Good morning, SouthBound Brides! We’re ending our run of real weddings for the week with a super fun vintagey circus-inspired affair in regal shades of purple. How fun is that? The couple – whose motto is to have fun – went all out with an elephant motif, custom stationery combining their family crests and oodles of cute details. I’ll bet their guests had the biggest smiles on their faces all night – as did the bride and groom, as you can clearly see in the beautiful pics by fab Joburg photographer Quentin Mills.Read More
Big Letters
Here’s a random trend: oversized letters. I’ve been noticing these in weddings and events from the US to South Africa, and they really appeal to my sense of fun. And we’re not talking the kind of big letters you might buy in a decor shop that you and your hubby can hold sedately for your photos. No, when I say big, I mean giant. Letters almost as big as you are, bigger sometimes. Aren’t they AWESOME? Frankly, there’s no rhyme or reason to include these in your decor… but there’s no rhyme or reason not to. It will definitely make for amazing pics, and is something your guests will be talking about. And from what I’ve picked up in my search, they’re not even the end of the world difficult to DIY. You could go for your names, your initials, or even a word like ‘love’ or ‘celebrate’. Or why not get super creative and spell out something unusual? Either way, this is a trend that I L-O-V-E-love.Read More
Real Wedding at Delsma Farm {Leandri & Andries}
There’s nothing sweeter than a girl-meets-boy-next-door-story, is there? Well today’s couple are literally the boy and girl next door (or across a park anyway), who first fell in love on the swing set and married fifteen years later. So adorable! I just love their pretty wedding, and the bride’s relaxed attitude about it being a rainy day is something anyone could learn from! But I think my favourite thing about their Delsma Farm wedding (or the decor, anyway) is that it’s such a fun twist on the shabby chic decor we’ve seen a lot of this season. It has the main ingredients: mismatched florals, proteas, books tied together with lace, striped tablecloths; but translated into a yellow and grey colour scheme it’s completely fresh. It just shows that you can take a style and really make it your own, be playful with colour, and that adopting a style doesn’t have to just mean one thing. The beautiful pictures full of light were taken by awesome Adene Photography.Read More
Wedding Video: Mareli & Grant
I don’t know about you, but I LOVED today’s wedding, and I’m so happy to share Mareli and Grant’s video from Vision on Fire this afternoon. You can see all the colour of their creative decor, all the feeling of their ceremony and speeches, and how much fun they were having with their guests. Thanks so much to Ian for allowing me to share this!
A Touch of Red Engagement Shoot
I often have brides asking me how to style an engagement shoot (look out for a post on this soon), and I really love featuring couples who have got it right. It seems like a fussy thing, but it often just brings the pictures together and provides a visual focus apart from your location, so I’d always really recommend it. Today’s couple, Brigid and Quintin have gone for a striking touch of red, and it runs like a ribbon through their relaxed pics by Dan Calderwood, bringing a lovely sense of continuity. Dan’s new to the Cape photography scene, and I just love the sense of fun he brought to his pictures of this sweet couple, in one of the most photogenic spots in the Cape, Kalk Bay. Enjoy!Read More
Real Wedding at Beloftebos {Mareli & Grant}
I’ve tried to write this intro a bunch of times, to describe an amazing couple who embody the joy and wisdom of ‘seize the day’ and whose ceremony was so heartwarming that their photographer, Charlene Schreuder, admitted it brought a tear to her eye. But the truth is, Charlene’s incredible pictures tell the story better than I can – and they moved me to happy tears too. This is one wedding you should read every word of, and soak in. It teaches something. Because it’s pretty, but it’s also the reason weddings were invented: a celebration of the strength and wonder of love.Read More
A Bride Abroad #1: The Proposal
Make way! Huzzah! It’s time to introduce you to the second of our current season of real life brides – don’t worry, we haven’t lost Candice just yet, but while she’s off adding finishing touches to her planning, it’s time to meet RLB #2, Liana. Like many of our readers, Liana has had the challenge of planning her Cape wedding from abroad – not the easiest of tasks! We’ll be hearing all about her ideas and inspirations, and how she’s overcome the distance challenge over the coming weeks, but for now, let’s make her feel welcome and hear all about how she and fiancé Chris met.
