Real Wedding at Grand Dedale {Catherine & Mark}

One of the things I love about SouthBound Bride being a destination wedding blog, is that I’m not limited to a particular aesthetic in the weddings I feature. Which suits me perfectly, since I have pretty eclectic tastes myself. I’ve featured beautiful vintage weddings, boho beachy celebrations, African-tastic bush scenes, city slickers, even themed weddings. I adore them all. Today’s wedding doesn’t fit into a particular mould – it’s set in the beautiful Cape countryside but has elements of classy city minimalism; it’s elegant and sophisticated, but with fun touches like fresh oyster shucking and a pimped up dessert table. And all of this within the most gorgeous white on white palette. It’s quintessentially Capetonian, and no surprise that it’s been so perfectly rendered, since it was co-ordinated by the awesome team at Wedding Concepts and photographed by Jan-Hendrik. I know you’re going to love it as much as I do!Read More

Coral and Aqua Styled Shoot

My goodness am I excited to share this little beauty with you! I spied with my little eye, something beginning with coral and aqua on the Wedding Concepts blog last year when this shoot, which was styled and co-ordinated by the WC team, was featured in Wedding Inspirations magazine. That single pincushion protea place setting really stuck in my mind, and I was so thrilled to get hold of a copy of the magazine and devour every gorgeous pic by one of my photography faves, Annemari Ruthven. So you can imagine I was even happier when the lovely Hannes of Wedding Concepts asked if I’d like to feature it right here on SBB. Um, yes please, Hannes! The thing with styled shoots (and it’s a reason some blogs don’t always feature them) is that it’s unlikely you can replicate the whole thing on the grand scale of a wedding, unless you’re getting set to be a Real Housewife of Constantia maybe. The art of it all is to be inspired, by the mood of the shoot perhaps, by the colours (although don’t forget you can translate a look you like to a whole new palette), or by a single detail or set of details. And that’s what’s so great about this one, because it is just teeming with original and inspiring ideas. First, the colour scheme – we’ve seen it before, and both coral and aqua are huge colours right now. But this shoot shows you how to be bold AND classy in the way that colour is used. Natural textures like the pincushions and coral itself, set against the clean lines of milk glass and graphic stationery are the way to  go. The table base is neutral, but through ribbons, flowers and lovely homeware items, the palette comes through. And that’s not where it ends. I love unexpected touches: the bride’s boho styling, the macaroon lollipops, the Bloody Mary bar, or DIY details like the ribbon garland or the paint dipped glass vases. It’s awesome, and I hope you enjoy poring over it just as much as I have!Read More

The Cape Luxury Experience

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.

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Real Wedding at Vrede en Lust {Brinley & Rupert}

You know how there are those women who have a rare luminescent quality, so that when they walk into a room, all the light seems to be drawn toward them? Today’s gorgeous (and thoroughly lovely) bride, Brinley, is one of those women (and I can say that because I know her). Rupert must have felt like all his Christmases had come at once when she said “I do”, and you just have to look at her face to see that the feeling is completely mutual. When I heard that Brin was working with the Wedding Concepts team to organise her wedding from her home in London, I knew it would be beautiful, and with a venue like Vrede en Lust, even more so. But what I really love is how the joy just jumps off the screen at you (captured faultlessly, as always, by the wonderful Joe Dreyer). This is the perfect mix of British charm and South African sunshine (including Zulu dancers leading the couple from the ceremony to cocktail hour), and I’m beyond excited to share it with you!Read More

Real Wedding at Morgenhof {Alicia & Winston}

We’re back to real weddings this week, and today’s is a blinder – although of course we wouldn’t expect anything less from the Wedding Concepts team! They had an unusual challenge this time – to turn the historic cellar venue of Morgenhof into a contemporary, formal space using lush, modern colours. They also had to mix two cultures (Alicia from the US and Winston from Liberia) and create a space where all the couple’s guests could feel at home. I think they more than pulled it off, as evidenced by the huge smiles on Winston and Alicia’s faces! I’m also absolutely thrilled that I finally get to feature the work of photography team Zarazoo, who I’ve been a fan of for aaaaages. Their style always makes me homesick, since they capture the big sky we are lucky enough to have in Africa (as well as the fun and personalities of the people they shoot). In fact, so much about this particular wedding reminds me why I love my home continent – it just seems to radiate with the glow of the warm earth, the light of the sun and the love of family and friends. I hope you love it as much as I do.

