At Home Couple Shoot

by gaby

How do you celebrate a new chapter in your life? A party? A special meal? Champagne? Jewellery? I’ve been thinking about this recently, because the fact is that I’m rubbish at doing it. There have been huge changes in my life over the past year, and the truth is that I haven’t really marked any of them, which I don’t think is a good thing, because marking changes in our lives is one of the foundations of our society. I mean, weddings – that’s what we’re all here for, right? Anyway, today’s couple have the right idea. This isn’t an engagement, but a special celebration of a new chapter their lives, and I love how personal it is. Eugene and Thia have been married for almost two years, and recently bought their first house (as opposed to flat/apartment) together. They decided to have photographer Michelle Joubert-Martin (who has just moved back herself from London to Cape Town) capture them chilling out in their new home, and it’s clear that after the ‘I do’s they’re still very much in love!Read More

Real Wedding at Langverwagt {Elmarie & Jacques}

by gaby

OMG I am in LOVE with this wedding. Seriously. It’s one of those that got my heart racing with excitement the minute I laid eyes on it! We’re talking beyond gorgeous rustic styling (I just love the dusky palette used), twinkly fairylights, burlap runners, a stunning venue in Langverwagt. Plus, some really original details, like the wooden animals that the bride and groom made for each table instead of using a number (and used as cake toppers as well) and the beautiful stationery. The flowers, the boutonnieres, the groomsmen’s styling. Oh, I could go on forever… The gorgeous photographs were taken by Andre van Niekerk of Vivid Blue, and I just couldn’t make myself cut them down too much, so you have a bumper post today!Read More

Inspiration Board: Mint to Be

by gaby

Good morning, everyone! Did you all have lovely weekends? It’s Inspiration Board Monday here on SBB, and I have to say, this might be my new favourite colour combination. I stumbled across it somewhere, and I knew I had to turn it into an inspiration board. There’s something about the way that coral and mint (two of the trendiest colours in weddings right now) work together that I just love, and when you add in navy it just has a whole new depth to it. I would have thought that it might come out a little retro or mod, but (while you could certainly use these colours that way) the board I’ve come up with is all sweet, slightly French shabby chic, with a touch of glam gold and lovely lace. Put your husband-to-be and his groomsmen in navy suits, and carry lush coral bouquets with your girls – the key to this look is knowing which of the colours to combine when, so that it doesn’t look too matchy matchy. Done right, this could make the prettiest of weddings.

Colours: Mint, coral, navy and gold

Top row: Love napkin {The Stationery Studio}; Claire Pettibone dress; heart shutter; blue shoes {Shewanders Photography via Wedding Chicks}; chevron cake {Erica O’Brien Cake Design}
Row 2: Table plan {via 100 Layer Cake}; invitation {Minted}; dessert table {Tracey Kiansky Photography via The White Library}; antique tin {Dreamy Whites}; ribbons {Andi Mans Photography and Design via The Wedding Chicks}
Row 3: Ranunculus {via Wedding Chicks}; mint heart earrings {Dariami on etsy}; confetti cones {Pink Cherry Mama on etsy}; coral bridesmaid dresses {Jose Villa via The Wedding Chicks}.

And don’t forget that you can request your own inspiration board by clicking on the button below:

Real Wedding at Bon Cap {Marelize & Valerio}

by gaby

You know how sometimes in life there’s a theme tune for a particular moment? Well, the theme from Love Boat is totally playing for me right now… “Loooove, exciting and new…” (didn’t you just LOVE Love Boat? My housemates and I used to watch reruns at lunchtime when we were at varsity. Shutup, I said REruns. I’m not that old.) Anyway, today’s adorable couple met on board a cruise ship they were both working on. How romantic is that? She’s an Afrikaans girl, he’s an Italian boy – and there they are meeting in the middle of the ocean. Not to mention that when I read their proposal story, I was so picturing the staircase scene in Titanic. Sigh. And romantic is exactly what their wedding was – Marelize decided to use black and white as her colours and black lace as her accent (I know some of you are planning to do the same, so you will love what she’s done here). And get this, her mom MADE her dress. How special is that? All the pictures were taken by Andre & Selma of Expressions Photography, and I think they’ve done a great job capturing the couple’s exuberance at joining their lives together, across two continents and three languages. Oh, and PS, I love that Marelize and her girls got ready at the Worcester Art Gallery – what an unusual backdrop!Read More

Pantone Fall 2012 Colour Report

by gaby

This isn’t quite breaking news, but while I was on hiatus, Pantone released their latest set of colours for autumn 2012, and I wanted to share them with you, as well as a few mini-boards showing how you might combine them into fresh takes on old colour palettes. Tangerine Tango (Pantone’s colour of the year) is still going strong (and I actually prefer these colour pairings for TT than those from spring), but for the less adventurous there are some softer colours as well as some bolds that pack a punch. Chatreuse, for example, can be used sparingly but to great effect. I suspect that of all of them, Rhapsody is the one we’ll see in more weddings this season, but I think (with the Olympics just weeks off now) that Olympian Blue must be my favourite. Which is yours?

