First of all, a huge HAPPY CHRISTMAS to all my SouthBound Brides! Hope you had a lovely day, and an especial shoutout to those of you who got engaged under the mistletoe! I’ve had a very chilled day (and I do mean chilled – rain galore in London) and full to the gills with delicious food (homemade chocolate fondant, nailed it!) I have just settled down to watch the Downton Abbey Christmas special and to share a tiny bit of inspiration from our fabulous sponsors, who I have asked: What’s your favourite festive tradition? I love hearing about their Christmas traditions, and have even included one of my own! Here’s hoping that whatever traditions you incorporated this year, you had a wonderful time, and here’s to good things in 2013. (PS Just to up the pretty stakes, I have included some of my absolute favourite Christmas tables from around the blogs this year, yay!)
Hello friends! As I mentioned in my post earlier, from now until the new year we’re going to be focusing on the best of 2012, so to kick things off, I asked my lovely photographer sponsors to share their favourite picture from 2012. Not an easy thing to pick, I imagine, since they have all shot so many lovely images. But it’s great to see a variety of special moments, beautiful light, interesting angles and colours. Which is your favourite?
Happy Monday friends! Are you excited it’s Christmas Eve? I know I am! But if you need a break from the festivities, I have some lovely year-end surprises up for you all week. I’ll be rounding up my favourites from our 2012 real weddings each afternoon, and in the mornings I am sharing with you five classic contemporary South African wedding styles as epitomised by five of our couples this year, and giving you tips to steal their style and recreate the look for your own wedding. Of course, you’ll want to make the look your own, but this shows you how to get started!
We’re starting off today with what I have come to think of as Cape Country Vintage – our very own take on the Victorian vintage trend that has been so popular for the last couple of years. Think: proteas, lace, doilies, bunting, vintage items especially books and sheet music, soft florals, and muted palettes of ice cream colours (usually including dusky pink). We’ve had quite a few of these weddings on SBB this year, of course, but one that shows off the style perfectly is that of our very own Real Life Bride, Cheryl McEwan. See the full wedding from our archives here.
Hello friends! Time for some more awesome supplier inspiration – today we’re meeting the fantastic Christine Watters of Christine W. Photography in Cape Town and hearing a bit more about what inspires her, and her thoughts on SA weddings. For those of you who still want some lovely inspiration next week, SBB will be right here with the very best of 2012 ahead of the new year, including style guides to our favourite weddings that I know you’ll love. This weekend is all about inspiration boards, so be sure to pop in for those as well. But for those of you going off the grid from today, here’s wishing you an amazing Christmas (or whatever you’ll be celebrating) and I look forward to catching you right back here next year. ANYWAY, back to the lovely Christine. ;)
Hello Christine! Thanks so much for taking the time to chat to us today. How did you get started as a photographer?
It all started in a sort of, “I have to do it,” moment. I had studied media and communications, with a specific focus on feature writing and then photojournalism. While working in a photography studio for a while, I spent every free moment scouring the web, always ending up on the latest wedding blog or pouring over images on wedding photographers sites. I then reached a “now or never” point at the beginning of 2011, took the leap and started my business.
How would you define your style?
I like to describe my style as a mixture of feeling and knowledge. I love it when I feel like I can almost breathe in the feeling of an image. Soft, light images, that take a small moment of emotion and pause it… forever. I’m always trying to tell a story of events, while focusing on the finer details of love, laughter and everything in between. I love creating romantic and unique photographs that reflect a couple’s individual style but that also make my stomach flip with excitement.Read More
Flowers. Fleurs. Blumen. Flores. Blodau. Kukkia. Fiori. Blomme. It all comes down to the same thing: those little bits of fresh prettiness without which a party just won’t be complete. There is so much you can do to make your wedding beautiful, but the flowers play a central role. Place a glass pot with fresh flowers in any room and it just brightens up. The wonderful thing is that the possibilities are endless. Starting with the array of different flowers and colours to choose from, to how you present them, you can have whatever you want. Literally. It’s difficult not to get carried away.
