In the course of running this blog, I get to see a lot of weddings. Some of them make me ooh and aah, some of them make me want to clap my hands and jump up and down a bit, some leave me a little bit speechless. Today’s wedding makes me want to sigh happily. It’s like a breath of fresh country air – so unfussy, and yet the details… I mean, fresh daisies peeping out of wellies? Hay bales and hundreds of fairy lights? A pot bellied pig as a casual witness? *sigh* It’s all just so goshdarn romantic…
The lovely pics are from Cap Classique’s own regular guest poster Roberta Crumplin from Big Day Big Picture (head over and check out her snazzy new website!).

From Dionne:
We met 5 years prior to our wedding, through mutual friends. When I first met Greg I thought “wow, now here’s a guy I’d really like to get to know better!” I’d been through a couple of disappointing relationships prior to meeting him and was pretty disheartened by the idea there weren’t many ‘great’ guys out there… then along came Greg. He’s a genuine, warm, caring, interesting, interested person. It wasn’t just fireworks/love at first sight – it was deeper than that. We’re best friends and I know we’ll be so for years ahead.

For our wedding, I wanted something that was natural and no-fuss, relaxed, in keeping with nature… Hence my colours were predominantly white and green and neutral tones. By trying to keep the wedding as low-fuss as possible, our emphasis was more about having good friends there, than having an expensive, fancy wedding that would have meant fewer guests. We’re very blessed to have incredible families and many true friends, so it was a very warm and special wedding day for us to have everyone around us!

We had just finished the building of our new home in Hout Bay, Cape Town, and many family members and friends had been part of that rather daunting journey with us (from my developer father helping with the actual building and our good friend Justin Hervey acting as architect to my mom, sister and in-laws helping with sanding and varnishing doors and windows, chipping cement off floors etc. – it was a huge task!). So, because the house was such a big and combined project, we thought it would be great to have our wedding reception there! We are lucky to have gorgeous views of the mountains around the house and big open spaces, and the house lends itself to entertaining! It worked brilliantly and it made our home an even more special place to spend our future together. (Also having just built a house, our budget was rather tight, so it saved a bit having the reception at home!) We had lots and lots of fairy lights, great music and delicious food! We opted for canapés and had trays and trays of yummy food passed around all night rather than a sit-down dinner.

For the actual ceremony, and again in keeping with nature (I’m a bit of a nature freak!), my oldest and wonderful friend arranged for us to be married on the farm where she stays. It’s a rustic, lush haven tucked away in the Constantia Valley. Sheep, goats, ducks and even a friendly pot-bellied pig called Angel were witness to our marriage! We set up some straw bales draped with white satin for seats, used my mom’s rose-arch from her garden and had Pimms and champagne for our friends and family before we walked down the aisle. It was a stunning, still and warm day – absolutely perfect!

Instead of ‘bridesmaids’ I chose my five best friends to be my ‘wedding angels’ (a bit different I know!) and my sister Gaenor as my chief angel of course! Each of them is very special to me and lent their unique talents to help with various parts of the wedding. My friend Mandy did our flowers (natural bunches of daisies, lilies, etc.); Rachelle helped organise candelabras, candles, and so on; Barbara made my jewellery and organised the reception venue; Jen sorted out my hen’s party and helped arrange things on the day; Camille lent me her stunning dress and helped set up lights etc.

The best advice I had and can pass on is not to worry about things on the day. Really try to relax and enjoy it and not panic about things that might not be in the right place or go as smoothly as planned. In fact I think the few little mishaps add character to the wedding (not that we had any major ones!). The key thing is to enjoy your party!

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful day with us, Dionne and Greg!

And if you’re in the market for a honeymoon (or, hey, any other excuse for a holiday), check out Dionne’s fab travel company, African Pathfinder.

Service providers (all of whom came very highly recommended from Dionne!):

Photography: Roberta Crumplin
DJ: Trevor Masters – 083 4409812; [email protected]
Catering: Wicolene @ Harvest: 021-555 4941/083 515 2002; [email protected]
Minister: Greg Andrews – [email protected]
Hiring: Dezroy Poole from Stillwater Events – [email protected]