 Source

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Real Wedding at Knysna Elephant Park {Caroline & Keith}

by gaby

As a proudly South African wedding blog, one of the things I want SBB to do is to showcase the depth and breadth of awesome that getting married here in my lovely homeland offers. Sometimes, that includes something REALLY special and uniquely Saffa, and that’s what you’ll find in today’s wedding. It doesn’t get more African than having a herd of elephants among your guests (although, I should point out, for all the foreigners who think that we live in huts and ride to work on impalas, that this is a pretty unusual experience, even for us!). Keith and Caroline are two of our own, now living overseas, and they wanted a wedding that really honoured their heritage. They chose to get married at Knysna Elephant Park on the Garden Route, an extraordinary venue where the couple and guests can get up close and personal with the resident herd. I just love this idea, and what makes it even better is that the park makes such a valuable contribution to elephant conservation. Add in an intimate, close-knit family group, a pretty pink and pewter colour scheme, a wonderful photographer (Judy Stofberg of Just Judy) and a very happy bride and groom, and you have the loveliest of lovely South African weddings.Read More

Inspiration Board: Market Day

by gaby

Hello friends! How are you enjoying your Tuesday? Where I am (in Durban) it’s raining like mad… hm, time to head for the English summer again, I think. ;) Big thanks to all of you for the blog, facebook, twitter and email love for the new site – very, very much appreciated! This afternoon I have a fun little inspiration board for you, which was created especially for one of our featured brides whose sister is now taking the plunge. The plan is to have a sort of market feeling, celebrating ‘the abundance of life’. Guests will get to serve themselves from an amazing spread of market-style food – how fun is that? I just love this idea, and I was pleased to find that farmer’s market-style weddings are a growing trend across the pond. There are so many cute things you can do here, and you all already know how much I love including fruit and vegetables in your decor. So here’s my take, using bright colours and rustic natural textures. Mason jar lights are perfect here, as are the adorable vegetable escort cards (and a carrot as a boutonniere? why not?!), kraft paper and chalkboard details, and Bashews soft drinks. I love the idea of creating a whole market display, especially when guests are given brown paper boxes or tote bags, and able to take home produce as their favours. Flowers are mixed and natural, and I like the mix of little jars and potted arrangements. I can just imagine the bride wearing a pretty short dress, like the one shown here – so fun! Hope your sister likes this, Kerri – keep us posted!

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Real Wedding at Dieu Donné {Zoe & Grant}

by gaby

Good morning! If you guys loved the autumn inspiration on the blog yesterday (and you did), you are going to die when you see what I have for you today. Zoe and Grant have been massively patient with me – I have been waiting to share this wedding at Dieu Donné for months, but I knew it was the one I wanted to kick off the new SouthBound Bride. It’s so unusual, with its autumn theme (a season South African brides are only just starting to discover, I think) and the details are so thoughtful, quirky and personal. Like pretty leaves instead of confetti, or the paper birds and cats hanging in the trees along the aisle. In fact, don’t get me started on that aisle – I LOVE IT. And I especially love how it became a feature with the addition of fairy lights in the evening. So clever. In fact, the whole thing’s clever and beautiful and atmospheric, and the amazing Jules Morgan has captured it perfectly through her lens. Zoe and Grant – thank you SO much, and I hope it was worth the wait!Read More

An Autumn Vineyard

by gaby

Let the SBB loveliness begin! :) And I can’t think of a lovelier way to start, than with this GORGEOUS inspiration shoot, which has been sitting prettily on my laptop waiting for you. It’s also super appropriate for the season we’re in at the moment, and I hope will inspire some of you in love with wine farm weddings to consider an autumn date for your big day. I mean, just look how gorgeous it is, right? It’s also shot by two of my favourite photographers, Luis and Kerry of Piteira Photography. Kerry is a homegrown South African lass who met her husband Luis when they were working on board a cruise ship. They are the cutest. They’re based in Portugal for most of the year, but you can catch them during the summer months in Cape Town, so if you’re still on the hunt for a photographer, give them a call.Read More

Wedding Trends for 2012

by gaby

Happy new year, friends! Hope you had a lovely holiday, and are ready for another year of wedding planning. And a big welcome to all of you new readers who have had holiday proposals – congratulations! I’m kicking off the new year with a roundup of the trends for 2012 as I see them. Reading back through last year’s post, there’s only one trend I got wrong (so much for bowties, eh?) and I’m looking forward to seeing what the new year brings! Here’s my top ten predictions…


Images: Watters; Southern Weddings; BHLDN

1. Colour on wedding dresses
This is one of those trends that has finally jumped the catwalk to start showing up in real weddings, and I believe we’ll see many more brides with a splash of colour on their dresses to match their colour schemes. For most brides, this means a coloured (or black) sash or belt or even a coloured veil (although for winter brides, cardigans are another way to bring colour in). Another option is a coloured dress – blush pink has become a popular alternative to white, or even silver or grey. Designers are creating black dresses more and more, but as beautiful as they are, I don’t see many brides getting on board.

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