SouthBound Sundays {23 Feb 2014}

by gaby

Hello friends! I must say, I was looking forward to this roundup, because I absolutely loved the last week on SouthBound Bride. It was the cumulation of some work on both my part and that of some awesome contributors, and I loved sharing some exclusive content with you. Unfortunately, today you find me very heartsore, as the family dog died earlier today after being taken ill yesterday. Anyone who knows me will tell you I am a total animal person, and while our Marcus was old, he was one of the most affable little souls you would ever have met. The whole family was there when he died, and I’m glad about that, but he’ll be badly missed. I’ll include a little pic or two of him at the end.

ANYWAY, so if I don’t sound super chipper, that’s why. But fortunately I have had lots of prettiness around the web to cheer me (and pinning it has definitely been a good way to distract myself today!).

♥ WEEKLY FAVES

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Practical Planning: Vegetarian Wedding Menus

by gaby

Afternoon, lovelies! I get a lot of queries from readers and as much as I have learned about weddings, there are lots of times where I think it’s best to consult the pros – especially since South Africa has such a wealth of fantastic wedding service providers. So when I had a request for information on vegetarian wedding menus, I went straight to a caterer who I knew would be able to answer my questions and provide you lovely readers with lots of inspiration, Sasha of Prep’d by Sasha Catering. With lots more couples going meat-free themselves (as well as meat eating couples who want to make sure their veggie guests are treated like VIPs), it’s a great time to ask yourself whether a vegetarian menu is right for your celebration. The good news? You don’t have to sacrifice even a little on taste, as Sasha proved by whipping up an AMAZING menu for you all. And the best part? You can download all of her completely delicious recipes!

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Romantic Winelands Anniversary Shoot by Dehan Engelbrecht

by gaby

Last week I shared loads of love stories in the form of engagements and proposals, but it’s worth remembering that in real life, the love story doesn’t end after the wedding reception with “and they lived happily ever after…”. The end of your wedding planning isn’t a finish line, but the start of a whole new journey. As I’ve watched my friends fall in love and marry, I’ve celebrated with them, and danced at their weddings. As they’ve stayed married, I’ve watched those relationships change, and grow, and become something so much deeper and more wonderful even than they were on the day they promised to spend their lives together. So often here on SBB we honour weddings, but beyond the pretty, what we’re really doing is honouring marriages. I love that today’s couple shoot gives us a chance to do that in a visual way, because rather than an engagement, it celebrates an anniversary. And it just happens to star one of my all-time-favourite wedding people, beautiful Nicola of The Pretty Blog, and her handsome husband Wynand. Nicola’s the real deal when it comes to wedding bloggers – she’s as stylish and graceful (and gracious) off the page as she is on it. And you just have to see the way she and her husband look at one another in this gorgeous, atmospheric shoot by Dehan Engelbrecht to know that their love story is the real deal too. I’m so happy to be sharing it with you! Oh, and PS, the amazing hair and makeup is thanks to Marli Basson.Read More

Refined Rustic Florence Farm Wedding by Maryke Harper {Lianie & Nicol}

by gaby

I say it all the time – a wedding should be a reflection of who you are as a couple. Just that. Whatever it is. And today’s celebration is such a perfect example, with a bride and groom who are as comfortable in black tie as they are on the farm. As soon as I saw the pics of Lianie hanging with her bridesmaids reading Vogue on the morning of her wedding, I knew she was my kind of gal. Especially when I found out that, even though she was a very chic bride and styled her girls straight out of a Paris soiree with their elegant black dresses, that under the ruffles she was a barefoot bride. Lianie and Nicol’s style is such a unique mix – part laid-back casual, part up-town ritz – and they translated it perfectly to their wedding. It’s a rustic venue on a wintry day, a forest ceremony, a potjie dinner. And it’s also candlelight and pearls, and lacy doilies and calligraphy. The best of both worlds, captured beautifully by Maryke Harper.Read More

Protea Bouquet Recipe #1: Protea & Bougainvillea

by gaby

This is such an awesome week on SBB, with lots of exclusive content, created just for you! Today we’re debuting a brand new series, which I am super excited about. With a big bow to Wedding Chicks, who pretty much pioneered the whole idea of bouquet recipes, I wanted to focus on proteas – not just our national flower here in South Africa, but a current wedding trend that we have been rocking for quite some time. Because we South Africans love us our proteas, just like we love butternut, and avocado, and braais, right? Even after seeing literally hundreds of protea bouquets, I still get a thrill when I see a new one, especially when it uses an unusual variety or combines it in a different way. So I decided to throw out the challenge to South African floral designers, and we’ll regularly be bringing you gorgeous protea bouquets in all their glory, as well as broken down into their components. Kicking things off is the very lovely Lizl Pieterse of Flamboijant, one of our very special sponsors. Lizl’s bouquet is perfect for a summer wedding, and I loved that it not only used proteas and other fynbos, but incorporated Bougainvillea. I have such a summer flower crush on this plant, and I would LOVE to see it in more bouquets! As well as showing off the bouquet thanks to Lulia Photography & Design, we asked Lizl a few questions about her ideas and inspiration. Huge thanks to both these talented ladies for sharing this with us today!Read More

