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.
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
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
We started the week with macarons, so I thought it was the perfect way to finish our week as well. Because a girl can never have too many macarons. If you loved our feature on macaron favours and are wondering where you can find some of these pretty pastries for yourself, then allow me to introduce you to Cape Town’s Lady Macaron.Read More
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
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
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
It’s Friday Friday, and we’re kicking off the day with a world of loveliness from one of my personal favourite up-and-coming local designers. If you haven’t heard of Casey Jeanne yet, then I’m about to introduce you to your next fashion crush. That’s certainly what I had from the second I saw one of our own SouthBound brides in one of Casey’s creations last year. Today, the love affair continues, as I showcase more of her beautiful gowns, photographed by the awesome Alexis Diack. The attention to detail on every one of them is amazing, and I just love the combination of glamour, elegance and luxury that Casey’s work embodies.Read More
As someone who has been reading answers to the bride’s advice portion of our questionnaire here on SBB for three years, it’s no surprise that there are certain themes that emerge. One that I have heard over and over again is from brides who either booked a videographer last minute and were so glad they did, or decided to forgo the video and now regret it. While wedding photography is a uniquely intimate way of keeping your memories intact, it’s true that there are some things that it can’t do, such as capture the vows or the speeches. I rarely meet a bride who says it isn’t money well spent. In SA we have a number of incredible, talented videography pros (check them out in our supplier listings) but as brilliant and worth every Rand as they are, I know that professional video is just not in everyone’s wedding budget. A while back, I came across an alternative that had cropped up in the US, and I was really excited to discover that a similar company has now launched in SA. The idea behind uFilm is just that – you (well, your guests) do the filming with cameras that are rented to you for the occasion, and then you simply hand them back and receive a professionally edited final product. Clever, right?
Now, I’m not going to pretend that your friends’ video skills are the same as the pros, any more than I would tell you that a mate with an SLR is better than a professional photographer. But if you’re happy with a bit of a home video feel or you’re on a strict budget, this is a brilliant alternative. It means that you not only get a wedding video, but that it’s hassle free (meaning you won’t have to go through hours of trying to figure out editing software on your laptop), properly put together, and you may even find that guests are more relaxed with someone they know behind the camera. Who knows, you may even find a budding Spielberg at one of your tables. Here’s an example of one of uFilm’s edited videos:
uFilm have a number of packages for weddings and events, and are also able to customise according to your needs. The camcorders they hire out are HD Panasonic and Sony models with a powerful optical zoom, and a lightweight body. Editing takes around three weeks, but a rush service is available.
As you all know, I love featuring fabulous South African suppliers, and here’s one I have been meaning to call out for a while, because every time I come across one of Ladies & Gentlemen‘s custom cake toppers I am all, yay adorable! Because they are. The idea is that, instead of plonking some cheesy plastic bride and groom on top of your cake (okay, nobody does that anymore right?) you can have a hand-carved pair that have been painted up to look like you and the hubs. And not just painted – what really gets me about these cake toppers is the detailing and effort that owner Alison Sutcliffe-Smit goes into in recreating the bride’s dress or the flowers in the bouquet, or even the couple’s dog! Tiny protea bouquets, intricate illusion lace back dresses, furry ears (on the dog, not the bride and groom, fortunately), veils, etc. They’re sure to charm your guests, and make a really sweet memento of your big day (at least until your future kids steal them to play Barbies/dinosaurs). In fact, speaking of kids, for couples who already have them I think this is a lovely way of including them on the cake, since you can get mini figurines customised to make up the family. To give you an idea of what Ladies & Gentlemen do, here’s three pretty cakes and their owners…
