I’m a relatively easy woman to please. At the end of the day, just give me a prawn Caesar salad and a glass of good chenin and I’m happy. On my birthday, I like anything at all that comes in a little blue box ;). And when it comes to weddings, a little bit of French country style and I’m in heaven. Today’s wedding has just the right amount of pink, pastelly goodness, but what I love most is that it shows you don’t need a crazy budget and tons of décor to pull this off, just a soft colour scheme, unifying elements like wire, ribbon and hanging bottles (oh, the hanging bottles! – be still my weddin’ lovin’ heart), great flowers and of course a DIY-tastic bride and groom with friends and family to help them. Sally and Neels were married at Oewerzicht near Greyton, and Judy Stofberg of Just Judy Photography was there to capture it all. Sit back and enjoy the pretty!
Real Wedding at MolenVliet {Nelle & DeWet}
Morning, lovelies! We’ve had quite a lot of rustic chic and country vintage weddings on the blog recently and, much as I love them, I thought it was time for something with a bit more glitz and old school elegance. Today’s couple also had a vintage inspiration, but in this case it was the glamour of art deco, and they chose the winelands splendour of MolenVliet for their venue. I’ve been dying to feature a MolenVliet wedding, as when I was in Cape Town in December everyone in the industry was raving about how lovely it is, and Nelle & De Wet’s wedding certainly doesn’t disappoint. Details I love: the pretty (mismatched) bridesmaids’ bouquets (a great idea if you choose to have your girls wearing the same colour), the subtle pops of turquoise blue against chocolate brown, the fun groomsmen’s socks and goodness me, that cake! There are lots of black and white pics in today’s selection, but it just seems appropriate for such a classically romantic wedding. And wow, the pictures. I’m always so happy to feature Monica Dart‘s work, because her images have so much life to them. It’s actually a challenge editing the selection! I think these might even be my favourite so far. I also loved how Monica captured Nelle and De Wet at a rural petrol station – so fun! It’s always great when couples can spice it up a bit in their creative shoot. Anyway, I could go on and on, but you want to see the pictures, right? Right. ENJOY!Read More
Real Farm Wedding in Swellendam {Estelle & Pieter}
Today’s wedding isn’t as brand new as most of the weddings featured on Cap Classique – you may even have seen it featured before. But from the day I first saw it on superstar photographer Christine Meintjes‘ blog in October 2009, I’ve been completely and hopelessly besotted with it, and I have been dying to feature every wonderful, inspiring detail. Fortunately, Christine and the Aleit team were only too happy to share, and Estelle and Pieter sent me the sweet story that started it all. Everything about this wedding is beautiful, but everything is also heartfelt, and I know that once you’ve seen it, it’ll stay in your memory forever too. Estelle talks about getting married in Nature’s church, and that’s exactly what this is – a farm wedding in the very best sense of the word, where the grand natural beauty of the surroundings combines with the joy of two people in love to create something that is just spectacular. Of course, the attention to detail doesn’t hurt either – I just LOVE ideas like the ‘washing line’ table plan, pitchers of chilli water, fynbos (including mushrooms!) and laser-cut wooden name tags. And don’t get me started on Estelle’s gorgeous dress (and funky shoes!), or on the heart-melting way her dog walked her down the aisle. Let’s just say it’s one of my favouritest weddings ever, and leave it at that.Read More
Inspiration Board: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme
Herbs make such a lovely wedding accent. Just the thought of all those wonderful garden scents puts me in a good mood, and I love the idea of including them in your bouquet or table arrangements. Plus, herbs have the best meanings; sage, for example, is associated with respect and fidelity, and rosemary with loyalty and rememberance. I love the idea of wrapping them up with napkins or having potted herbs as favours, but I also just adore this couple’s idea of having various herbslaid out for guests to use as confetti (with linen bags this would also make a great favour). I think a key motif works beautifully with herbs, because of the secret garden associations, as do greenhouse-style windows for seating plans or whatever else you choose to write on them. I also love the hammered vintage spoons, which you could use as pretty table name markers instead of numbers.
Colours: A range of greens, browns and white
Top row (l-r): Bride (Jose Villa); dried sage (MaryJane Photography); stationery (Elisabeth Millay); windows (Public Image Photography)
Row 2: Dried rosemary (MaryJane Photography); flower girls (Elisabeth Millay/Jonathan Young); herbs in wooden box (Public Image Photography); green shoes (K. Holly Photography); keys (39 East Photography)
Row 3: Couple (Andrea K Photo); spoons (Hammermann); pie (Michèle M. Waite); table setting (Shoot Lifestyle); bride and groom (Lauren Ross Photography).
