If you’re wondering what a sweet as pie, down-home farm wedding looks like – well, this would be it. Set in Die Klipskuur’s rustic barn, with a colour palette of blush, sage and cream, and pretty handmade details throughout, Anri and Abri’s wedding has all the charm of the farm and little extra magic besides. Details to love include cushions that did double duty as favours and ceremony seating, diagonal drapes on the chairs, a naked brownie cake (YUM!), eucalyptus wreath bouquets for the bridesmaids and teeny tiny veldskoen bouts for the boys (SO adorable!). The wonderful Hello Love Photography, part of the SBB Directory family, was on the scene to capture these darling pictures of the big day.
Before our month of farm-fresh inspiration ends, I just had to create one more moodboard. This is what I really think of when I imagine a farm-to-table wedding – something organic, and natural, and rustic but very romantic. With a bit of a botanical feel and a neutral palette, and including fresh produce and natural textures. It may not seem ‘wedding-ey’ as a concept, but when you put it all together, I think it’s so pretty! If you’re drawn to this look, be sure to balance the ‘rougher’ elements with more elegant, traditional ones – calligraphy, fine linen and china, or touches of metallics, for example. The best part? You can send your guests home to cook their centrepieces for Sunday lunch ;)
Happy Monday, lovelies! The theme for this month is farmer’s market, and we’ll be focusing on everything farm-to-table and organic and rustic and generally farm fabulous, alongside our usual real weddings, of course. We’re sharing the most gorgeous styled shoot this afternoon that embodies the elegance that can be achieved with this theme, but first I thought I would kick things off with a little roundup of 20 elements that you can include in your big day to create a farmer’s market theme, or just add a little bit of a market vibe to your big day. *Links in bold denote affiliate links. The cost to you remains the same, but SBB may receive a commission for any sales made.
Hello lovelies, and how is your week going so far? I have such a fab wedding to share with you today – one that showcases real, honest-to-goodness homegrown South African farm style, complete with a potjie dinner. It makes me want to sit down with a cup of rooibos and a pile of rusks and pore over every delicious detail, from the pincushion proteas (oh proteas, how I do love thee) to the springbok bouts, to the printed text detailing (especially love the ‘trou is nie perdekoop nie’ banner – for our overseas readers, the literal translation is ‘getting married isn’t like buying a horse’, i.e. it’s a step not to be taken lightly), to the enamel tins and succulents to the special beers and dessert-in-jars favours… oh hell, I love it all. And I also love that the wedding party manage to look boere vintage but also contemporary at the same time – a tough one to pull off! The pics were taken by the awesome As Sweet As Images – they’re new to SBB, and a very happy discovery! So go on. Get out those rusks. Enjoy. Oh, and PS, this might be the funniest and sweetest proposal story we’ve ever featured – don’t miss it!Read More
Happy Monday, folks! Hope you had a lovely weekend! Today’s inspiration board is a reader request from Robin, who is planning a black, white and silver garden/farm wedding for April next year. Robin had already chosen her colour scheme and bought many of her decorations, but couldn’t find a suitable venue in her area, so in the end decided to host the reception at her in-law’s farm, where there is a beautiful garden. I’m not sure what sort of decor Robin has already purchased, so in creating the board, I focused on how you might translate an elegant, slightly formal wedding to an outdoor setting. In fact, the two work perfectly together! Robin already told me she wanted long tables (love this idea, especially with strings of lights in the trees – what could be more romantic) and was considering a collection of glass containers with white flowers in them, which I also think is a great idea. The key then is to balance out the rustic (as a nod to the farm) with the formal. One great idea is to hire at least one beautiful chandelier, and hang it from a tree as a focal piece of decor, which really sets the tone. Stationery can be quite traditional, and calligraphy makes a really lovely detail, especially at each place setting as with the menu cards below. I was going to suggest either white dresses or black ones for the bridesmaids until I saw the pic below – what a great idea to let them wear a combination! The bride can also wear a black or silver sash, depending on the style of her dress. Silver touches come from mercury glass (which you can easily DIY) and just LOOK at this silver cake – isn’t it gorgeous! On the rustic side, consider hessian/burlap table cloths or runners, twine-wrapped bouquets, and wooden or chalkboard details. Make use of pretty features of the garden, like a gate that doubles as a place to hang escort cards. Just because the venue has changed, doesn’t mean that your style has to – in fact, in this case, I think the indoor and outdoor elements work perfectly together. Good luck, Robin – hope the rest of your planning goes brilliantly!
