When I was 22 I lived in Italy, and I dated a boy there. We used to go and get drinks by the canals, and stare into each other’s eyes and he would tell me I had “the look”. What look? The look of luuuurve my friends. Googly-eyed, starry-eyed, whatever you want to call it. Well, you see those two up there? Yup, that’s The Look. But the fact that Dylan and Joy are blatantly glowing with how crazy they are for one another is not the only reason I love today’s wedding (although it’s my favourite reason). The fact is that this wedding is unbeeeeleeeeeevably gorgeous. As in, make oooh faces at it, poise your mouse over the favourites button before you’ve even finished reading it type of gorgeous. In fact, I’m making The Look at this wedding right now because I’m so in love with it. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that it has an achingly pretty (and contemporary) palette of soft pink and grey, or that the bride is a stone cold fox and her husband a strapping professional rugby player, or that the photographs are by up-and-coming and super talented photographer Nastassja Harvey (who you should totally book now while you still have the chance). And apparently the folks over at Top Billing agree, since Joy and Dylan’s wedding was featured on the show last week (yay!). Whether you managed to catch it or not, you are going to love the chance to savour every image from this beautiful day.

Joy, the bride, was sweet enough to send over some thoughts:
Dylan and I met about seven years ago in Pretoria. At that stage he was playing rugby for the Bulls and I was busy with my accounting articles at a local auditing firm. We went our separate ways and reunited about three years ago after both moving back down to Cape Town – we even lived in the same estate (unbeknown to both of us at the time). After getting back into contact there was no turning back as we realised we were both in this for the long haul. A romantic at heart, Dylan organised the most wonderful proposal with the help of my best friend. He arranged with De Grendel Wine Farm in Plattekloof to do an early morning ‘wine tasting’. The estate manager took us on a 4X4 experience to a little cottage on the top of the farm (which is generally only for private use). We climbed onto the roof of this little cottage where there was a delicious breakfast spread topped with panoramic views of Table Mountain and surrounds as well as the Durbanville winelands – a breathtaking sight. Dylan proposed on the roof of the cottage and we sat there savouring the special moment in phenomenal surroundings. From there, we went to Maze at the One & Only in the Waterfront for lunch which was followed by massages in the One & Only Spa – an incredibly memorable day! Dylan signed with an Italian Club and moved over shortly after we got engaged. The plan at that stage was for me to move straight after the wedding, but plans changed when he sustained a serious injury – we are now based here while Dyl continues with the rehab on his knee and will reevaluate our plans over the next few months.

As a little girl, I was fortunate enough to be the flower girl at my aunt and uncle’s beautiful garden wedding and from then on, I have always dreamed of getting married in a church with the reception held under a gorgeous tent in my family’s garden. At the time, my dad held the position of Flag Officer Fleet in the Navy and stayed in a beautiful residence in Simon’s Town, so we were fortunate enough to hold the reception at my parents’ house and we got married in the Dockyard Church, the same place I was christened as a baby 26 years ago. Our church service was totally unique and captured the essence of Dylan and I perfectly. It was officiated by a very good friend of ours who has walked an incredible journey with Dylan and I and it was the perfect way to become husband and wife!

Regarding the feel of the wedding, I took inspiration from M.I.L.K. cards as I love what they stand for – moments of intimacy, laughter and kinship. The idea of having a collection which celebrates the essence of humanity, through pictures of family life, friendship and love really appealed to me. It captures ‘real’ feelings and emotions and that was the most important thing to us regarding our wedding day – that it needed to celebrate the “realness” of Dylan and I and our love for each other, that through our imperfections and craziness, we can strive for a marriage which is perfect to us. We were extremely lucky to have the assistance of a good friend of ours, who is a phenomenal wedding planner and decor guru. Between my mom and Bernice, they basically put the day together while I was out of the country.

I loved the time we had while taking our couple photos. There is so much hype leading up to and even on the day and it’s so easy to get caught up in everything and miss the ‘moment’. Most of our couple photos were taken on a private beach in Simon’s Town, so it was Dylan and I and our incredible photographer, Nastassja Harvey, and her second shooter (her husband, Tim). Dyl and I were able to have invaluable time to savour the day and what it stands for and we had the most awesome time chatting to Tash and Tim while they shared with us such special insight on love and marriage. After being able to spend that one on one time as husband and wife, the absolute highlight of our day was being able to celebrate with family and friends.

Our wedding was a true reflection of Dylan and I and we couldn’t have asked for more. In typical Dylan laid back style, he took off his shoes on the beach when we were taking photos, rolled up his suit pants, put on his slops and kept it just like that for the rest of the night. Regarding the food, as we had planned to move to Italy until injury struck, we decided to go with Italian-style food, so our menu included tasty treats such as mini pizzas, breads, parma ham, olives and cheeses, gnocchi with shrimp and mussels, porcini mushroom tagliatelle, and fillet medallions in prosciutto. Our dessert was sugar cones with Italian ice cream – a really delicious feast!

A huge congratulations to Joy and Dylan – wishing Dylan a speedy recovery and a wonderful future for the two of you! And another big thank you to Nastassja – I hope you’ll be seeing lots more of her here on Cap Classique. For more pics from Dylan and Joy’s wedding, head over to Nastassja’s blog.

Service providers:

Catering: Pauline Shreuder Catering – +2722 433 1238
Photography: Nastassja Harvey
Co-ordinator, flowers & decor: Bernice Zietsman from BeZT Floral and Wedding Design
Cake: Nikki Green
Stationery: Leach Printers (my bridesmaid’s printing company in Louis Trichardt)
Bride’s dress: Jenni Button Couture
Bridesmaid’s dresses: YDE
Hair & makeup: Pzazz
Band: Over the EDJE