Mint & Peach Rockhaven Wedding by Tasha Seccombe {Tam & Jim}

by gaby

It’s always fun when I get to share the wedding of a bride whose journey SouthBound Bride has been a part of in some way, and today’s was the source of one of my favourite (and most popular) inspiration boards, Mint & Peach. Of course, that’s just a starting point, but with such a gorgeous colour scheme, with a venue as charming and rustic as Rockhaven, with incredible florals (peonies, yum!) and with breathtaking photos by the always awesome Tasha Seccombe, Tam & Jim’s wedding was always going to be beautiful. And I absolutely love that they wove a single quote through their decor: “Once in lifetime you meet someone who changes everything”. It reminds me of a longer quote from Bob Marley, one of my favourites (which by the way, is awesome for a wedding reading). Inspiration boards are fun, but come to life and filled with fun, laughter and love, this one was so much better than I could have imagined.Read More

New Blogger Portraits + Posing Tips!

by gaby

This afternoon I’m sharing something a little different (and I feel a bit shy about it, since the subject is me!). As a blogger, I sometimes get asked to contribute to other online or print media, so it’s important to have some professional pics to hand, and I thought it was about time I updated the ones I use (since, for example, I have actually been brunette again for a while). As I am in Durban for the summer, I took the opportunity to work with the fabulous Fiona Clair, whose work I have been stalking for ages, and capture a bit of my own SouthBound style. We had such a fun time! I tracked down some sequins (of course) and proteas (ditto) and we headed for the Durban beachfront (after a bit of hair & makeup pampering from the talented Laura Halgreen – thanks Laura!). It was stinking hot and more than a little windy, but we had such a giggle playing and posing that I almost forgot that the camera was there. Fiona is just that kind of photographer – she’s super relaxed and nice, and so it’s a bit easier to lose that initial awkwardness that so many of us feel!Read More

How to Create an Elegant Shweshwe Wedding by Piteira Photography & SouthBound Bride

by gaby

I am BEYOND excited to share today’s shoot! Not just because I think it’s so pretty, but because for me it’s another step in the direction I have dreamed SouthBound Bride would grow. See, I don’t just want SBB to be another wedding blog, another place of prettiness and support and inspiration (although it’s all of these). What has always made the blog different for me is that it is all about South African weddings. So, to me, it’s also important that SBB is a place that epitomises South African wedding style. What makes our weddings unique? What do they look like? How can I celebrate the designs and traditions that are close to our hearts? I still have work to do in many areas to adequately represent our diverse and beautiful country, but one thing I wanted was to celebrate what I think of as icons in SA style and design. I started dreaming of styled shoots that combined current international wedding trends, but had our very own homegrown twist. Today’s is the first of these for 2014, and the uniquely South African element we’re celebrating is shweshwe. Which I LOVE. And you guys, this is the year for shweshwe. It’s happening.Read More

Bicycle Bride #2: The Suppliers

by gaby

I am a complete and utter indecisive person when it comes to almost anything in life (and it drives my fiancé nuts!). I have changed my mind about so many of the (DIY) decor aspects of our wedding that I’ve started to have nightmares about showing up at venue with absolutely no decor at all because I couldn’t make my mind up in time.

Ironically, there were some aspects that I wasn’t indecisive about at all. In fact, I booked our venue the very next day after we got engaged, and our photographer and my make-up artist were booked within the first month (which is a good thing – you have no idea how far in advance these people are booked!). My youngest, 15-year-old sister will be doing my bridesmaids’ and my hair. I am also very lucky in the sense that my cousin’s talented, graphic designer wife offered to do our stationery as a wedding gift, and even luckier that my mom is making not only my dress, but all four bridesmaids’ dresses as well (this naturally deserves a separate post on its own).

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Inspiration Board: Copper & Shweshwe

by gaby

I’m so excited to bring you today’s inspiration board, because it’s a preview of a mini-shoot I’ll be sharing with you tomorrow, a collaboration between myself and Piteira Photography (yay, can’t wait!). It features one of my absolute FAVOURITE prints, a truly South African design element (and one which is going to be really hitting its stride in 2014): shweshwe. For me, using this iconic South African fabric is the most gorgeous way to bring a homegrown twist to your wedding design, and still be right up to date with wedding trends internationally (prints, after all, are having their day in the sun). You can get shweshwe in quite a range of colours now, but the original indigo is the one I love most, and it’s a stylish and contemporary shade that combines beautifully with many other colours. I wanted to show how the pattern can be used in a really elegant way – for example, at a classic winelands venue – so I combined it with cool wedding white and a contemporary metallic, copper, for a bit of warmth. The colours look really graceful together, especially with the addition of white candles as a third key design element. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see where we ended up, but for today, I hope you love our inspiration!

Colours: Indigo, copper & white

Top row (l-r): Sash with shweshwe rosette {Julie Wilhite}; cake with high taper candles {White Loft Studio/Mayflour Cake + Confection}; table setting {}; long tables {Jose Villa}
Row 2: Shweshwe bowl; invitation suite; shweshwe fabric
Row 3: Blue bridesmaids {Caroline Tran/Kelly Oshiro}; copper tag escort cards {Mark Brooke Photography/JL Designs}; brass candlesticks; copper vase {Docuvitae/Kourtney James Perry}.