All love stories are beautiful, but some have all the hallmarks of a fairytale. A serendipitous meeting, a few heavenly signs… and of course, a happy ending. So it is with today’s couple, Anchen and Endri. They have a very cute ‘how we met’ story (see below), and Anchen also told me how light has become a symbol for them in their relationship. Wouldn’t you know it, but there was light streaming in through the windows of the chapel as they got married (captured beautifully by the fab Veronique Mills Photography!). Added to the bright corals and other summer colours of this gorgeous wedding, it’s a celebration of joy and love and colour. But of course, the best light is the glow of happiness on the happy couple’s faces. Now THAT’s how you know it’s a fairytale.Read More
Time to meet the second of our 2013/2014 RLBs (for now), the very lovely Jerusha. I was so thrilled when Jerusha applied to be a RLB – I have known her as a blogger on Twitter for a while, and I can’t wait to hear all about her wedding plans! It’s going to be such a joyous, multi-cultural celebration. My favourite. Time for you to meet her too, and get a little taster for what’s been inspiring her wedding design. Here she is, our Ruby Bride.
I remember the very first time I saw Gideon Raath. It was the world’s least romantic setting. We were 16 (me) and 17 (him) years old and met at… church. I know. We hit it off immediately and became fast friends, but nothing more. I could never have imagined that nine years later he’d get down on one knee and ask me to be his wife. Although, at the time, I did notice his eyes were the most mesmerizing shade of green. And, just this year, his father told me Gideon had gone home that night and told his dad he’d met “the most amazing girl.” Aww.
Early this year, after a few years of dating (and a couple of disastrous years of long-distance dating; a story for another time…) Gideon asked if I wanted to have a look at precious stones, “just for fun”. I fell in love with a big, shiny almost-flawless ruby and four beautiful marquise diamonds. He convinced me the ruby was too expensive, and that an actual engagement was a very, very long way off.
Not a month later, after spending a wonderful day together in Franschhoek, Gideon brought me home to my candle (and champagne!) filled apartment and asked me to marry him. With the ruby and diamond ring. I ugly cried so much, I couldn’t get a word out. An hour later he asked “you said ‘yes’, right?”
It’s always a happy Monday when we get to meet a new Real Life Bride here on SBB. And today we get to introduce two! First off, I’m very excited to welcome Stella to the blog. She’s full of enthusiasm and ideas – I just know you’re going to love her! Meet our new Fairytale Bride…
Meet Stella
Some label me as a bit of an international/global baby as I’m ‘made in Germany’ but have spent the majority of my life traveling and on the move. Having lived in nine different countries, I’ve had the chance to open my eyes to so many beauties of this world, learn languages and meet amazing people. I make sure to go through life with curiosity and a positive attitude, never missing a day where I don’t find at least a dozen reasons to smile. I am a blog-reading (and occasionally writing), Pinterest-loving, baker. I love to run and cycle long distances and recently ran my first marathon! I am an avid traveller and love to capture my travels through photography and journaling as I go. I am obsessed with everything stationery and am in the process of starting my own business!
Most importantly though, I am insanely excited to be a RLB, because it allows me to give back. I have read stories from so many talented and creative brides, who have allowed me to gather plenty of inspiration and so many ideas. I want to be able to share mine through a platform that will reach all those beautiful and lucky soon-to-be brides, and what better place than SBB!? It is one of THE most magical phases in a girl’s life and platforms like SBB suddenly become your best friend and allow that special time in your life to light up even more.
Hello lovelies! Time for some wedding inspiration from the far north today – Scandinavia to be precise. I don’t know about you, but I love Scandi style, especially the clean, elegant neutrals that they use in their design. I wanted to put them together into a beautiful, modern but a little rustic and woodsy wedding design. I think this would be perfect just about anywhere in the world – and it doesn’t just have to be for winter weddings either. Oh and PS, antlers are totally a hot wedding motif at the moment. I have no idea why. But they’re pretty awesome.