Real Wedding at Le Manoir de Brendel {Angela & Gerrit}
Oh I am SO EXCITED! Today’s wedding is a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party!! Now I should admit, I’m a little partial to a bit of Alice in Wonderland because once upon a time I, myself, was Alice. Not in a went-down-a-rabbit-hole-and-hung-out-with-a-stoner-caterpillar sense, obviously. But when I was 12 my school put on the play, and I got to be Alice. Actually, I feel this is probably a good moment to apologise publicly to anyone who had to listen to me sing. Or act. Sorry folks! But whatever, I loved it. And the thing I remember loving THE MOST was that I got to play croquet with my own prop flamingo. (Cool, right?) So basically the second I spotted this wedding – flamingoes, playing cards, key necklace and all – I tweeted photographer Drikus Le Roux telling him I MUST feature it, and to my relief, he said yes. Cue me grinning like the proverbial Cheshire cat. And I’m doing it again today. So… without further ado, let’s follow the King’s advice to the White Rabbit: Begin at the beginning, go on until you come to the end; then stop…
Lovely bride Angela sent over all the background on her Wonderland inspiration:
Gerrit and I are both originally from Johannesburg. We met in a nightclub there. He asked to take a photo with me, and the rest is history! We moved to Cape Town about two years ago and Gerrit proposed in February 2010. He planned a very romantic dinner for me at our home – we had a fondue and when he brought the dessert he asked me to close my eyes and when I opened them, before me was a pot of melted Lindt chocolate and a plate of sliced fruit. In the centre was the most beautiful ring! Then he asked me to marry him – it was very romantic :)
We are both huge Tim Burton fans and I have loved ‘Alice in Wonderland’ since I was a little girl, so after we went to see the Tim Burton ‘Alice in Wonderland’ movie we decided that we wanted to go with that theme for our wedding. This also helped us decide on the red, black and white colours for our wedding.
We went to have a look at a lot of venues but when we saw Le Manoir De Brendel we fell in love with the place and the giant chess board was a huge plus! We wanted an intimate wedding with all our important family and friends there. We also wanted something different as we ourselves are very unique in that way that we don’t want to go with what everyone else is doing, but to have something unique that would wow everyone, whether it be good or bad. We decided to have a morning wedding with a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party as our reception, where we served a lot of finger foods presented as a buffet and cakes as this would fit in better with our theme. We were so happy that we chose to have a casual wedding as opposed to a more formal one – it made us and our guests feel very relaxed.
I think our whole theme speaks for itself and to be honest a lot of people didn’t think that we would be able to pull it off and we did. With a lot of help and advice from our wedding planner and a lot of hard work it was a huge success! We supplied most of the decor, such as the flamingoes and stuffed hedgehogs, the place name cards and all the props for our photos. Laura (my maid of honour) helped me make feathered hearts.
Angela & Gerrit – you guys rock! Thank you for sharing your lovely and original day with us! And big thanks to Drikus Le Roux for sharing more of his fashion forward pictures – love them! You can see more on his blog here.
Service providers:
Venue & catering: Le Manoir de Brendel
Co-ordinator: Michele Steyn for Passionately Weddings
Photographer: Drikus Le Roux
Marriage officer: Dion Goldie from Capewed ([email protected])
Florist & decor: Elizabeth (flowers) and Michele (decor) of Passionately Weddings
‘Eat me’ cupcakes: Charly’s Bakery
Stationery: Invitations sent out via email and from wedding website
Bride’s dress: The Wedding Box, Kenilworth
Bridesmaids’ dresses: DiscountDressShop.com
Hair & makeup: Tamara Krijgsman ([email protected])
Real Wedding at Harold Porter Botanical Gardens {Carley & Marius}
Living in London, one of my all-time favourite days of the year is when I walk past my local florist and notice that the tulips are in. There they sit, in all their pretty, perfect colours, telling me that spring is on its way and immediately making me well up with happiness. I’m a HUGE fan of tulips. Which is why I totally coveted the bouquet today’s bride carried from the very first moment I saw it. But it didn’t stop there. Once I saw the rest of this oh-so-laid-back picnic wedding, I just knew I had to share it with all of you! Carley and Marius decided to host their ceremony and reception at the Harold Porter Botanical Gardens, which I hadn’t even heard of, but which I am totally putting on the list for next time I’m home because the surroundings are just so beautiful. Their day was everything a Cape Town summer wedding should be – all bright colours and parasols and cupcakes. I just love Carley’s pretty dress, and the way they used streamers instead of confetti. And anyone who serves choc ices at their reception is a winner in my book! Their photographer was Bernard Bravenboer, who I’ve been looking forward to featuring on the blog for some time. Welcome, Bernard! And a massive thank you to Carley and Marius for sharing their day.
