Simple, natural weddings always have my heart. Take Kirsty & Kobus’ big day. An adorable couple in gorgeous surroundings, neutral French country decor, a beautiful dress handmade by the bride’s mother, organic floral runners, and friends and family all around. It’s understated and elegant, and oh-so-pretty. Then throw in fun touches like tekkie wedding shoes, groomsmen in shorts and leather bowties, and these lovely images by Louzelle van Dyk, and you have a celebration that’s personal and unique too – the perfect recipe!

Love Story
We met via our friends. We often attended the same social events. These events soon became secondary as the first thing we wanted to know is whether the other one would attend. This made it a lot more exciting. Over time, and several of bottles of wine, we started to go out on dates and get to know each other a bit better. The spark was there from the start and over five years it just grew stronger and stronger, and here we are.

The Proposal
We got engaged on the anniversary of when we started dating. Kobus asked the big question on a weekend away to the Midlands Drakensberg at the most beautiful lodge, Zulu Waters, with champagne and strawberries. We had the most romantic dinner, and afterwards we had dessert in front of the warm fireplace. Then he popped the big question: “Will you marry me?”, and he made me the luckiest girl in the world. Without a doubt I said yes and I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my life with him and to start arranging our wedding.

Wedding Style
Our theme was French Country, and the colour scheme was light grey and beige. We went for natural colours so that it gave a country feel. We had a hint of a plums colour to fit with the Protea flowers as they were our big design element throughout the wedding. We see our love for one another as natural and simple and wanted to capture this in our wedding style.

The Venue
My mom and I started to look at venues that had a look and feel that would fit with our French Country theme. We found this style at Green Leaves Country Lodge in Hartebeespoortdam. As we drove into the Green Leaves venue, I fell in love with it immediately. It was exactly what I was looking for. It was beautiful, tranquil and with the beautiful Magalies mountains as a backdrop. It felt as if we were in the Cape winelands.

Wedding Details
The pillars that we made for the church with the Viviers crest on them. Wearing tekkies as wedding shoes and short pants epitomised us as a couple, as we like to be different and fun. The beautiful and amazing hand tied bouquets that Danette the stylist create for us fitted so perfectly with our theme and us as a couple. She connected with us and it made the wedding much more special because she captured our style into the wedding. The outside garden games like bocce and croquet were a hit for the guests while they were waiting for us while we had our photo session with the photographer. It created such fun and calm environment and was a big ice breaker for the guests.

DIY Elements
We had a few DIY elements, including the wooden and moss candle holders that were on the tables, the two wooden “Viviers” crest boxes for the flowers in the church, and the gift box. The wedding dress and leaf crown headpiece were both made by my mom.

The Dress
I was very privileged that my beautiful and very talented mom made my wedding gown. It was very special. I had a blast in designing and making it with her and how it changed over time from one idea until we got to this final product.

The Bridesmaids
I did have bridesmaids and they were the best. The style that we went for was simplistic. They each had a budget to buy their own dresses in the colour scheme of the wedding and the colours were light grey, beige and plum. They brought in the converses and superga tekkies to fit with me as I was wearing pink leather tekkies from Diesel as wedding shoes.

The Flowers
We had an amazing flower and décor stylist that helped us to capture our style 100% into our wedding. We wanted simple but still needed to make a statement and fit with our French Country theme. She did that with different little flowers and not one of the tables was the same, although ll made the Protea flower the focal point.

Memorable Moments
There were so many, I can’t pick just one! For me, walking down the aisle towards Kobus and saying “I do” is up there and celebrating the big special day with our family and friends just made it so special.

Proudly South African Details
The proteas, as well as the beautiful raw wood tables from Goeters and the informal fun, games and laughter.

Best Decision
To think out of the box and be more creative. Deciding to make the DIY elements ourselves made the wedding so much more special because the whole family helped us to do that. Picking the right people in the different roles, from the best men, bridesmaids, to our MC. This tied everything together to make it so much more special for us.

Advice for Future Brides & Grooms
Enjoy every moment, the fun times and the frustrating times. For most, this is a once in a lifetime experience and you get to share this together as the first step in spending your lives together. For the ladies, be patient with the men. We don’t always understand what you mean or want but try to explain and show us visually. For the men, there is not much to say other than it is worth every argument and frustration in the process when she walks down the aisle.

SERVICE PROVIDERS
Venue & catering: Green Leaves Country Lodge | Photography: Louzelle van Dyk | Flowers & décor: Danette4eve | Stationery: Eunoia | Cake pops: Belle’s Patisserie | Bride’s accessories: Diesel (shoes); American Swiss (earrings); Browns (bracelet) | Bride’s hair & makeup: Eunoia | Bridesmaids’ makeup: The Chateaux | Groom & groomsmen’s attire: Woolworths (shirts & shorts); Ligleefstyl (ties) | Hiring: Goeters; Moi Décor Hire; Umbrellas Gauteng | DJ: Nitelife Productions (DJ Geoffrey Ras) | Wines: Rickety Bridge