.Read More
I have something quite different for you today. As you know, I absolutely love and admire the South African wedding photography community and am so lucky to showcase their work on a daily basis, but of course, as I spend so much time on international blogs, there are some international photographers whose work I have come to be in awe of. Some are what I’d consider the really big hitters – many of you will be able to guess the kind of names I’m thinking of, and one of these is Jonas Peterson. A photographer whose work I respect for its uniqueness of perspective as well as richness of narrative and emotion, Jonas is based in Australia (although he shoots many destination weddings) and has been named one of the Top 10 wedding photographers in the world. He’s a big inspiration not just to me, but to many photographers, and in fact taught a workshop in Cape Town a while back. But I didn’t think I’d ever actually be able to share one of his weddings on SBB – after all, we only feature South African weddings on these pages, and Jonas’ work is very much in demand in the blogging community. So as you can imagine, when the opportunity arose for me to do so, I leapt at it! Last week, Jonas took the unusual step of offering up his latest wedding (which is actually a special two-parter in both Sydney and Cape Town) to bloggers on a non-exclusive basis, and when I found this out on my weekly blog hop, I got straight on the email to ask if SBB could be a part of it. I was thrilled to get a ‘yes’. So here we go: no info from the bride and groom, and no patter from me on the wedding details, just the chance to revel in some astonishingly beautiful pictures. For me, they really capture the wildness and the grandeur of the Cape scenery, and those gorgeous radiant shadows round the mountains as the sun begins to set. Take a deep breath, and dive in.Read More
Okay, I have to be honest, I try not to feature too many beach engagement shoots. I know, I know, but when I was growing up in PE it became this thing that everyone who got engaged did – dress up in jeans and plain white t-shirts, and get photographed running down the beach at Sardinia Bay. I have looked at about a hundred of these albums (sorry, PE friends), and I think it scarred me. So I only feature beach shoots that I am totally in love with, and today’s e-session for Jeff and Josephine definitely qualifies. Kerry and Luis of Piteira Photography have perfectly captured the incredible light of a Camps Bay sunset – I can’t believe it was already four months ago that I was sitting with my lovely friend Robyn drinking martinis and looking out at this exact sunset just before coming back to London. Like all of Kerry and Luis’ images, I just want to wallow in the dreaminess. Josephine and Jeff (who live in London) were out in Cape Town for their wedding, which you can see in all its glory over on The Pretty Blog.Read More
Happy Friday, SouthBound brides! Almost the weekend! One thing I haven’t had much of a chance to do since I relaunched the site is to tell you about what I got up to when I was in South Africa, and today I want to share a particularly awesome day I had last week in Cape Town. (Can it really be JUST last week?) But it didn’t start off awesome. Nooo. I’d got up and glammed up, only to be comprehensively rained on while I packed the boot of my rental car. And I don’t rain on pretty, let me tell you. Frizz deluxe, mascara everywhere, damp, limp cardigan. I looked awesome. I had errands to run, and ended up being super late to meet the wonderful Vicki of I Want That Wedding for coffee (having been rained on AGAIN walking all the way up Kloof Street because OMG-where-is-the-parking-in-Cape-Town?). She took one look at me and burst out laughing, which was the only appropriate response really. So by the time I made it back down the hill to see my friends at Wedding Concepts (who you’ll know from the beautiful weddings they have co-ordinated that I have featured here), I was feeling more cheerful but still pretty frazzled.
But of course, the WC crew are used to frazzled nerves, since they deal with stressed out brides on a daily basis. They took me in and fed me cupcakes and cappuccino, and told me all about their rebrand into the Concepts Collection. Pretty snazzy, I can tell you (just look at the new wedding blog!). This now encompasses weddings,travel and events, and they told me all about how these work together harmoniously for someone planning their South African wedding. Think: plan your wedding, get your guests over at the best travel rates (all part of the service) and then spoil them with some pre- or post-wedding events. How much fun is that? I particularly liked the way they think of all of these as ‘experiences’. Especially for brides and grooms (or their families) who are travelling to SA, there are so many amazing experiences to be had in our gorgeous homeland. And then came the best part: I was lucky enough to be treated to my very own ‘experience’. Yep, I am SPOILT. Be jealous.