Inspiration Board: Snow White
I’ve been wanting to do this inspiration board ever since I saw the winning dessert table design in the European Sweet Table Contest by Belle Amour. Debs took a vintage fairytale approach, and with that forest wallpaper and the blood red, snow white and black as ebony colour scheme, it was simply stunning. I thought it would be a great starting point for a winter wedding. Obviously you want to avoid Disney cheese, but you can take design elements straight from the story – dozens of mirrors lining the walls, red apples at every place setting – just try to avoid the temptation to dress your seven bridesmaids up as dwarves! ;) Colette Dinnigan currently has a Snow White bridal collection, and this pretty dress has the perfect mix of drama and whimsy. Pile on the red lipstick, and you’re sure to be fairest of them all!
Colours: Red, white, black, grey.
Top row (l-r): Snow White dessert table; wedding dress; bride with ornate hairband
Row 2: Red shoes picture by Elizabeth Messina; ‘fairest of them all’ ring; red apple place setting; glass ring box; invitation
Row 3: Red apple picture by Love Made Visible; mirrors; baby’s breath; cranberry red bridesmaid’s dress.
Real Wedding at Vrede en Lust {Brinley & Rupert}
You know how there are those women who have a rare luminescent quality, so that when they walk into a room, all the light seems to be drawn toward them? Today’s gorgeous (and thoroughly lovely) bride, Brinley, is one of those women (and I can say that because I know her). Rupert must have felt like all his Christmases had come at once when she said “I do”, and you just have to look at her face to see that the feeling is completely mutual. When I heard that Brin was working with the Wedding Concepts team to organise her wedding from her home in London, I knew it would be beautiful, and with a venue like Vrede en Lust, even more so. But what I really love is how the joy just jumps off the screen at you (captured faultlessly, as always, by the wonderful Joe Dreyer). This is the perfect mix of British charm and South African sunshine (including Zulu dancers leading the couple from the ceremony to cocktail hour), and I’m beyond excited to share it with you!Read More
Real Wedding at Delsma Farm {Anelle & Dirk’s SWAN WEDDING} Part 2
Yaaaaay! We’re back with Part 2 of the Swan Wedding reveal!! So exciting!
A get-away car was not something I ever really thought much of, but when my mom sent me a photo of this beautiful old cream Citroen, Dirk’s and my hearts were completely set on it. What I didn’t know, was that my awesome brother and his wonderful girlfriend created special bunting (which matched the rest of our wedding perfectly) as a surprise pressie for us. Awesome, right!?! Aw, they even added a Just Married Emergency Kit filled with some munchies and Red Bull so that we could regain our energy for the ‘Groot Partytjie’ (for our English-speaking readers this means “big party” – while being engaged Dirk and I never spoke of ‘Our Wedding’ but always called it ‘Our Big Party’) which was to follow!
In terms of decor, we brought in more neutral tones in the reception area, with gorgeous French linen runners from Domaine du Cap in Paarl and whitewashed crates filled with white flowers. The pops of red, were created by filling brown paper bags with delicious bright cherries. Nom nom! I also made sure the menus and place names added that touch of colourful fun to the dining table, and Dirk’s and my ‘mascot’, a cardboard deer trophy we lovingly call Mumford, took centre stage at the bridal table.
We were dead set on our guests having a brilliant time. For Dirk, that means great music, so together with our ‘third Muskateer’ he spent time compiling the perfect playlist for our Big Party. It meant so much to us hearing all our favourite songs and we got the people dancing to classic hits such as Brother Louis. Even our uncles and aunts were on the dancefloor!
Being traditionalists at heart, we also added all the conventional thrills such as bouquet tossing, garter scrambling and even had activity boards prompting our guest to interact with the speeches by singing the traditional songs such as “Kinders by dosyne” and “Lank sal hul lewe” (basically the Afrikaans versions of “Jolly good fellow”).
A detail which definitely had the guests reaching for more was our cookie buffet. You see, I love a good cookie, so we decided that we would swap desert for a cookie buffet which doubled up as a favour too. I baked dozens of mouth-watering yummies (think, toffee caramel and gingerbread couples!). Annari from Nelle Cakes made the most beautiful hearts and zoo biscuits. Friends and family pitched in, and Delsma added delicious white chocolate wedding cupcakes until we had a table heaving with goodness. My brother hand silkscreened hundreds of cookie bags and Dirk’s sister gave us the wooden Bride and Groom topper as a gift.
