gaby | SouthBound Bride

Top 10 Details 2012

28 December, 2012 by gaby

Afternoon my lovelies – can you believe it’s Friday? I seriously don’t know whether I’m coming or going, with one day starting to melt into the other this time of year. But soon the holidays will be over, and I’ll be another year older. Bah. ANYWAY, on a much more cheerful note, I have a lovely set of 2012 favourites to share with you today to round out our series. Often it’s the special little touches that really capture my attention, and these were my ten favourites, although it could easily have been a Top 20 or a Top 50, or a Top 100… Take inspiration! But remember, these details are SO much more awesome when there’s meaning behind them, so try to adapt where possible to suit your lives and personalities.

This might be one of my favourite details ever. Vicki and Justin loved the ‘This is your life’ manifesto that has been doing the rounds for the last couple of years, but instead of using it as it was, they co-rewrote it so that it made set of rules for a happy life reflecting them as individuals and as a couple. It made the perfect back-of-menu for their surprise Kalk Bay wedding. (Pics: Lar Leslie)

Favourite Style Moments 2012

27 December, 2012 by gaby

Afternoon, lovelies! As you read this, I’ll be off having a bit of a pre-birthday lunch and visit to the V&A Museum (my best) with one of my favourite friends, who is out from New York. Can’t wait! And here’s a little treat for you, in the form of my roundup of the most stylish moments from SBB’s real weddings this year. As much as I love a classic bride in a floor length white gown, I also love that so many brides now make the look their own. I also love that you all have embraced some of the trends that have been coming through over the last year – lace, coloured dresses, sashes. Some of you have done something COMPLETELY different, and each look really adds to the wedding it is part of. As with the decor, it was SO hard to narrow this down, but these are the fashion moments that really made me go ‘ooh!’ in 2012.

Temperley, baby! There’s a reason why just the name gives me a little thrill. Temperley London dresses are those I notice on catwalks, sigh over as a collections and double take when I see on a real bride. They’re feminine, unusual, and just a little bit spectacular. This dress, chosen by beautiful boho bride Anna for her beachy literary-themed wedding by Andrea Carlyle, might just be my favourite:

South African Wedding Style #3: Cape Town Beach Chic

27 December, 2012 by gaby

Hello friends! Time for another of my favourite weddings from 2012, with what I think is a distinctly South African style. I say South African, but in fact in this case it’s all Cape Town. A combination of slick city chic and laid back beach with a touch of quirky colonial and vintage style. Quite a mix! But then, it’s the same mix that makes the city charming. It’s epitomised by the decor at the gorgeous Grand in Granger Bay, where today’s swish couple held their wedding.

All images above by dna photographers

Key Components: BEACH + MODERN PINK & BLUE PALETTE + QUIRKY ONE-OFF PIECES + MIXED RETRO/BISTRO/INDUSTRIAL STYLERead More

Favourite Reception Decor 2012

26 December, 2012 by gaby

Hello friends! This week I am sharing my favourites from 2012 on SouthBound Bride – and believe me, it has been HARD to pick! But there were some posts that really stuck in my mind – over the next few days I’ll be sharing my favourite reception decor, favourite style moments and Top 10 details. They’re sure to give you lots of inspiration, and don’t forget to click through to see the full weddings in the archives!

First off, this magical autumn wedding from Vivid Blue combined soft flowers and berries, fairytale stationery and wooden woodland cutouts to spectacular effect – combined with a few fairylights of course!

South African Wedding Style #2: Game Lodge Glam

26 December, 2012 by gaby

Hello lovelies! I hope you all had an awesome day yesterday, whether you celebrate Christmas or not. Today is the day my family traditionally has a brunch and gives all our friends ugly (in the kitsch sense) gifts, but fortunately the gifts I have for you today are anything but ugly! ;) It’s time for part 2 of our ‘South African Wedding Style’ series, where I’m looking at five classic, truly South African wedding styles, through the lens of five great real life weddings from 2012. Today we’re heading to the bushveld for what was definitely one of my favourite weddings of the year!

