Today you can catch me guest posting over on Indieberries, one of my favey South African blogs, written by one of my favey South African bloggers. Yay for Che and Warren, who are getting married in just two weeks time! I’m sharing a word of advice and some of my adventures in bridesmaiding (hint: it includes at least one awkward entrance and a wedding cake disaster). And to celebrate, I have a little sneak peek of Che’s gorgeous handmade invitations – each like an individual package of awesomeness. She’ll be giving you the lowdown on these soon, so be sure to keep checking into Indieberries for the final product, and you can also get some seriously fantastic DIY advice from her Save the Dates post on SBB here. But for now, let’s just enjoy a hint of what her guests found in their letterboxes. Can I just say: how much are we looking forward to seeing her wedding??? Read More
I have an extra special inspiration board today, as it’s for my beautiful cousin Caitlin, who’s currently planning her wedding. Caty grew up on an apple, pear and now wine farm in Elgin – one of the most beautiful places ever – and that’s where she and her fiance will be having their late spring wedding this year. It’s going to be gorgeous, and I love Caty’s idea of using a soft, dreamy palette of whites, creams, grey and pale blush pink with lush blooms and some rustic textures that pay tribute to the farm with wine barrels and apple crates. I think when you go for this sort of look, the best thing is to keep it simple but do the basics well – gorgeous flowers are the biggest building block, along with soft hair, flowy bridesmaids’ dresses (in grey, white or blush will work). I’d mix up the bouquets to include a variety of blooms including silver brunia, but also blushing bride proteas (a big floral crush of mine at the moment!). Use rustic shutters (to hold escort cards?), calligraphed signs and printed calligraphy napkin menus, and apple cocktails for after the ceremony (also love these painted white apples as place or escort cards, or just for fun). I’ve also included a little nod to Caty’s rowing talents with an oar guest book (although another sweet idea is to use paddles as signposts). It all adds up to a classic but contemporary look that is super romantic.
Happy Saturday, lovelies! Here’s our last inspiration board for the week, and while the rest have been reader requests, this one’s just for me :) One of my biggest sources of inspiration is the amazing online magazine Magnolia Rouge, and in the last issue, one of my favourites was a gorgeous bouquet recipe photographed by Annabella Charles. I absolutely loved the mix of cool green, soft pinks and purples and a pop of bright fuschia, as well as the botanical feel of the bouquet and the feature. Botanicals are a big design trend in weddings this year (more on that soon) but while most botanical looks feature muted colours, I was inspired to create a board that incorporated both the delicate botanical look and that beautiful dash of bright colour. I love it – hope you do too!
I have such lovely inspiration to share with you all this afternoon! When photographer Veronique Mills got in touch to share this lovely styled shoot she put together with Just Jack at Landtscap, I jumped at the chance to share their take on modern pastels (set beautifully against the clean blank canvas that is Landtscap). I loved the candy colours (how cute are those milkshakes?) and the opaque painted vases, and I especially loved that Veronique explained the table had been DIYed for less than R500 – you can see a full breakdown of her costs at the end. That’s the great thing about a good styled shoot – you can take one or two elements are really make them your own, like DIY vases, or using napkins for pops of colour, or even the pretty pastel nails the models are sporting! And the cherry on top? That CAKE. I think it might be my favourite Nelle Cakes creation yet!Read More
It’s been a colourful day on SBB! Here’s the latest in our week of inspiration boards, and this one was requested by bride-to-be Rita. She and her fiance are getting married in May, and are planning a modern eclectic wedding with a touch of elegance. They want white as the base colour, and then with pops of colour everywhere for their garden ceremony and reception. I personally love this look – even though it’s very colourful, the modern white base keeps it clean and stylish (much like the gorgeous styled shoot we featured earlier today). I love the idea of printed napkins (adding an extra layer of texture), coloured straws, ribbons on the chairs and a multitude of coloured lanterns. Just one word of caution – keep one part of every element plain to make those colours pop and not start looking too chaotic. For example, the bridesmaids below in their rainbow dresses with white bouquets (or change that for crisp white dresses and colourful bouquets), the white band against the coloured napkin, or the painted vases full of colourful blooms on a white runner. And how cute is that cake? Hope you like your board Rita!
You guys, I am SO EXCITED about this wedding. The minute I saw it on our friend Carmen Visser‘s blog, I mailed asking if we could feature it – our first traditional Zulu wedding. Lisa and Michael are based in New York, but for their wedding, Lisa wanted to celebrate her Zulu heritage back in South Africa. I absolutely adore her traditional wedding style and protea bouquet and flower arrangements, as well as the way that venue 401 Rosendal was decorated in stylish African chic to suit the occasion. What a special day for Lisa and her family, and for all the guests who came over from the US for a truly memorable occasion. We’re so lucky to have such a rich and diverse cultural heritage in South Africa, and for me as a South African wedding blogger, it’s a pleasure to be able to showcase that in its variety. So here we go – get ready for colour and exuberance and meaning and so much fun.Read More
Time for another inspiration board? How are you guys enjoying having a daily one? Okay, there’s no way I could do this every week, but with so many requests coming in, it’s meant catching up a little, which means I get to make more of you happy. Win. Anyway, so today’s request comes all the way from Holland and I absolutely LOVE the colours bride Annet has chosen – lavender and blue. Because they’re complementary, they work perfectly in synch, but they’re also an unusual choice for a beach wedding (how’s this for romance – Annet and her husband are getting married at a castle they have to reach by boat, and then having dinner and dancing at a restaurant on the beach). I love this idea of bringing the country to the sea, and as well as incorporating natural textures like glass, I’d use fresh potted herbs as much as possible in the table centrepieces and lavender itself for the bouquet. The end result is soft and super stylish. Hope you love your board Annet!