I made a conscious effort to take every moment in – I didn’t want the day to fly by as so many people had said it would. And it was funny, the day felt exceptionally long (in a better than good way!) and I can remember so many mind blowing moments in absolute detail: the exchange of the ‘this is it’ with my maid of honour just before walking into the church, Dirk’s face when my dad and I walked down the aisle, the exuberant shower of popcorn once we could say we are now Mr and Mrs, all the hugs and kisses when we welcomed the guests at our pre-drinks area, the applause walking into the reception hall, our first dance as newlyweds…
But when asked what was my absolute favourite moment, I cannot say. If pushed I will say that walking down the aisle was it – tears were streaming down Dirk’s face, the music was overwhelmingly beautiful (a good friend played ‘Comptine d’un Autre ete: l’apres midi’ from the soundtrack of my favourite movie, Amelie, on the piano) and I was so aware of being surrounded by all the people we love and cherish. But even better was the moment I realized just how amazingly loved Dirk and I are: probably 70% of the guests flew all the way from Gauteng to attend our special day, Dirk’s parents drove over 1700km with their car filled to the brim with ‘wedding’ and never complained even once, my parents who enabled everything – they would have moved the earth if we had asked them to! My brother hand silkscreened the cookie bags, played courier, played driver and together with his girlfriend, Marike, make over a 100m of bunting; my aunt probably baked 300 custard cookies (if not more!). I can carry on forever about all the love we felt the weekend of our Swan Wedding – my good friend even flying from London just to be there, Dirk’s aunt who took so much care with the flowers, all the hands that helped set up (you guys rule!) and all the beautiful words of encouragement on the night (and re-felt when opening the mountain of gifts and beautiful cards). It was all pretty overwhelming, but amazing and I know I felt like the luckiest girl alive.
From Dirk, the groom (yes, we finally let him speak!):
Funny how the big day just creeps up on you, although you’ve planned for it for such a long time in advance. I will never ever forget the sight of Anelle and her father coming down the aisle. That image is burnt into my memory forever and it’s one of my favourites for sure. Looking so elegant and beautiful, I saw my friend, my love, and my life from now on. I couldn’t be happier. Although I cried (a little bit), our wedding was all about being comfortable and having a blast with all our friends and family. It felt special to sit alongside my ever smiling lawfully wedded wifey, as well as my old and new family at the main table, taking it all in, sharing in the culmination of so much planning and preparation which I experienced first-hand. That, and getting to contribute to what was definitely a fantastic celebration, with all of my friends down in the “Boland” which I now call home, having fun and laughs until the wee hours of the morning. I look at all these pictures and I can honestly say it is EXACTLY how I experienced the whole day and evening. A great day and evening indeed.
Dirk and Anelle: You guys… THANK YOU for sharing your wedding journey with all of us. It’s been a privilege. I couldn’t be happier for you, or wish you more love and joy in your lives together. xx
Service providers:
Venue & catering: Delsma Farm
Photography: welovepictures
Stationery: Seven Swans
Flowers: Anette van Brauershaven
Bride’s dress: Lunar
Bride’s shoes: Trenery
Earrings: Ida Elsje
Groom’s suit: Sesto Sento (Willowbridge Mall)
Wedding bands: Ivan Bancroft
Groom and groomsmen’s rosettes: Hill’s Rosettes contact Sue Eveleigh ([email protected])
Hair: Riana Ehlers
Makeup: Iza Loubser
Wedding Car: Kontrei Toere
Bunting: Me Thinks (Marike Jordaan)
Cookies: Nelle Cakes
Real Wedding at Delsma Farm {Anelle & Dirk’s SWAN WEDDING} Part 1
I once had a boyfriend who woke me up on my birthday with champagne for breakfast, a very generous Harrods voucher, and the promise of a day of shoe shopping. That was pretty exciting. I kind of feel the same today, because I’ve been anticipating this wedding (along with many of you) for so long! Today I can finally reveal in all its splendour the wedding of our real life bride, Anelle Mostert of Seven Swans, who kept us wrapped up in her planning process and inspiration for much of last year without ever giving away too many of her wedding secrets (you can read the full series here). When Anelle and I first came up with the idea of Real Life Bride (Swan Wedding), I had no idea just how much enthusiasm and effort she would put into her posts, or that she would become a dear friend. And you guys, she made THE. most. beautiful. bride. She and her handsome husband, Dirk, look like a pair of rockstars and I am just blown away by all of the amazing details as you’ll see from their pictures. And oh, the pictures. Not only is this one of my favourite weddings ever, not only am I thrilled to bring you the big reveal, but I also get to feature images from the absolutely incredible welovepictures (happy dance!). Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you know Travis and Maike are big news in wedding photography (not just in South Africa) and they have knocked this one for a six. Seriously, I could go on and on, because their collective eye is just BEYOND… and more than that, sheer joy just shines out from their pictures. But I’m pretty sure they must be getting bored of hearing how amazing they are. It’s kind of a given at this point. So I’ll cut through the luvviness and just say wowthesepicsarestunning, and thank you so much Travis and Maike! Ok, here we go. (The post is in two parts with a FULL breakdown by Anelle, based loosely around the categories of her previous posts) so make sure to check back after lunch for LOTS more!
