Category: Couple Shoots

Dreamy Park Engagement Shoot

by gaby

I am thrilled about this post, you guys! Thrilled, with a capital TH. One of the sheer pleasures I have in working in this wedding industry, apart from connecting brides and vendors, and hearing and telling your stories, is to work with photographers who take my breath away. Many of them are in South Africa, but today I’m featuring the work of a Portuguese duo who have not only wowed me with their collective styling and photographic genius, but have become dear online friends as well (hopefully to be realised in real life too, one day!). Andre and Sofia from Branco Prata are just the king and queen of  romantic, dreamy pics, and I can’t believe my luck that they’ve agreed to share some of that with you all today. You know, I love a shoot with props, but this little e-session shows that with the right photographer, even a simple stroll through a park can result in some of the most beautiful pictures I have ever seen. Seriously, I could have shared dozens with you – it was so hard to choose! But here are my favourites of the lovely Patricia and Andre, a doctor and nurse who were married in a beautiful wedding in Porto in June. Andre and Sofia – thank you so much for gracing these pages with your loveliness! It’s always such a pleasure working with you! (Psst! You can see more of this exquisite e-sesh right here.)Read More

Kalk Bay Engagement Shoot

by gaby

Ah, Kalk Bay. How I do love you. Except for the parking. True story: last time I went to Kalk Bay was a couple of months ago to meet my cousins for lunch. Beautiful hot day, summer Sunday afternoon… some kind of military show in Simonstown… traffic chaos. Kippie here decides to park right in the harbour, and let me tell you, after eleven years in London my parking skills are a**. Somehow I managed it, but came back to find an SUV wedged in next to me. What followed was ten minutes of stalling the car, twenty-point turning and an eventual offer from a complete stranger to drive my car out of the spot for me, which I politely declined before stalling the car yet again and finally getting on my way with the parking guard shaking his head after me. So. Humiliating. Meh, whatever, I still love Kalk Bay. And today I’m especially missing it as I’m featuring this sunny e-shoot by SBB friend and sponsor Cheryl McEwan. You saw her wedding last week, and today she’s showing you her moxy behind the lens. The result is a sweet and intimate engagement session for couple Riana and Shaun that captures the colour of this special part of the world. I especially love Riana’s styling – that dress is PERFECT for Kalk Bay! It’s definitely worth taking some time to think about the location of your shoot and dress to complement it (or the other way around) – I promise that the results will be worth it! Thanks for sharing, Cheryl!

Oh, and psssst! Come back later for another gorgey porgey wedding. Huzzah!Read More

Beach Love Engagement Shoot

by gaby

I’ve joked in the past about how South Africans are secretly taking over the world (sshh, it’s a stealth mission) but sometimes I really think we are taking over the wedding industry. Everywhere I look on the international scene I come across talented people with a connection to SA, and I have to admit, I love it. It makes me feel homegrown and cosmopolitan at the same time. Like I want to run down the streets of Manhattan pushing a crate of Castle (and if you don’t get that reference, don’t tell me, because you’ll make me feel old). Anyway, Claire Morgan is one of those people. Most of the year, she lives in Austria, where she shoots extraordinarily beautiful weddings, well, beautifully. For about six weeks she graces Cape Town’s photography scene, and this year, she used part of that time to shoot this absolutely beautiful beach engagement shoot of her cousin Elizabeth and her fiance Neil.Read More

Urban Chic Engagement Shoot

by gaby

Maybe it’s because I’ve lived all over the country (when people ask where I’m from in SA, I usually just say “pick a city”), but one of my favourite things about South Africa is the sheer variety. Just yesterday I was telling a cabbie about the sub-tropical Durban climate and how it’s all bananas and beach bums, and it still blows my mind that right next door there’s mountains and the little England of the midlands, not to mention the dust of the Karoo, or the Cape winelands, or, or, or… I could go on. It makes for a lot of variety on this blog, and as much as our natural assets blow me away, I’m always thrilled when a couple show off the city side of things as well. Jozi is soooo urban chic, and never more so than in this phenomenal shoot in Newtown/Melrose Arch by the very talented Wesley Vorster. Gayle and Lyle make fantastic models – congratulations to both of them on their engagement!Read More