Inspiration Board: French Country Farmhouse
Some of the inspiration board requests I get take a little while for me to generate ideas for, but others I can wrap my head around immediately, and today’s request from the lovely Keri was one of those. Keri told me that she was planning a summer wedding with a palette of sage green, beige, cream and red, and a French country style, and that she wasn’t a fan of anything fancy, shiny or glossy. The first thing that came into my head was ticking fabric, and straight away I could picture her tables (long, of course!) – it also immediately made me think of the gorgeous country florals from Marguerite & Tom’s wedding that I featured some time ago. Keri wanted to keep her flowers white and green, and I think this is a perfect idea, especially using wild, natural arrangements placed in an assortment of bottles and vases (as if someone had just fetched them out of their kitchen cupboard). For that quirky touch of red, there’s nothing as pretty as a punnet of fresh cherries, or just loose cherries draped around the bottom of the vases as they were in this wedding (LOVE it). Use wooden boards under place settings or down the centre of the table, or cover plain boards in burlap to add height to arrangements and a central line in place of a runner. Ticking fabric tablecloths would be ideal, but plain white tables also work perfectly with ticking cloth napkins, tied loosely with twine, perhaps, or accented with a pretty calligraphed menu (you could also play with chalkboard accents for a more bistro feel). Put your groomsmen in braces and give them (and perhaps all the men) adorable straw hats, with madeleine biscuits for the ladies. Speaking of the ladies, I’ve put them in chic white dresses here (love those backs!), but of course sage or neutrals would work too. Hope you like your board, Keri – can’t wait to see your wedding!
Colours: Sage green, beige, cream & red
Top row (l-r): Table decor with cherries {P: Jose Villa; C: Duet Weddings}; ticking napkin {S: Jessica Sloane; P: Jessica Lorren}; bridesmaids {P: Bryan N. Miller Photography; C: Couture Events}
Row 2: Florals on burlap-covered board {C: Wedding Concepts; P: Adel Ferreira}; ticking pillows {Dreamy Whites}; flowers in vintage glass {C: Wedding Concepts; P: Adel Ferreira}
Row 3: Long tables {P: Rebecca Wedding Photography; C: Chic Weddings in Italy}; wildflower bouquet; first dance {P: Andrea Dozier}; madeleines
Bridesmaids {Sponsor Showcase}
Staying with our theme of bridesmaids today, I have some more lovely eye candy from the fabulous SBB photographer sponsors, who have opened their albums to share a gorgeous collection of bridesmaids – both ready-for-their-closeup and behind-the-scenes. I always think it’s a pity when I don’t see any pics of a bride and her girls – not only do their dresses bring a lot of colour and cohesion to the images (and after all the hours you spend picking them, why wouldn’t you want them to be seen?) but because the time spent between a girl and her best friends on the morning of her wedding is so precious and such a celebration of their friendship. When I was a BM for one of my besties, Nikki, a few years back, she decoupaged a gorgeous black and white of her with us two bridesmaids on a wooden box afterwards and filled it with prints from the wedding – still one of the nicest gifts I have ever received and one I treasure, along with a framed version of that pic. It reminds me not only of how special it was to be her witness that day, sharing bridesmaid duties, laughs and memories with the third of our trio, Tracy, but also of all the other special moments in our friendship. Today’s post is a tribute to that wonderful feeling, and also to all the jobs both big and small that BMs do to make sure that their bride has the day of her dreams.
Guest Post: The Bridesmaid’s Duties
Source: Joy & Dylan’s Simon’s Town Wedding (Photography: Nastassja Harvey)
Good morning, friends! It’s been a long and crazy week for me, including an amazing shoot with such a great team mid-week that I am dying to share with you (in the words of Barney Stinson… wait for it…) so I’m pretty glad it’s Friday. And what a fun Friday we have lined up for you, as it’s our unofficial Bridesmaid Day! We’re kicking things off with some comprehensive, down-to-earth advice from friend of the blog Theresa Lazarevic of Creation Events.. I love that Theresa not only has a great eye for decor that really benefits her brides and grooms, but she’s also a source of wedding wisdom and practical ideas. I like to think I’ve always been quite a switched-on bridesmaid, but I know many friends who have felt a bit lost in knowing their place in the planning and what they can do to help and support. Well, here’s everything they need to know. Be sure to make use of the sharing buttons at the end of the post to share these with your own bridesmaids and MOH! And don’t forget to pop back later for more bridesmaid inspiration from our sponsors.Read More