SOOOO excited to share today’s (bumper!) post with you – it feels like it has been in the pipeline since forever! Of course, that’s because today we’re sharing the wedding of Cheryl McEwan, our friend and colleague, SBB sponsor, and of course, Real Life Bride. Together we’ve followed Cheryl on her planning journey, from inspiration to reality. And wow. That reality is so much more gorgeous than I could even have imagined. Not just because it’s photographed by the legend that is Nastassja Harvey (although it helps). As a photographer, Cheryl has an amazing eye for detail, and putting that together with her wedding experience, she created a masterclass in shabby chic/country vintage styling that must have been a pleasure to shoot and attend. She’s also collaborated with her friends in the industry – Doodles Laser in particular – to add sweet new twists to the ideas that inspired her (read her Real Life Bride archive to see how these evolved). The result is an incredible wedding, blessed with rainbows (literally) and laughter – here’s wishing Cheryl and Sven many blessings in the next chapter of their lives together.Read More
You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream! Colour schemes, that is (ice cream scheme? try saying that after a couple of martinis). I’ve been hearing a lot recently about ice cream colours, and I absolutely love the idea of combining soft pastels for a colourful but gentle palette. Today’s bride is totally bringing it, and shows you exactly how this look is done in a way that is classy and elegant, as befits her beautiful wine farm venue (Zorgvliet). Mismatched bridesmaids dresses? She’s managed to find six that couldn’t look better together, except that she also matched them up with adorable shoes. Stunning florals in peach, lilac, violet, coral, cream. Supercute stationery. A beautiful cake. And sweet little touches like candy-striped pink toffee favours, and burlap texturing on the place settings. It is SERIOUSLY pretty, and I can’t wait to share it! So here we go… (Psst! This wedding also sees a welcome return to SBB for talented documentary photographers, Love Made Visible. Always awesome to have you guys here!)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.
This week’s board is inspired by the gorgeous Miss Dior Cherie advert (top left) – with its pretty pastels and Parisian backdrop it makes the perfect starting point for a chic and whimsical wedding. Balloons are also bang on trend, with many couples already inspired by the movie Up! Finish the look with dashes of cerise, pale pink and aqua – and don’t forget the macaroons!
