You know how sometimes life seems to have a soundtrack? Well, often I feel like that about photos. It always happens if a couple mentions a favourite song as I edit their wedding feature, but sometimes the pics themselves remind me of a specific song. And when I was working on today’s engagement shoot, I couldn’t help but put ‘Kiss Me’ by Sixpence None the Richer on the iPod. I think it was the playful spirit of the images, the sense of a carefree summer day, or maybe just the way that groom and bride-to-be Raazik and Debbie look at one another… Kiss me down by the broken tree house…swing me , upon its hanging tire…bring, bring , bring your flowered hat…we’ll take the trail marked on your father’s map… Either way, it’s an adorable e-sesh, perfectly captured by newbie photographer Abby Anderson. Would you believe this is Abby’s first solo shoot? Nope, neither did I, but I’m so happy she shared it with us!Read More
So, The Notebook. I have mixed feelings about this one, folks. Years ago, I read the novel as part of a book club and I HATED it. I mean, that last scene? Ew. I think I hated it so much I called up my friend at whatever time of night it was and ranted about it. I think I may have said that Nicholas Sparks had stolen several hours of my life. So I wasn’t exactly keen to see the film. But… you know, then I did. And Ryan Gosling was all, hey girl, and Rachel McAdams was all McAdamy, and it was so beautifully styled and okay, I admit it, I have it on DVD. Which might be one of the only times I will ever tell you that the film was way better than a novel. So when photographer Iz Labuschagne let me know that she had aNotebook-inspired engagement shoot to share, I got a little excited (especially since this one is one of my all-time faves). What I love about this is that the film is more of a loose influence rather than a theme – Chantel & Jon went for lovely vintage styling and it was shot in Cullinan in Gauteng, which is full of vintage shops and an old railway station, and they even included some old love letters, which is super appropriate. It just shows that taking styling inspiration from one of your favourite films can be a great place to start with your engagement shoot! (For more on movie-themed engagements, see here.)Read More
Hello lovelies! Time for an engagement shoot, and today’s comes from the always delightful Cheryl McEwan. And you guys, it’s a goodie. I think over the years I’ve been doing this, my favourite couple shoots are those where the couple are doing something a little different – but more specifically, where they’re doing something they love, or visiting a place that has meaning for them. Which might be what makes today’s shoot so cool. Then again, it might be the aeroplane. Either way, flying is something this couple love to do, and up in the air narrowly missed being the site for their engagement… I’ll let groom-to-be Neno tell you his and Megan’s story:Read More
In the time I’ve been running SouthBound Bride, I’ve had submissions from photographers, brides, planners, florists – even grooms. But I’ve never had a submission from a bride’s sister before! So I was intrigued when Katherine wrote to tell me about her sister Melissa’s love story, and to share the super sweet engagement shoot that she and fiance Gavin had done with photographer Yvette Gilbert. I think it’s just so lovely that Katherine wanted to share Melissa’s happiness with us! And who could resist an adorable shoot in blue, red and white, with cute props to add to the beautiful Cape scenery? I love the little details, from a boho crown to a stripey towel, and of course, I also love the bookshop alternate setting. These are clearly pics that not just the couple, but their famlies too, will treasure.Read More
Boy do I ever have a story to tell you about this shoot! A few weeks back, I had an email from Christy-Lee Hosking of Pickle Photography, submitting a super cute styled engagement session on the Durban beachfront. And instead of passing on the how they met story herself, she asked the bride (Megan) to mail me directly. Which is serendipitous, because if she hadn’t, I never would have noticed Megan’s surname on her email. And if I hadn’t known Megan’s surname, I wouldn’t have realised that she’s my cousin. What! Yep, my cousin, and not even such a distant one either. Megan’s grandmother was my grandpa’s little sister, and while we’ve met once (a loooong time ago), I would never have recognised her. But here we are, connected. Isn’t that cool? I know for sure that the grands are sitting up wherever they are, smiling about it. Anyway, this isn’t just a cool shoot because of my small world story – in fact, as I said before, it is adorable, thanks to the styling of Sarah of Urban Lace and Christy-Lee’s photography skills, not to mention the Durban Fun World backdrop. But Megan and Warren also have a really amazing story to tell about their journey to this point, and I couldn’t be happier for them. They got married last weekend – congrats, cous! And a big thank you to Christy-Lee for sharing this shoot and bringing us together.Read More