Thrift Shop Engagement Session

by gaby

This afternoon I have a lovely, unique engagement shoot for you and a new photographer to introduce you to. Laura Jane Photography is based in Gauteng, and is one of the photographers I’m super stoked to be able to work with now that SBB has gone national. She went with today’s couple, Fransa & Grové, to Bellbottoms in Pretoria, a super cute and kitschy thrift shop in Pretoria. I love the intimacy of these pictures, even in a public space, and the way this couple clearly just love spending time together! You can see even more of the shoot over on Laura Jane’s blog.Read More

Fields of Gold Engagement Shoot

by gaby

I looooove this shoot. It’s so chilled out and dreamy; I feel like Sting should be playing in the background when I look at it. Simple ingredients: a couple in love + a field + awesome photographers Modern Hearts. Can’t go wrong!

Peter-Allan and Nicolene met at a mini-market – Nicolene says she fell in love with his voice before anything else! He surprised her with a proposal on a weekend away in Redelinghuys, right in the middle of town during an evening stroll. And of course, she said yes!Read More

Bora Bora Honeymoon Shoot

by gaby

Today’s couple shoot is a little different – it was shot in the tropical paradise of Bora Bora. Where-a where-a, you ask? Well, let’s just say it really is in the middle of nowhere – an island in the Pacific that forms part of French Polynesia. And man alive, but it is BEAUTIFUL. When photographer Helene Havard (who is lucky enough to wake up to this view every day) contacted me, I started dreaming of wading into those perfect blue seas (and to be honest with you, I haven’t stopped since). It’s the ultimate getaway for an elopement or honeymoon (if you can handle the days of travelling it takes to get there). The Ukranian couple in this shoot were lucky enough to be celebrating their honeymoon on the island at the Four Seasons, and asked Helene to take some shots of them (of course, it doesn’t hurt that they could be models – and how gorgeous is her dress?). I just love this idea, of having a quick professional shoot done at your honeymoon destination – it’s such a happy time, and they’re something you’ll treasure forever. Much better than those Facebook-style self-portrait pics, or asking a stranger to take a pic of you (where invariably they’ll cut your heads or bodies out). Anyway, something to think about, even if you’re not going to the ends of the earth for your honeymoon. In the meantime, make yourself a cup of tea, pretend it’s a pina colada, and prepare to be wowed.Read More

A Day at the Nursery Engagement Shoot

by gaby

Two things about this couple shoot that have made me ampedissimo. First, it is SUPER sweet – a romantic couple (Ashley & Wilsey) taking a stroll through Petersham Nurseries. And secondly, it is captured by the awesome Anneli Marinovich, who I have been looking forward to featuring here on SBB for a while. Yay! Seriously though, I see a lot of engagement shoots, and the ones that stand out often are those that show a couple doing something they love to do, or in an unusual location. This ticks both of those boxes, and the background of plants and greenhouses is so lovely, don’t you think?Read More

At Home Couple Shoot

by gaby

How do you celebrate a new chapter in your life? A party? A special meal? Champagne? Jewellery? I’ve been thinking about this recently, because the fact is that I’m rubbish at doing it. There have been huge changes in my life over the past year, and the truth is that I haven’t really marked any of them, which I don’t think is a good thing, because marking changes in our lives is one of the foundations of our society. I mean, weddings – that’s what we’re all here for, right? Anyway, today’s couple have the right idea. This isn’t an engagement, but a special celebration of a new chapter their lives, and I love how personal it is. Eugene and Thia have been married for almost two years, and recently bought their first house (as opposed to flat/apartment) together. They decided to have photographer Michelle Joubert-Martin (who has just moved back herself from London to Cape Town) capture them chilling out in their new home, and it’s clear that after the ‘I do’s they’re still very much in love!Read More