I promised you a week of Valentine’s celebrations and today is going to be an unabashed celebration of love. You know, love, the reason we’re all here, right? I am such a romantic – one of my favourite things is how every couple has a unique story, a unique interlacing of tiny miracles that work together to bring two people together. A proposal is more than just a cumulation of those miracles into a categorical Yes, it’s also another unique part of each couple’s love story. So needless to say, I love the proposal stories almost as much as the ‘how we met’s. This morning we not only get to bask in Ridwan and Rukoya’s happy glow, but we actually get to see the moment he proposed – how cool is that?
I promised you the most romantic weddings possible this week, and today’s is no exception! I fell in love with Ben & Michelle’s wedding when I saw it on photographer Juné Joubert‘s website – the garlands of roses and chandeliers filled with hydrangeas looked like a lush, magical garden, so it was no surprise to discover the bride had been inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Which is actually a good way of summing up the whole wedding – a sunny outdoor ceremony in the picturesque lane at Nooitgedacht, a swoony couple shoot (how much do we love a groom in a navy suit?), and then that enchanted flower-filled reception late into the night. Beautiful.Read More
Afternoon, brideys! Since this is our Week of Lurve, I couldn’t NOT let us spend a little time in the City of Love itself, Paris. Because, as you know, Paris is always a good idea, right? ;) This little slice of amour comes courtesy of one of my favourite international wedding dress design houses, Cymbeline. I am a big fan of the romantic Cymbeline gowns, but I must admit that I’m also smitten by the fact that their lookbook is beautifully shot around Paris each year, so it’s double the loveliness and inspiration. And while you may not be tying the knot in France, there’s no reason why you can’t bring a bit of Parisian panache to your bridal style. So come with me, as we jet off for a few moments to the most romantic place in the world, to enjoy some favourites from the latest Cymbeline collection.Read More
So, how much did we LOVE Shayna and Gavin’s wedding this morning? So much. If you haven’t already fallen in love with this slightly industrial, slightly French countryside, totally elegant wedding in the hangar of Shayna’s family farm (how cool is that for a reception location?), you’re about to. One of my favourite things about this couple is their unique story of ‘how they met’ – really a case of meant to be! Today I’m sharing the video from the fab Blimp Wedding Films – not only is it an absolutely beautiful piece of film, but we get to hear a bit of Gavin’s speech, and hear the story from his perspective. It’s all just super romantic, which of course makes it perfect for our Week of Love!
I can’t think of a more romantic wedding to celebrate Valentine’s week than this one. You might remember Shayna and Gavin from their engagement shoot a few months ago, when these two cuties shared their amazing love story (and Shayna showed off her gorgeous ring, courtesy of her jewellery designer mother, Jenna Clifford). Today we get to showcase the whole wedding. Starting with an industrial space (a hangar on their family farm) and filling it with beautiful flowers in soft neutral shades, a drizzle of fairy lights and decor with a touch of French chic is absolutely inspired – not only is the final result gorgeous, but unique. I adore Shayna’s dress (made by another South African talent, Marianne Fassler) and her blushing bride bouquet, as well as her dapper groom in a touch of blue. And Kallah Ohr‘s pictures are absolutely GORGEOUS, especially the sunset couple shoot where the newlyweds only have eyes for one another. Total swoonage.Read More
As promised earlier, friends, we’re saying goodbye (for now) to one of our Real Life Brides, and hello to a brand new friend. Allow me to introduce the lovely Irene, who’ll be taking us through all of her ideas and inspirations before her wedding next month. Yay! Irene, we’re so happy to have you – welcome! Today, we’re meeting Irene and her fiance, and hearing a little bit about their wedding style. Meet our Bicycle Bride…
Meet Irene I’m a translator and my fiance Du Toit is a pharmacist – we live in Bellville with our two dogs. He’s very sporty, having played professional rugby, and is now an avid cyclist/runner/crossfitter, etc. He’s completed the Absa Cape Epic twice and his suggestion for our HONEYMOON was to climb Kilimanjaro (don’t worry, I replied with a very definite “no”). I’m a couch potato who loves to read, watch my favourite series and I love to make crafty things. He’s a very sweet, happy-go-lucky person whilst I’m sort of a control freak. But I think we’re a good match and that our differences makes it work. We do share interests – we are obsessed with our two Weimaraners – our children (beware of our Facebook pages, we are those crazy dog people who spam your walls with pictures of them!) and we enjoy taking them for walks in Grabouw’s forest reserve. Although I’m not a sporty person at all, I have to confess that I love to be a spectator at his sporting events! We love to go to the movies (most of our friends think we have bad taste in movies – we strongly disagree) and we love to have coffee and breakfast at Oppikoffie on Sundays.
