Tag: Jacki Bruniquel

Real Wedding at Inkungu Lodge {Kylie & Patrick}

by gaby

Hello friends! It’s that bittersweet time of the year, when everything seems to be winding down, but there’s still the holidays and celebrations to look forward to. I always feel slightly depressed in December that the year has flown by so fast, and even more so today as it’s my last day in Cape Town. I have no idea where the time went, I seem to have only seen a tiny portion of the people I was hoping to! Anyway, I am ending it off in style, with a mini-shoot out in the winelands – watch this space! Here on the blog, we’re also winding down through our last couple of new real weddings of the year, and I have been saving this one for you, because it is FAB. First, it’s shot by the gorgeous Jacki Bruniquel, who is awesome, but then you find that it’s full of bright orange folded paper loveliness (seriously, the bouquets, LOVE) and happiness and love (not to mention some rainy day blessings) and you can’t help but fall in love with it. None of the bitter, all of the sweet. Enjoy!Read More

Real Wedding at Zulu Nyala Game Lodge {Janlyn & Grant}

by gaby

Good morning friends! Today I’m transporting you to one of my very favourite places on earth – the South African bushveld. I’ve spoken before about just how much I love the bush, but whatever, I am going to wax lyrical again. I’ve been going to game reserves since I can remember, and although my dad is also a fan, the impulse runs even stronger in my mom’s side of the family. I’ll never forget driving around with my grandpa and having him tell me about animals and birds, or the time my mom and I staked out a kill at Hluhluwe when all the tourists had cleared off, and were rewarded with the most magnificent lion sighting I’ve had yet. I feel like the bushveld is my happy place – in fact, when I once brought home a boyfriend who didn’t take well to it, my dad questioned whether I could spend my life with someone who didn’t understand this great love of mine (quite right, too). I’m passionate about encouraging visitors and South Africans to spend more time there (in a responsible way) and supporting the heroic conservation efforts that are taking place in our country. Which is a long way of saying, today’s wedding is a bush wedding, and hell’s teeth am I excited! When I saw Janlyn and Grant’s Zulu Nyala big day over on the insanely talented Jacki Bruniquel’s blog, I feel head over heels in love with it. I mean, it’s a true wedding under the African stars, in a quarry (!!). But what I really loved is that they took all the best, most romantic elements of an elegant ballroom bash, and just took ’em on outside. It’s like the Ritz, but with a herd of impala looking on. It’s one of those South African weddings that makes me wonder why anyone would get married anywhere else. (Sorry, world, we’re just better. True story.) Oh, and PS – this wedding took place on the night of the supermoon. How amazing is that?Read More

Travel Themed Engagement Shoot

by gaby

Just when I think I’ve seen every new idea in engagement shoots, along comes a session that shows me that there are infinite ways for a clever couple (and a clever photographer) to express themselves. Alana and Chris are keen travellers, and I love how, together with the awesome Jacki Bruniquel, they used maps and even a written list of favourite places to highlight this in their pictures. Not only are they absolutely beautiful images, but they’re the kind of personal, meaningful ones that will be treasured for a lifetime.

Here’s Alana with a bit more about their (suitably jetset!) proposal:
We try to travel and explore quite a lot and I tend to be the one who puts our lofty plans into action…Chris knew that if he tried to book a trip somewhere it would be extremely suspicious so he just hijacked a weekend in Cannes, France that I had booked for us! He produced a ring out of nowhere while we were at the top of a hill in the Old Town, perched on an stone wall with a stunning view of the sun setting over the sea, eating macaroons we’d bought at a market earlier that day. It was so simple, happy, romantic and so perfectly us.Read More

Real Wedding at Netherwood {Sam & Stew}

by gaby

Okay, I am going to admit, I found this feature HARD. Not because it’s not lovely, oh no. But because picking through the pictures has never been harder. It’s not just that Sam – our brand new DIY Bride guest contributor – has an eye for detail second to none and the most incredible, original, personal, heart-warmingly wonderful ideas incorporated into her beautiful wedding, but that every one of photographer Jacki Bruniquel’s pics is so perfect that I wanted to use them all. Narrowing them down was like a Herculean task. So this is kind of a long post. But I don’t mind if you don’t mind, and I know you won’t mind scrolling through this absolutely gorgeous DIY celebration at Netherwood. And the best part? You’ll be able to recreate some of the awesome yourself, when Sam brings you her DIY tutorials. Isn’t that the best news? Yes it is.Read More

Confessions of a DIY Bride

by gaby

:) I’ve been waiting for this day for a while, and I’m so excited to share this post with you! *waves ‘Yay’ flag*
A while back, I was contacted by a former bride living in London, who had planned and executed an awesome DIY wedding in South Africa. Sam wanted to share her insights into planning from abroad, as well as her DIY skills, and as soon as I had a look at her gorgeous wedding I knew not only that we would get on, but that she would be a brilliant contributor to SBB. And so the scheming began. The ultimate result is that I am delighted to tell you that Sam will be joining us here on SBB as our official DIY contributor! Welcome, Sam! She’ll start with DIYs from her own gorgeous wedding, and here’s the really fun part – we’ll be featuring her wedding next week! You guys, it’s such a good one, and the pics were taken by one of my faves, Jacki Bruniquel (a few sneaky peeks on this post, but you’ll have to wait until Tuesday for the rest!). In the meantime, here’s Sam to introduce herself and give some amazing general DIY wedding advice – show her some love in the comments!

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I have a confession to make: My name is Sam, and I was a DIY bride.

From the dress, to the cake, to the flowers, and every stitch and stamp of the reception decor, we sourced, made, crafted and arranged most of it ourselves… from 10 000 miles away.Read More

Real Wedding at the Oyster Box Hotel {Gaelene & Richard}

by gaby

For a while now, I’ve been a big fan of Durban photographer Jacki Bruniquel‘s work – I’m sure you’ll agree it’s absolutely gorgeous! I especially love what she does with reflective surfaces – so clever and beautiful. Anyway, so I was thrilled when she contacted me to submit this wedding because not only is it super stylish, but it’s at one of my favourite venues outside Cape Town. The Oyster Box Hotel is the grand old lady of Umhlanga, which just happens to be near where my beloved grandparents lived when I was growing up. I remember visiting them every year and sometimes going to the Oyster Box, which seemed impossibly glam and sophisticated to my little eyes. After a two year rebuild it reopened in 2009 to wow us yet again, this time with beautiful wrought ironwork, inlaid hand-painted tiles and murals and a stunning gazebo you can choose to get married under. I visited it last time I was home (my parents live in Durbs), and totally fell in love with the decor. Not to mention, of course, the iconic lighthouse. And that’s just the visual aspect – they also do delicious food, and the location is completely amazing. I’m not always a fan of hotel weddings, but this one is something special, and just hosting a wedding there makes it special as well. Gaelene and Richard understood that. They kept their wedding simple and classic to best complement their surroundings, with clever, personal touches to make it their own. Gaelene herself described it best: “beauty in the simplicity of things: beach air, sunshine and our wedding vows”. LOVE.Read More