As a blogger, there have been a few times unfortunately where I’ve had to face the question of whether to blog in the face of unhappy events, whether home or abroad. This isn’t a news blog, but it can seem trivial to talk about weddings when there’s a major earthquake, or when my American readers are dealing with a national tragedy like what happened yesterday in Boston. I’m a runner, and my heart goes out to everyone who was injured or was there, and their friends and families. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned as a runner, it’s to carry on, even when things feel bad, when your legs are pounding and a part of your brain is telling you you’d be crazy not to stop. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned as someone who has also experienced loss of my own and through others, it’s that one of the very reasons that we have to hold tight to those shining moments of joy like the celebration of two people falling in love and promising a lifetime to one another, is because life isn’t always cupcakes and toile. So I’m blogging today. And frankly, there couldn’t be a wedding that is more full of life and love and promise and light than this one. Lynsay and Graham opted for a picnic wedding at the picturesque Little Stream in Constantia, and everything from the luminous bride and her boho bridesmaids to the high tea-style tables laden with food, the hanging teacups and acres of bunting, to the ice cream cart bringing smiles of delight to adults and kids alike is a gentle celebration of family and friends, nature and romance. Charlene Schreuder is a genius at capturing this sort of wedding, and she’s done so in her usual gorgeous style.Read More
I fell for today’s wedding at Little Stream in Constantia the second I laid eyes on it. (One word: BUNTING!) It’s one of those balmy, happy weddings where you wish you’d been there, where the bride and groom and their guests seem like people you’d want to know. People who pitch in with the organisation and the set up, and bake goodies for the buffet. A couple whose top priority is socialising with their guests, and who choose a laid back English Garden Party theme that allows everyone to chill out in the sunshine, playing lawn games and drinking champagne. *sigh* All the pictures are by the lovely Rebecca Meissner of Love Made Visible, who has such a great eye for light and detail – I can’t wait to share them with you. So grab a Pimm’s or a cup of tea, and get into the spirit of this perfect summer afternoon.
A word from Monique: Kevin and I met through a mutual friend while we were both at University. We got to know each other as friends for a while before we started going out and we stayed together while I worked in the UK for 18 months. In April last year I came back to Cape Town for a holiday and we made a list of things we wanted to do together, including a day in Stellenbosch (which we both love). Kevin planned a whole day doing all of our favourite things – a lazy breakfast, coffee and cake, a picnic in the Botanical Gardens. Apparently he spent the whole day stressing, which I didn’t realise – I had a lovely time! We went on to Mojo for dinner and after our meal we found ourselves a comfy couch and Kevin hopped down on one knee and popped out a ring and asked me to marry him! Just perfect! I moved back for good in August and we were married four months later.
Kevin and I have been to a number of weddings where we found that there wasn’t much opportunity to talk to the bride and groom and we knew we didn’t want that. Our overall desire was to have a wedding with a completely relaxed feel and plenty of opportunities to mingle and chat with our friends and family. After thinking about various different themes, we decided on an English garden party with lots of food (think cucumber sandwiches, scones with jam and cream, Pimms, etc.) and lawn games. When I told my sister of our plan, she took me straight to Little Stream. It was the first venue I saw and I knew that it was the right one for us – we didn’t bother looking anywhere else!
Walking down to the reception area on the day, I actually gasped at how beautiful it was! My talented friend Lyndal and our other amazing friends and family had transformed the area into something so stunning! It was exactly what I had hoped for… and more. We had decided not to go for one main colour but rather stuck to white and pastels so no single colour stood out. My mom sewed metres of beautiful bunting which we hung in the trees and it gave the reception area a very festive feel. Our decor was perfect, flowers exquisite, and food divine.
We really made an effort to create a relaxed vibe so we got speeches done and dusted at the beginning and it left the rest of the afternoon to eat, drink, laze on the picnic blankets, play croquet, etc. and have photos with the props in the photo booth. Some of the food was provided by our venue – the rest by our friends and family. My mother-in-law, Pam, made our wedding cake – it was incredible!
For our guest book, Lyndal drew us a huge picture of a tree and its branches. We provided little green ink pads and our guests printed their fingerprints and wrote their names, which is a great reminder of who was there on our day. For favours, we gave guests fabric heart Christmas tree decorations as it was so close to the holidays.
Looking back on our day we are so happy that we did something different and that we made an effort with all the little details. Our wedding was unique and definitely reflected bits of our personalities.
Monique and Kevin’s friends and family were such an instrumental part of making their day awesome, and they wanted to give those involved with set-up a special shout out. So, a big thank you from them to: Jeanne, Jeannine, Chantell, Adam, Michelle, Jason, Andrew, Lyndal, Irene, Kristi, Marisja, Adam, Kirsten & Bren, Mike & Karen, Reinhardt & Fiona, Jono & Tarryn, Graham & Allison.
And a big thank you from us to Monique and Kevin, and to Rebecca, for sharing this wonderful day with us! You can see even more of the pictures on Rebecca’s blog.