Anyone who knows me would never describe me as a fashionista (I’m more of a uniform dresser – find one thing that works and buy it in every colour), but I absolutely love doing wedding fashion posts, especially since bridesmaid dresses have started taking on trends from fashion in general and not being a sort of fashion of their own (shiny, strapless, blush and bashful). Brides nowadays make so much effort to pick something their girls will wear again (although I wonder how many do, however pretty the dress is) and with the mismatched look here to stay, bridesmaids can also choose something that really flatters them and reflects their personal style. For 2013 there are a few key looks emerging, so in the next few weeks I thought I would bring you some inspiration from real weddings, as well as some of my favourite off the rack options. Today we’ll start with probably the biggest trend in SA right now – lace dresses. I personally love this one – it’s pretty, it’s textured, it works with the vintage look so many brides are going for without looking fusty, and believe it or not a lace dress is incredibly flattering (the one I own always draws compliments). Neutral lace works beautifully, but so do colours or little black lace dresses, as you’ll see below. And who says portrait backs are just for the bride? I love the way this extra touch of prettiness works in photos and there’s no doubt your girl will feel like a million bucks. Which of the looks below is your favourite? For the most recent bridesmaid dress finds, check in with our Bridesmaid Boutique Pinterest Board.Read More
You know, as much as South Africans all are mini tourism ambassadors for our homeland and can talk on to whoever will listen about the joys of Cape Town or the Garden Route, or Kruger, I wonder how many of us have really had the chance to see the many other faces of our land – its hidden places, its little secrets. When I was a kid and all my friends’ parents took them off to Plett or JBay or Knysna on school holidays, my family packed up into a car and drove cross country. My dad’s an academic, and studying rural architecture was what he did, so he knew every backroad by heart. Okay, I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I was happy about it at the time, but now I feel lucky to have been pretty much everywhere at one time or another. So as much as I will always recommend places like the winelands to brides and grooms, I’d love to see more couples take the road less travelled to another part of our country. One of my favourites is the Northern Cape, with its red earth and rustic beauty, so I’m very excited to be bringing you a gorgeous wedding that really captures the loveliness of the region today. Hannes and Marike had a natural feel to their design, with succulents and proteas against prints (LOVE the black and white toile and the vintage naturalist feel of their stationery) and other textures. And how beautiful is Marike’s dress? Of course, when planning your wedding it helps when your cousin is a talented photographer, as Charmaine Spangenberg is, and she’s captured every lovely bit of this big day.Read More
If you’ve been following along here, you’ll know that it’s not long now until SBB together with Anneli Marinovich will be hosting our very first workshop – The Editorial Wedding. It’s all about getting your photography published, and I have so much exciting stuff to share on the day. One of these (the most exciting, in fact) is the styled shoot being put together by the lovely Louise of b.loved with a crack team of suppliers. When we started planning EdWed, I asked Louise to put together a shoot that would get her excited, and get photographers excited, full of details and gorgeousness and the things we wedding people dream of pretty much all day and all night. A week later, we had the following conversation.
Gaby: “Hey Louise, so what sort of look do you think we’ll be going for?”
Louise: “It’s kind of Kate Spade meets Elizabeth Messina.”
Then she said a lot of other things about colour and pattern and table arrangements and ceremony areas, but I’d kind of stopped listening.
Gaby: “Dude, you had me at Kate Spade and Elizabeth Messina.”
So that’s all I’m going to say to you too. And if you’re anything like me, that’s all you’ll need. What I will say is that everytime I get one of Louise’s style boards, or when we sat last week discussing details over champers at Cannizaro House (our fantastic workshop venue), I want to make a lot of happy squealing noises. And also, I’m seriously considering finding a husband in the next three weeks, just so I can get married in Louise’s setup. It’s going to be gorgeous. Photographers: you should be there.
To get you excited, we’re sharing a few pins from Louise’s super secret Pinterest board this week (head over to b.loved and the EdWed facebook page for more, and Anneli will be sharing one soon too). Here’s mine :)
The Editorial Wedding will be held on 9 April 2013 at Cannizaro House. Cost is £325 including lunch and a takeaway guide to UK and international publications – for full details please see our website. Not much time now, so if you’re interested please drop us a line at [email protected].