One of the things that has been BEYOND exciting this year, is that SouthBound Bride has received some lovely press coverage, both in South Africa and the UK. This has been a big goal of mine, and I feel really proud that I have been able to work with some really amazing magazines with hopefully more to come in 2013. So far it’s been styled shoots, but I’m very excited about a different kind of feature that’s in the latest issue of Wedding Album, which is on South African shelves right now. A few months back, the lovely WA team asked if I would answer a few questions, and I’m thrilled to be included in their roundup of industry pros discussing the latest trends and what inspires us. It made me feel properly proud. Head over to your nearest newsagent to pick up a copy or download a digimag as I did!) and let me know what you think! And a huge thank you both to Monica Dart (who took the pic of me) and to Wedding Album for allowing me to participate. :)Read More
When one of my friends gets engaged, I always advise them to sit down with their groom and pick three things that mean the most to them – three things that they will spend money on, that they won’t compromise on. And then, to some degree, to let the other things go. Every couple chooses different things, but if it was me, I know the first thing I would be prioritising: photography. It’s no secret that I’m in LOVE with wedding photography, of course – I couldn’t do what I do if I wasn’t. (And lucky for me that I can be a blogger, because I sure as hell couldn’t have been a photographer!) I love the way a photographer can capture those moments that you might miss (after all, a bride can’t be everywhere) as well as the ones you will never forget. I love how good they can make you look (anyone who says differently is lying), and I love the way that a great photographer has a sense of narrative, so that the pictures tell a story all on their own. Having spent so much time chatting to photographers, I also know how much hard work, knowledge and passion goes into their work – it really is worth every penny. At the end of the day, your pictures are the one physical thing you really can carry with you from your big day – nothing else really compares. So photography would be at the top of my list.
If you agree, then there’s one homegrown talent that you really have to meet. Claire Morgan is a photographer whose work I have admired since I got started in this industry – every time one of her weddings pops up in my Reader I stop whatever I’m doing and take a peek. Originally from South Africa, she’s based in Austria for much of the year, where she shoots the most beautiful, luxurious European weddings in incredible locations, and gives to each of them a sense both of drama and intimacy. And Claire hasn’t just shot in Vienna – she’s worked in the Seychelles, Armenia, New York, Italy, Greece, Mallorca and Chile, among others. Her work is regularly featured in top magazines and blogs – Grace Ormonde Style, Wedding Magazine, Style Me Pretty. I’ve even been lucky enough to feature some of it here. She has a slew of awards and honourable mentions, but she’s still incredibly lovely and down-to-earth. In short, she’s just the kind of photographer you want at the top of your list. And even better, she is available to shoot in South Africa during summer months – contact Claire for more info.
But enough telling you how awesome Claire is. Time for you to see for yourself… after all, as I said before, the pictures tell a story all on their own…Read More
Happy Monday people! For those of you who haven’t yet gone on holiday, I have some lovely inspiration for you today. First of all, it’s time to meet another great supplier (or two, in this case). Last week, I shared some Christmas table inspiration from Green Goddess, and today we’re going to chat to the two lovely ladies behind the name, Coral and Chantell.
Hi ladies! Tell me a bit about your company. Green Goddess Flower Studio is named for the green arum lily, indigenous to Southern Africa. We are a boutique floral studio offering a very personalised wedding flower and décor service. We are big on attention to detail and it is our hearts’ desire to get to know our clients and really amaze them with the beautiful and unusual work that we love to do. We also do flowers for other special occasions such as birthday parties, corporate functions, product launches and love doing commercial work that requires out of the box thinking and results.Read More
Time to meet a new friend! It’s been such a pleasure to introduce you to great new suppliers through the Days of December, promotion, and today we’re getting to know Marinda of Saffron Functions. I think personality is such a huge part of choosing your suppliers – particularly photographer and planner. You have to find someone you click with, so a Q&A is a great start. I asked the lovely Marinda a few fun questions, and here’s what she said…
Hi Marinda – thanks for chatting to us today! Tell me a bit about your company.
I started Saffron two years ago. I’m very passionate about food, flowers and functions and after working in the floral design side of weddings and functions in Stellenbosch for seven years, I decided to combine my knowledge of food and co-ordinating, as so many of my clients wanted the ‘whole’ package from one supplier. Hence the name Saffron as it is has the food and floral connection, and is a flower with three stigmas (representing food, flowers and functions).Read More
Good morning, friends! I usually keep things to weddings here on SBB, but with many of you having your last day in the office today, I couldn’t help but make an exception and include this lovely, rustic Christmas table from the ladies at Green Goddess Flower Studio, Coral and Chantell. I’m a HUGE sucker for the holidays, but sometimes it’s nice to take a fresh look at Christmas decor, especially for a sunny season as we have in South Africa. I’ve always been the one in charge of the Christmas table (mostly because I was well into my 30s before my mom would let me anywhere near the kitchen), and I would love to put together something like this for the family next time – the bright orange of the pincushion protea is evocative of the richness of traditional Christmas colours, but combined with aqua and soft neutrals, is all sunny days. I love the rough hewn wood of the hearts and angels, the fun gold touches (especially the hippo – EVERY Christmas should have a hippo!), the succulents and especially the way that the blocks create visual interest with varying heights for the centrepiece, raising the look (literally!) to something extra special. Sadly, this year I won’t be home for Christmas, but I’ll just have to look at these pics to feel some summer Christmas inspiration, and I hope you will too! For those of you leaving us until the New Year – drive safe and be smart, and have a truly wonderful festive season!Read More