All images above by Fiona Clair

Key Components: RUSTIC SETTING + BRONZE METALLICS + LUXE TEXTURES + SOFT LIGHTING + HIGH FASHION STYLINGRead More

The Question: Favourite Festive Traditions

25 December, 2012 by gaby

First of all, a huge HAPPY CHRISTMAS to all my SouthBound Brides! Hope you had a lovely day, and an especial shoutout to those of you who got engaged under the mistletoe! I’ve had a very chilled day (and I do mean chilled – rain galore in London) and full to the gills with delicious food (homemade chocolate fondant, nailed it!) I have just settled down to watch the Downton Abbey Christmas special and to share a tiny bit of inspiration from our fabulous sponsors, who I have asked: What’s your favourite festive tradition? I love hearing about their Christmas traditions, and have even included one of my own! Here’s hoping that whatever traditions you incorporated this year, you had a wonderful time, and here’s to good things in 2013. (PS Just to up the pretty stakes, I have included some of my absolute favourite Christmas tables from around the blogs this year, yay!)

South African Wedding Style #1: Cape Country Vintage

24 December, 2012 by gaby

Happy Monday friends! Are you excited it’s Christmas Eve? I know I am! But if you need a break from the festivities, I have some lovely year-end surprises up for you all week. I’ll be rounding up my favourites from our 2012 real weddings each afternoon, and in the mornings I am sharing with you five classic contemporary South African wedding styles as epitomised by five of our couples this year, and giving you tips to steal their style and recreate the look for your own wedding. Of course, you’ll want to make the look your own, but this shows you how to get started!

We’re starting off today with what I have come to think of as Cape Country Vintage – our very own take on the Victorian vintage trend that has been so popular for the last couple of years. Think: proteas, lace, doilies, bunting, vintage items especially books and sheet music, soft florals, and muted palettes of ice cream colours (usually including dusky pink). We’ve had quite a few of these weddings on SBB this year, of course, but one that shows off the style perfectly is that of our very own Real Life Bride, Cheryl McEwan. See the full wedding from our archives here.

All images: Nastassja Harvey

Key Components: PROTEAS + PASTELS + LACE + VINTAGE OBJECTS + COUNTRY FETE ELEMENTSRead More

Q&A with Christine W Photography

21 December, 2012 by gaby

Hello friends! Time for some more awesome supplier inspiration – today we’re meeting the fantastic Christine Watters of Christine W. Photography in Cape Town and hearing a bit more about what inspires her, and her thoughts on SA weddings. For those of you who still want some lovely inspiration next week, SBB will be right here with the very best of 2012 ahead of the new year, including style guides to our favourite weddings that I know you’ll love. This weekend is all about inspiration boards, so be sure to pop in for those as well. But for those of you going off the grid from today, here’s wishing you an amazing Christmas (or whatever you’ll be celebrating) and I look forward to catching you right back here next year. ANYWAY, back to the lovely Christine. ;)

Hello Christine! Thanks so much for taking the time to chat to us today. How did you get started as a photographer?
It all started in a sort of, “I have to do it,” moment. I had studied media and communications, with a specific focus on feature writing and then photojournalism. While working in a photography studio for a while, I spent every free moment scouring the web, always ending up on the latest wedding blog or pouring over images on wedding photographers sites. I then reached a “now or never” point at the beginning of 2011, took the leap and started my business.

How would you define your style?
I like to describe my style as a mixture of feeling and knowledge. I love it when I feel like I can almost breathe in the feeling of an image. Soft, light images, that take a small moment of emotion and pause it… forever. I’m always trying to tell a story of events, while focusing on the finer details of love, laughter and everything in between. I love creating romantic and unique photographs that reflect a couple’s individual style but that also make my stomach flip with excitement.Read More

A Bride Abroad #5: Flowers & Decor

21 December, 2012 by gaby

Flowers. Fleurs. Blumen. Flores. Blodau. Kukkia. Fiori. Blomme. It all comes down to the same thing: those little bits of fresh prettiness without which a party just won’t be complete. There is so much you can do to make your wedding beautiful, but the flowers play a central role. Place a glass pot with fresh flowers in any room and it just brightens up. The wonderful thing is that the possibilities are endless. Starting with the array of different flowers and colours to choose from, to how you present them, you can have whatever you want. Literally. It’s difficult not to get carried away.