Category: Featured suppliers

Supplier Spotlight: Saint Mogue

by gaby

I don’t envy you brides sometimes. It seems like every day I see something new and pretty that I love – it must be soooo difficult to make decisions, especially when it comes to your bridal style. So many pretty options for veils, hair accessories, flower crowns. Well, today I’m going to make that decision even harder (in a good way!) by introducing you to an absolutely gorgeous (local!) range that is absolutely PERFECT for a bride (or her maids). Cara, the creative behind Saint Mogue, first came across the art of silk flowers and bespoke millinery when she was searching out the perfect piece for her own big day, and it ultimately evolved into her own line of beautiful headpieces and heirloom florals. What I love about Cara’s work is that even though she’s working in silk, there’s a fresh naturalness to the flowers and leaves she makes, so you get the best of both worlds – a touch of nature, but one that you can keep and hand down. Beautiful! You can visit Saint Mogue Etsy store directly here, or find out more about Cara and her company in our Suppliers Directory.Read More

Supplier Spotlight: Seven Swans Collection

by gaby

Four years ago, not long after I started out, I got an email from a brand new, super enthusiastic stationer, the very lovely Anelle of Seven Swans. We immediately clicked, and over the following years she became our first real life bride and the designer of the SBB logo and indentity, while I had the pleasure of regularly featuring her work and watching her business grow. It’s no secret I’m a HUGE fan of the Seven Swans brand, so I was super excited when Anelle told me about a stationery collection they had put together in addition to their continuing work on the bespoke suites I always love to see coming out of the studio. This is the Seven Swans Collection, and it’s already been bringing happy smiles to brides and grooms around the world! The concept is brilliant – a selection of patterned sleeves (customisable by colour scheme) combined deliciously with two kraft paper inserts to make little packages of lovely that are not only beautiful and quirky but budget friendly. I couldn’t wait to show you!Read More

Spring Printable by Mocholoco

by gaby

Happy Friday, lovelies! With the equinox coming up, we have such a lovely little spring printable for you today from the talented Vicky at Mocholoco. As well as being an awesome stationer, Vicky is also one of our real SouthBound Brides (her gorgeous DIY beach wedding was one of my favourites of 2013), and is also about to relaunch her website, so to celebrate, she created this gorgeous watercolour-style poster –  the perfect addition to your desk (or desktop). I’m not sure if brides and grooms always realise the huge amount of thought and process and creativity and hard work  that goes into producing bespoke stationery pieces, and I’m personally pretty fascinated by how it’s done. So instead of just presenting the finished product, I asked Vicky to give you all a little glimpse behind the scenes into her process. Blood, sweat and glitter! Thank you SO much, Vicky – be sure to click through to her site to see more of her lovely work.

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Mismatched Blush Bridesmaid Inspiration from Forever 21

by gaby

As those of you in Cape Town will no doubt know by now, South Africa got its first Forever 21 store this weekend, and to celebrate, I thought it would be fun to do a little special of the bridesmaid options available from this US label. The dresses are fun and flirty, and at the moment Forever 21 has a lineup of some gorgeous mixed blush/neutral dresses with little lace, sparkle and portrait back details that would be just perfect for a summer afternoon wedding. Time to be inspired!Read More

Supplier Spotlight: indieLoveBooks

by gaby

Before we head out for the weekend, I just have to share one of my favourite new supplier finds. I say finds, but actually I have watched from this sidelines as this developed from the beginning, since the talented designer behind indieLoveBooks is Ché Dyer, the same talented personage behind the amazing blog and stationery brand, indieberries. I love Ché to bits as you probably know by now, and a while back I asked her to share the story of the super original guest book she made for her own wedding with my readers. The response was amazing – not surprisingly, you all wanted one of Ché’s fun keepsake creations for your own big day. She’s gone on to launch indieLoveBooks, a bespoke site dedicated to the guestbooks, with three different packages available to suit the number of your guests. Knowing Ché’s incredible passion for her work and attention to detail, I know why she already has had so many happy customers, and I asked her to tell us a bit more about indieLoveBooks as well as herself. Welcome back, Ché!Read More

Supplier Spotlight: The Demetriou Girls Collection

by gaby

When I was a little girl (just a few years ago, haha) I DREAMED of being a flowergirl in somebody’s wedding. Sadly, I’m an only child and an only grandchild so it never happened, but I still have such a soft spot for dreamy little dresses for the mini members of a bridal party and I think they deserve to look every bit the princess that they feel being part of your day. So I couldn’t help but fall head over heels when I came across the Demetriou Collection on Etsy. Hand made in Cyprus and shipped worldwide, these luxurious little creations are frothy ballerina fantasies, walking that perfect line between innocent sweetness and elegant chic. The range includes accessories like shoes for babies (oh, the shoes!), head pieces and capes, as well as the dresses themselves. Let’s have a little look, shall we?Read More

Supplier Spotlight: Blooming Wonderful

by gaby

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE getting packages in the mail. Best. Thing. Ever. So when a package turned up in my postbox recently with my name on it, instructing me to ‘open the box and shout hooray because this is your special day’, it put a huge smile on my face before I’d even opened it (if you follow SBB on Instagram, you will have seen all the adorable goodies that were inside). The box came from Blooming Wonderful, a creative husband and wife team based in Somerset West. Their business, which has stationery, a shop and a decor hire ‘wing’, is kind of a one-stop-shop of awesomeness, and full of the quirky little touches that I know brides and grooms are always looking for.Read More

Q&A with Dana LaRue {The Broke-Ass Bride’s Wedding Guide}

by gaby

I promised that I would be back today to chat with Dana LaRue, the original Broke-Ass Bride, and author of The Broke-Ass Bride’s Wedding Guide. Which, by the way, is an awesome little book (and nobody paid me to say that). If you read her blog, you’ll already know all about Dana’s witty and chilled-out take on wedding planning, which takes a lot of the stress out of planning according to a budget. Earlier I shared an extract from The Broke-Ass Bride’s Wedding Guide, and this afternoon I have an exclusive behind-the-scenes Q&A with the author herself.

Hi Dana, thanks so much for chatting to SouthBound Bride today! For readers who may not yet know you and thebrokeassbride.com, how did you get started as a wedding blogger?
I was newly engaged to my first husband, and reading a lot of blogs for inspiration. However, none of them really spoke to my situation, specifically. Most budget advice was limiting, rather than empowering: invite less guests, or just serve a buffet, etcetera. I have a huge family and really wanted to do it my way. So I started writing the blog, partly as a creative outlet, partly as a place to sort of record my journey for my own posterity, and partly in case it might help another bride like me. But I never dreamed it would blossom into something so big, or the opportunity to write a book! That was all just a very happy accident, for which I’m grateful every day!Read More

Supplier Spotlight: Rifle Paper Co. at In Good Company

by gaby

A few weeks ago I spotted a little item on my newsfeed that got me really excited. Over the last couple of years, I have become more than a little obsessed with the gorgeous stylings of Rifle Paper Co., an American stationery & gift  company that doesn’t just make beautiful things, but has influenced wedding styling in the same way as brands like Kate Spade and Anthropologie. The whimsical hand-painted illustrations (many of them botanical) and hand lettering manage to be both nostalgic and modern – if I were planning my own wedding right now, I have a feeling the Rifle look would feature pretty strongly. I must admit, I haven’t talked about the brand all that much here on SBB, because I know what it’s like when you love something and can’t find a local supplier, but that’s where I was wrong. Turns out that one of my favourite SA shops and online stores, In Good Company, is a treasure trove of Rifle goodness! YAY.Read More