As mentioned, I love to make crafty things and to get married really is just the best time for craft/DIY lovers. It can also be a bad thing – I have had SO many ideas and I keep changing my mind (curse you Pinterest!). With a little under two months to go, I STILL have to make final decisions on (too) many things. Luckily our beautiful venue is a huge part of the decor in itself, which makes things a lot easier. I opted to save money and do most of the decor and all of the planning myself. Be warned, it’s true what they say: it’s super hard work to pull off a DIY wedding, so hats off to the professional wedding planners out there!
Hello lovelies! Sadly today is our last post from our Fairytale Bride, Stella (apart from her wedding, of course) – it’s been so fab following all of her posts and I’m sure you’ll join me in wishing her an amazing wedding day this weekend! We’ll be welcoming our next RLB this afternoon, so don’t miss that either :)
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Before I start writing about the joy we have found in creating our own ceremony, I wanted to mention that it is merely four days to go until we live happily ever after! My stomach is doing somersaults – the good kind – and my heart is slowly overflowing with love as we are welcoming all our family and friends to Cape Town at the moment. So many happy emotions… I am worried my heart may burst before the actual big day!
The ceremony. We’ve had an interesting experience with the planning of this one. Before having put much thought or much work into it, it felt more like a ‘task’ that had to be completed as part of the wedding planning – deciding on the what, the who and the how. As soon as we opened up to it though, and started getting into the beautiful details of readings, the choice of words and of course the music, it soon became the most magical part of all planning really. And I have a sly presumption that the ceremony may also just be my favourite part of the final big day, but that I will only be able to say in my next and final post.
It’s Valentine’s week, lovelies!!! And in honour of the annual festival of Lurve, we have a week packed full of lovey dovey goodness for you (more than usual for a wedding blog, even). You’ll be ah-ing over love stories and proposals, falling in love with some very pretty weddings and of course getting some V-Day style inspiration. Starting with our inspiration board today. Instead of going for the ‘typical’ reds of a Valentine palette, I decided to opt for the softest, sweetest blush and combine it with clean white and a touch of gold and grey. To play on the Cupid theme, I’ve included some cheruby details, as well as an arrow motif (this is actually very trendy in fashion and design, so if you have a Valentine connection in your love story, it’s a great way to bring it in subtly). I must say, I am rather smitten. How about you?
Hello lovelies! How has your week been? It has been flu central in our house – yuck – although fortunately seem to be over it now. And just in time for Valentine’s week, which is going to be our biggest, bumper-iest, week of Lurve on SBB, EVER. I have so much romantic content just ready and waiting for you guys, I can’t wait to share it! First, here are my weekly favourites from around the wedding blogosphere.
*UPDATED FOR 2021* You know how on Say Yes to the Dress, there are those moments when a bride comes in and she’s adamant about a specific shape of dress she wants, and when she puts it on it just looks… wrong. And then, if she’s smart, she tries a shape the consultant suggests instead, and is instantly transformed into a goddess? I love those, because I KNOW the feeling of trying something on and it looks nothing like how it did in your head or on the hanger and you feel desperate because omigodnothingisevergoingtofitmeorlookawesome. Trying something on that is right for your shape is the opposite of that feeling, but the truth is that it only happens when you let go of some of the pre-set ideas you have, and work with reality. That’s what this series is about – making our brides feel like a zillion dollars, whichever of the main body shapes they are rocking. Today we are all about hourglass shaped brides, and I’ll be giving you some tips for dressing this curvy shape to perfection, as well as swooning over some incredible hourglass wedding dresses from Etsy.
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