*UPDATED FOR 2020* It’s time for another installment in our series looking at wedding dresses ideal for your body shape. Brides come in all shapes and sizes – it isn’t about looking like some perfect perfume-advert style bride or fitting into the smallest dress in the shop, it’s all about celebrating your own beauty and style. After all, that’s what your groom fell in love with, right? Choosing a wedding dress that highlights your best features is the best way to feel amazing, so try to let go of any hard and fast ideas you may have about the silhouette you want to cut, try lots on, and take the advice of your seamstress or gown salespeople, who really know what they’re talking about. Today we’re focusing on inverted triangle/strawberry shape brides, and sharing some exquisite dresses from Etsy to inspire and illustrate.
*Links in bold denote affiliate links. The cost to you remains the same, but SBB may receive a commission for any sales made.
Hello lovelies! To start off your Friday, I asked Cheryl McEwan, a fab Cape Town photographer (and SouthBound Bride too!) to share some of her insider secrets – what you need to know to get started, how to get the most out of your pics and what to do with them after the wedding. She’s sharing her top tips from engagement to happy ever after with you this morning – thanks so much Cheryl!
Hi all you lovely SouthBound Bride readers! I am so honoured to have been asked by Gaby to share a bit of advice and perspective from a wedding photographer’s point of view with you all. Your wedding photos are one of the most important aspects of your special day and of course the lasting memories left after your wedding. You want to be able to get the very most out of your photos and your photographer so I hope the following will help you with this.Read More
Hello beautifuls, as you read this I’ll be landing in Cape Town for a little stint in the Mother City (yay!) and probably getting lost in my rental car (every time!). I can’t wait to see my lovely friends and industry colleagues, and to spend some time looking at the gorgeousness that is the Western Cape province. And speaking of gorgeousness, I have such a fab shoot to share with you today – in fact, it’s more than a shoot, it’s like five inspirations in one. It comes from the team at TopVendor Wedding Awards, who you might recall me mentioning, and was photographed by Ronel Kruger (with gorgeous flowers by Elle Fleur). Whether you’re a modern bride, a boho bride, a romantic bride, a statement bride or a rustic bride, you’ll find something here to inspire. And it’s not just for the main lady – there are some adorable decor ideas and styling for flower girls. I promise you’ll fall in love with at least one look! If anything, it’s choosing between them that’ll be the hard part… ;)Read More
Hello lovelies! I am rushing to catch a plane to Cape Town as I write this, so no big spiel from me this morning. Suffice just to say that this is a really gorgeous wedding! And that the pics from Illuminate Photography certainly speak for themselves, as do the happy faces of bride, groom, bridesmaids, guests… So much prettiness and happiness and pastel goodness in one place! Enjoy :)Read More
As the year starts drawing to an end, we wedding bloggers begin to think about the trends that have made an impact in 2013, as well as those that are top of our crush lists for 2014. There’s one I have been watching for a while, and I have to say, I am loving what stylists have been doing with it, and it’s candles. I know, right? Who knew they even went out of fashion? But when we’re talking candles here, we’re talking tall and taper candles, multiple candles (the way that flowers were done a couple of years ago), coloured candles, and even candles on wedding cakes, birthday style. LOVE. So I thought it was about time I brought this look to the blog. Here are some of my favourites from t’internets.Read More
They say sometimes when you know, you just know. And sometimes… well, your mother knows before you do. That was the case with Shayna and Gavin, who have such an unusual and awesome story (read on for more). And the mother in question (Shayna’s) is none other than South Africa’s own Jenna Clifford, whose name you’ll no doubt recognise from her beautiful line of jewellery. So as you can imagine, this shoot features a very sparkly sparkler too – I just adore Shayna’s ring! This is one for the jewellery fans, for the romantics, and for all the mothers out there who still hope to set up their daughters (except mine, don’t get any ideas mom! ;) ) Huge thanks to the fab Kallah Ohr for sending over her gorgeous pics.Read More