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Real Wedding at Rockhaven Farm {Jacqui & Neil} Part 1

Oh, how I LOVE this wedding! It’s just bursting with colour and life and joy, and with personal touches, and most of all, with family and friends having a great time celebrating the two people who are joining their lives together (not to mention the kind of fab details we’ve come to expect from the Wedding Concepts team). It’s everything we all want our wedding days to be. And no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t narrow down Jules Morgan’s beautiful, beautiful photos to a single post. So – yay! – you get two of them! And even better, the bride, Jacqui has been sweet enough to send over plenty of background that you won’t want to miss. So… tada! Here’s Part 1, and be sure to come back later for Part 2.

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Real Wedding at La Petite Dauphine {Lojanka & Jaco}

Wowsers. Just when you think you’ve seen every new idea in the vintage stable, a wedding comes along that combines familiar elements in a whole new way, and makes you fall in love with this look all over again. This wedding is 100% style and gorgeousness. Bride Lojanka is an interior designer (and clearly a girl with an incredible eye for detail) and she and husband Jaco, together with their superstar co-ordinators Wedding Concepts, really hit this one for a six. I have a long, long list of things that made me go “ooh!”, but right at the top is the ceremony arch covered with vintage vessels and suitcases (love!), the antique sewing machines holding menus in place, the bride and bridesmaids’ outfits, and OMG the fairy lights strung over the tables! Quite simply, I love this wedding. Thank you so much to Lojanka, Jaco and the Wedding Concepts team for sharing it here, and to Ian Mitchinson, who took the simply stunning photos.

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Ten Reasons to Get Married in the Western Cape

I love the Cape longtime, and in my opinion there’s really no better place to tie the knot. There are lots of reasons why, but to break down their personal top ten I’m thrilled to welcome back the fabulous team from Wedding Concepts, an exclusive wedding planning and co-ordination company based in the heart of Cape Town. These ladies and gents are some of the most creative and friendly people in the industry, and I’ve been lucky enough to feature some of their work on the blog – look out next week for another incredible wedding from them!

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Image: Jean-Pierre Uys/Wedding Concepts

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Country Luncheon Wedding at La Petite Dauphine by Wedding Concepts & Adel Ferreira

Ah, this wedding… I just want to pack my boxes and live in this wedding. The table settings are exquisite, as is the ‘indoors-outdoors’ ceremony setting. Pops of bright colour, ribbons floating in the breeze, fedoras, beyond adorable flower girls. I am completely in love with the décor and the atmosphere created by co-ordinator Hannes Loubser from Wedding Concepts (a company I wouldn’t expect anything less from than this amount of awesome). But if that’s not enough for you, the other thing that really makes this wedding stand out is that it turned the traditional schedule on its head and focused on what was important to the couple, as well as the season and venue. The day started with a relaxed lunch (which meant a total of two amazing meals for the foodie groom), followed by a sunset ceremony (with speeches immediately after) and then dancing and chilling late into the night. Tom and Marguerite: thank you so much for sharing your super-inspiring day with us – may the rest of your lives together be just as sweet!

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Elegant Garden Marquee Wedding by Ryan Graham & Wedding Concepts

Sometimes I just can’t believe the talent I come across in this industry. Last week’s bride was an amazing designer, and today’s is an incredible baker – her cakes are totally swoonworthy. More about that later this week, because today it’s all about her beautiful wedding (okay, it’s a little about her cake). Roxy and Craig were married in Constantia before moving on to a lush garden reception at her family home nearby. There’s something special about having a wedding at home, isn’t there? I love the idea of being reminded of that moment every time you visit, and being surrounded by your nearest and dearest in a familiar place.

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