Straight off, I am just going to say, I LOVE this couple’s proudly South African styling. Sazi’s shweshwe ruffled dress especially is just the bomb, and they’re perfectly co-ordinated which (Brangelina and the Beckhams taking it too far aside) makes for the most amazing pictures. Of course, it always helps when you have a fantastic photographer, and today I’m so happy to share the work of Yolande Snyders. You may remember Yolande as one half of the Desert Rose Project team, and I’ve got to know Yolande a bit via email as one of our sponsors over the last couple of months. She’s such a honey, and I so admire her enthusiasm not just for her photography but for her community. Awesome. Anyway, Sazi and Khulile, today’s super stylish couple, decided to have their engagement pics taken wandering around Simon’s Town (one of my fave Cape spots), including in the toy museum, which is such a fun touch. It’s the perfect portrait of a perfect Cape afternoon. Read on for more of their love story…Read More
Okay, how cute is this? The bride-to-be in today’s engagement shoot, Patchi (Patricia), is originally from Brazil and she first learned English from watching Titanic with English subtitles. Which must have given her an interesting vocabulary, but at least she could tell Mike he was the king of her world when she met him! Photographer Brett Atherstone sent this adorable shoot in – Brett and his wife Niki are relatively new to the Cape photography scene, but judging by these pics we’ll be seeing more of them soon.Read More
A few years back, my dear friend Lenore sent me a link to a South African blog called indieBerries. Think you’ll like this, she said. And that was how I entered the deliciously barmy world of Che, writer of fun blog posts, drawer of hilarious cartoons, scrapbooker extraordinaire. Che is one of those people you instantly like, even just via the internet – she’s bubbly and warm, creative and ever so slightly mad. She also makes beautiful stationery, which I used as a thin pretext to get in touch years ago (she kindly wrote a guest post for me then). So of course, when she got proposed to in spectacular fashion and started planning a wedding, I declared myself her new bestie. Conveniently, she was going to be in London for a few months, so I’ve since got to spend some time with her and she is exactly as I’d imagined – which means that I dig her a lot in person as well as online. All of these would have been reasons on their own that I’d be excited to feature her engagement shoot with fiance Warren (or ‘The Warr’ as I can only ever think of him after Che dubbed him that on her blog – it’s fine, he calls me SBB), especially when I found out that their photographer was none other than the awesome Anneli Marinovich. But when I discovered that they had the CUTEST concepts for their shoot, I knew it would be one of my favey couple shoots ever. First, Che and Warren brought the ‘love locks’ tradition to London, adding their own little lock of love to Hungerford Bridge and throwing the key into the Thames. Then they headed for the London Eye, and had a quintessentially London picnic, where each gave the other a love letter to read while Anneli snapped away. What I love most is that these concepts weren’t just used as props – they were catalysts for genuinely romantic and emotional moments between these two lovebirds, and the expressions of happiness on their faces just say it all. They both seem to glow in each other’s company – just imagine how amazing their wedding is going to be! Be sure to read on below for details on the shoot, and for the AWESOME story of how they met (make sure you head over to indieBerries for how he proposed too!). Che and The Warr: huge congratulations!Read More
Okay, I have to be honest, I try not to feature too many beach engagement shoots. I know, I know, but when I was growing up in PE it became this thing that everyone who got engaged did – dress up in jeans and plain white t-shirts, and get photographed running down the beach at Sardinia Bay. I have looked at about a hundred of these albums (sorry, PE friends), and I think it scarred me. So I only feature beach shoots that I am totally in love with, and today’s e-session for Jeff and Josephine definitely qualifies. Kerry and Luis of Piteira Photography have perfectly captured the incredible light of a Camps Bay sunset – I can’t believe it was already four months ago that I was sitting with my lovely friend Robyn drinking martinis and looking out at this exact sunset just before coming back to London. Like all of Kerry and Luis’ images, I just want to wallow in the dreaminess. Josephine and Jeff (who live in London) were out in Cape Town for their wedding, which you can see in all its glory over on The Pretty Blog.Read More
I have such a sweet engagement shoot for you today, submitted by Wimbledon-based photographer Maxeen Kim. She sent over Cameron and Weronika’s super sweet story as proof that South African men can be romantic – don’t you love it? (Actually, while my dating history reads like a small corner of the United Nations, I haven’t actually dated that many Saffa men myself, so I couldn’t comment either way, but it’s nice to know Cameron is making our boys look good!) Weronika is actually from Poland, and the two lovebirds met when Weronika was hunting for a flat-share. Four years of dating and trips to both South Africa and Poland followed, before Cameron booked a surprise flight to Paris for Weronika’s birthday (somewhere she had always wanted to visit). She thought that was the big surprise, but in fact it was an Eiffel Tower proposal! For their engagement shoot, they chose to recreate a picnic in the park – something they often do in London – and incorporate a fan souvenir from their Paris trip. Cute, non?Read More