When I’m deciding which weddings to feature, there’s always something in the pictures that grabs me and makes me think “ooh!” (The Ooh Moment. It’s a Thing. Like Oprah’s Aha! Moment, but for weddings. And also, copyright me.) With this wedding, it was the colour scheme (followed by lots of other oohs as I looked more closely at the decor, especially the wall of mirrors). I just LOVED the way Kristy & Greg combined a sweet cornflower blue with soft cream and peach colours, and created this lovely romantic English country feel but in a farm location. And to be honest, I can see Kristy’s an SMP fan, because this has the same sense of refinement that makes me love the SMP style. But in the end, the real Ooh Moment TM for me with this wedding was when I was reading Kristy’s write-up. I always ask my brides what the three highlights of the day are for them, and this was what Kristy said: “Greg. He was by far my most favourite thing about the day. He’s my most favourite thing about every day!” Okay, maybe that’s more of an Aaah Moment, but either way, it made me smile. And I’ll bet you’ll be smiling to0, as you enjoy these beautiful images by the awesome Thea Cogill of Tink Photography (welcome to SBB, Thea!).Read More
Location, location, location. That’s what they say, right? Well, when it comes to weddings, I have to agree. It’s not that a spectacular venue is the ONLY way to have a memorable wedding, just that half the work is done for you. Best example: probably my secret favourite wedding of all time (head to 06:31 on the video to see what I mean). Yes, it’s from an Australian soap opera. Yes, it is cheese deluxe. But look at that VIEW. There’s not a single piece of decor, and yet that would be a dream wedding ceremony, in an unforgettable location. Anyway, location is one thing that today’s couple had on their side – Beloftebos, a farm venue with a forest roof so thick that it counts as a natural ‘church’ under South African law. Very cool. Even cooler is that Shané and Francois didn’t stop there – they created a handmade festival of awesome, including stunning bouquets, cute DIY rustic decor, and an amazing attention to detail (look, for example, at the ribbon on the flower girls’ feet, the button motif, the paint splashed glass bottles). Photies are by the fabulous Stephan Marais.Read More
It’s not every day you come across a wedding as special and thoughtfully put together as this one. It’s also the first time I’ve featured a truly organic wedding, including a raw food cake! But what I love most about Stephanie and Grant is that they embody the SBB philosophy of creating a day that is uniquely yours, and a celebration of who you are as individuals and as a couple. Stephanie (with support from Grant) dreamed up every bit of their beautiful wedding, which was held on a family farm that has so much history and resonance for them. They’re both in the health industry, and this was reflected in their menu choices – the natural, organic theme also extended to the rustic chic decor at both their ceremony and reception. Looking at the pictures (beautifully taken by Peter Russell), you can feel pure happiness radiating off them. It’s Pretty, with Heart. Just the way we like it.Read More
Back to the grindstone this week! But I can’t complain too much since it’s only a couple of months now until I’ve worked out my notice and become my own boss. My new little office is coming along nicely (thanks to a helping hand from my amazing housemates, who painted the base coats while I was away – how nice are they?) and soon Cap Classique will have a brand new command centre. And that’s not the only reason I’m so chirpy this morning – just wait until you have a look at this wedding I have been bursting to share with you! I dare you not to get a big grin on your face as you look at Cari Eksteen’s scrumptious pictures and read Andre and Marietjie’s super cute his ‘n hers commentary! They are so adorable. I love love love their grey and red colour scheme (how amazing are the red pincushion proteas with the brunia?), and the amazing attention to detail they put into the accessories for their pictures – those little pops of red that keep showing up and making me smile. And let’s not forget the shoes! Those little beauties first caught my attention and I still heart them madly. Not to mention the cake… Oh, everything! This is one example of a farm wedding done just right – enjoy! PS Fun fact: Andre’s parents are also called Andre and Marietjie – talk about meant to be!Read More
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
