Real Wedding at Constantia Mist {Sarah & Peter}

Coral, you guys. I have been preaching coral (along with my fellow wedding bloggers) for the last year, and I’ve seen it in inspiration boards and inspiration shoots and weddings on other people’s blogs. But today, coral is making a personal appearance here on SBB and let me tell you, get ready to do some Beatles-style shouting and crying, because it is everything I thought it would be and more. Of course, the colour scheme’s not the only reason I fell in love with Sarah and Peter’s beautiful Constantia Mist garden wedding (shot in glorious colour and detail by friends and SBB sponsors Andre and Selma of Expressions), but it’s the first one. Close behind were super sweet details like button badges, wooden tableware, divine stationery, sweet white folding chairs and paper pom poms. It’s like the posh version of a country picnic, and manages to be charming and sophisticated and a little bit retro all at the same time. It is LOVE. More like this one please, people. Make a blogger happy. ;)Read More

Inspiration Board: Together in Perfect Harmony

Happy Monday, folks! Hope you had a lovely weekend! Today’s inspiration board is a reader request from Robin, who is planning a black, white and silver garden/farm wedding for April next year. Robin had already chosen her colour scheme and bought many of her decorations, but couldn’t find a suitable venue in her area, so in the end decided to host the reception at her in-law’s farm, where there is a beautiful garden. I’m not sure what sort of decor Robin has already purchased, so in creating the board, I focused on how you might translate an elegant, slightly formal wedding to an outdoor setting. In fact, the two work perfectly together! Robin already told me she wanted long tables (love this idea, especially with strings of lights in the trees – what could be more romantic) and was considering a collection of glass containers with white flowers in them, which I also think is a great idea. The key then is to balance out the rustic (as a nod to the farm) with the formal. One great idea is to hire at least one beautiful chandelier, and hang it from a tree as a focal piece of decor, which really sets the tone. Stationery can be quite traditional, and calligraphy makes a really lovely detail, especially at each place setting as with the menu cards below. I was going to suggest either white dresses or black ones for the bridesmaids until I saw the pic below – what a great idea to let them wear a combination! The bride can also wear a black or silver sash, depending on the style of her dress. Silver touches come from mercury glass (which you can easily DIY) and just LOOK at this silver cake – isn’t it gorgeous! On the rustic side, consider hessian/burlap table cloths or runners, twine-wrapped bouquets, and wooden or chalkboard details. Make use of pretty features of the garden, like a gate that doubles as a place to hang escort cards. Just because the venue has changed, doesn’t mean that your style has to – in fact, in this case, I think the indoor and outdoor elements work perfectly together. Good luck, Robin – hope the rest of your planning goes brilliantly!

Colours: Black, white, silver

 

Top row (l-r): Bride & groom {P: Jemma Keech Photography}; chandelier in tree {P: Leo Patrone Photography}; silver and white cake {Yummy Cupcakes & Cakes}; place setting
Row 2: Flowers in varied glass containers; mercury glass votives; invitation suite on burlap {D: JK Design; P:Karen McNeil Photography}; black and white bridesmaids’ dresses {P: Alyse French Photography}; twine-wrapped bouquet {F: Gild the Lily Too; P:Alison Mayfield for Christian Oth}
Row 3: Long tables {C: Meredith Commender; P: Stephen Karlisch}; framed chalkboard sign {P: Alyse French Photography}; gate escort card detail {P: Lisa Lefkowitz}; chair back calligraphy signs {C: Amy Kaneko Events P: Jose Villa}.

 

Real Wedding in Simon’s Town {Joy & Dylan}

When I was 22 I lived in Italy, and I dated a boy there. We used to go and get drinks by the canals, and stare into each other’s eyes and he would tell me I had “the look”. What look? The look of luuuurve my friends. Googly-eyed, starry-eyed, whatever you want to call it. Well, you see those two up there? Yup, that’s The Look. But the fact that Dylan and Joy are blatantly glowing with how crazy they are for one another is not the only reason I love today’s wedding (although it’s my favourite reason). The fact is that this wedding is unbeeeeleeeeeevably gorgeous. As in, make oooh faces at it, poise your mouse over the favourites button before you’ve even finished reading it type of gorgeous. In fact, I’m making The Look at this wedding right now because I’m so in love with it. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that it has an achingly pretty (and contemporary) palette of soft pink and grey, or that the bride is a stone cold fox and her husband a strapping professional rugby player, or that the photographs are by up-and-coming and super talented photographer Nastassja Harvey (who you should totally book now while you still have the chance). And apparently the folks over at Top Billing agree, since Joy and Dylan’s wedding was featured on the show last week (yay!). Whether you managed to catch it or not, you are going to love the chance to savour every image from this beautiful day.Read More