Wowsers. Just when you think you’ve seen every new idea in the vintage stable, a wedding comes along that combines familiar elements in a whole new way, and makes you fall in love with this look all over again. This wedding is 100% style and gorgeousness. Bride Lojanka is an interior designer (and clearly a girl with an incredible eye for detail) and she and husband Jaco, together with their superstar co-ordinators Wedding Concepts, really hit this one for a six. I have a long, long list of things that made me go “ooh!”, but right at the top is the ceremony arch covered with vintage vessels and suitcases (love!), the antique sewing machines holding menus in place, the bride and bridesmaids’ outfits, and OMG the fairy lights strung over the tables! Quite simply, I love this wedding. Thank you so much to Lojanka, Jaco and the Wedding Concepts team for sharing it here, and to Ian Mitchinson, who took the simply stunning photos.

Both the bride and co-ordinators sent over their inside scoop on the day:
Lojanka: The concept for our wedding was French provincial vintage. We called it ‘the best of both, the beauty of difference’ since Jaco is very modern and I myself prefer antique items. We “married” the two styles beautifully.

We were also inspired by oysters and pearls. This included the colours of both (cream, very light pink and grey), and the use of lots of pearls, as well as old vintage suitcases and old Singer sewing machines, croquet on the grass and crates of glass Bashew cooldrinks, parasols for each of the ladies, lace and all things bygone. A French café-style band entertained the guests at pre-dinner drinks while we went off to take our photos, and the DJ for the reception played everything from Enya to The Killers (the beauty of difference!).

Lojanka: The venue was the last place we stopped at on our ‘venue hunting day’. They were actually already closed, but after allowing us to have a quick stroll through, we immediately fell in love with the place. All the décor elements, all that the landscape offered, the vineyards, the mountains, the trees, being outside. Immediately, then and there, the wedding also became an outdoors affair! This was a highlight for me – and most of our family and friends we cherished most came all the way from Gauteng for this winelands wedding.

WC: The wedding day can only be described as an absolute feast for the eyes! Soft indigenous field flowers mixed with delicate clusters of dusty coloured roses, lilies, dahlias, lisianthus and chinks in antique vases, silver tea pots and glass bell jars adorned the elegant tables. Vintage books tied together with ribbon and lace served as elements of height on the table for candles in mother of pearl and glass containers. Vintage sewing machines not only contributed towards the theme as decorative features but also became the menu which was printed on beautiful ostrich shell coloured canvas and woven through the machines. Soft pink water glasses and studded glass base plates added a touch of French inspired glamour to the tables. Individual pots of aloes and cacti accompanied by strings of pearls, antique book bricks and candles were heaped together in little nooks especially created as areas of interest for the guests. With the glow of fairy lights hovering above the tables, the evening was nothing short of magical.

Lojanka: We were very hands-on involved in the planning of our wedding. We went out and sourced, hunted down, bought, begged, and stole everything we wanted and loved to have at our wedding. Wedding Concepts put the cherry on top and guided us along the road, but being so hands-on, was really wonderful. You only do it once, who wants to choose everything in one day from a catalogue?

Jaco was also completely involved – don’t believe the cliché that men don’t want anything to do with wedding planning! He was wonderful and supportive, and gave equal input throughout the process, since it was HIS big day as well. All the effort he went through, all the extras he thought of, were such a highlight for me, including sending over a bottle of our wedding champagne, Graham Beck Brut, with chocolates for me and the girls to enjoy whilst getting ready He also brilliantly balanced a very unbalanced wedding budget (can you still call it a budget if you have bought everything already?).

I married an engineer who sometimes thinks emotions are for the birds, and to see the look on his face when he saw me in my dress for the first time coming down the aisle with my dad – seeing the love and that he was feeling everything I was, was priceless!

Some advice for future brides and grooms:

• The best thing we did throughout the process was to do meticulous research. When talking to a service provider it is almost guaranteed you will be confused and overwhelmed by all the options and even the service provider’s personal opinion and suggestions. We went to meetings prepared, knowing what we liked, what we disliked, with printed-out examples and samples.
• Don’t be afraid to compare different service providers to each other. You are paying for everything in the end, so you should compare and choose the option that works best for you as a couple.

Service providers:

Venue & catering: La Petite Dauphine
Co-ordinators: Hannes Loubser & Kate Rawbone for Wedding Concepts
Photography: Ian Mitchinson
Flowers: Leipzig
Minister: Thinus Britz, NG Kerk Bloubergstrand
Dress: Kobus Dippenaar Atelier
Cake: Gina Buys
Stationery: Elsje Designs
MC: Van der Spuy Brink, Corvus Future Designs

SBB ♥ Leipzig Wedding and Function & Wedding Concepts, a featured member of our Directory