A cake is an experience. From the whisking and mixing of the ingredients to its delicate artistic finishing it is a feast for the every sense. A cake is a birthday with re-lightable candles, a celebration, a gathering, a gesture of love. It’s happiness on a sunny day, sprinkling breadcrumbs in the garden for the birds and eagerly waiting for your mum to call your name to lick the spatula. It’s running through excitedly and devouring every last bit of the raw cake batter goodness, sometimes wondering why it ought to be baked at all. It’s that distinct, warm scent of deliciousness that makes you hold your hands over your face whilst you stare longingly into the oven, barely waiting for your creations to achieve the much anticipated golden brown colouring. It’s wearing pearls in the kitchen pretending to be Julia Child. Indeed, a cake is a memory, and so being, is a wedding decision deserving of some thought.
In the movie Father of the Bride, wedding planner Franck suggests that one begin the planning process by thinking of the cake, as the cake will determine the wedding that one ends up having. The cake suggests colour, formality, tone, and in line with Franck’s advice, choosing the cake was actually the very first wedding planning decision that I remember making… A 2005 decision to be exact! :) Flipping through a magazine, I had seen it, torn it out and kept it. A decision easily made, and a cake I just can’t wait to see!
Recently, however, it is actually this, the Father of the Bride movie cake, that I have found myself staring at bizarrely often. The rich butter coloured cake seems to almost twinkle with the magic, warmth and comfort of the Disney classic and seems to say ‘wedding’ with an inspired confidence.
From the moment the ring is slipped onto your finger and your betrothal gleefully announced, a couple is advised to quickly find and secure two things that can become booked up over a year and a half in advance – the venue and the photographer. Indeed, not only are these some of the first tasks in the wedding planning process, but also some of the most important.
Being a tad wedding crazy (as mentioned in prior posts), I had already spent endless hours looking for venues online and had seen many a beautiful property, but nothing ‘us’. Staring at my computer screen, nothing had made me shout “THAT’S IT!” at an audibility common only to those of us with farm upbringings, or childhood operatic aspirations. Well… that’s not entirely true. We had found the perfect place months before the engagement. A place that would have effortlessly pulled off the theme in question and that we both loved. But it had only been able to seat 80 guests, which despite my initial fairly deep denial, I soon came to realise simply wasn’t realistic for us.
And so with the realisation that our wedding was only a year away, the euphoric “it’s my birthday everyday” engagement feelings began to be replaced by a rather palpable anxiety felt right in the centrepoint of my chest. Waste time and lose the perfect venue. We had to find a venue!Read More
I think it’s a gut thing. Or an equilibrium thing. Or something to do with getting that sense of peace and calm and ‘wow, I can imagine it this way’ feeling. That’s how I knew that the church was ‘the one’, that’s how I chose my dress, it’s how I chose my cake, and it’s how I have been trying to choose all the many things in between. And so when we started thinking about themes and places that have inspired us, it didn’t take us long to decide.
Versailles. Paris. Does one really need reason to be inspired by such things? I had heard of the beauty and magic of France and was proud of my French heritage, but it wasn’t until I’d climbed up from the metro and experienced it, that I really knew. And I say experienced because it wasn’t just a storybook-like beauty that greeted me, but an air of something, a feeling, a magic – you couldn’t get this from pictures. “Every man has two countries – his own and France”, and we felt just that as we stood looking over the Seine with perfect snowflakes falling ever so gently, or when we went back in the spring and sat around a fountain in the Jardin des Tuileries eating our breakfast baguettes. Paris swept us off our feet, filling our minds with possibilities and creative aspirations. A day trip to Versailles made the word ‘wow’ seem completely overused, but it was on a return trip to Marie Antoinette’s Petite Trianon and Hamlet where we really found the four-year-old-in-Disneyland, ‘I can’t quite believe this is real’ type of happiness. And so that was it. Marie Antoinette had seemed to love beautiful things – dresses, cakes, shoes, opera – interests which she’d famously indulged, but she’d also loved nature, and the sanctuary of her Hamlet. And these are the elements we would like to bring into our wedding. There will be no palace or attempts at creating one, but perhaps the finer things might be brought through in the details. Marie Antoinette enjoying tea in her garden perhaps. Royal, but familiar.
When I picture our wedding I picture one of three things. The first is the ceremony, walking down the aisle with my dad, and seeing Justin waiting for me at the altar; another is an aerial view of myself, arms out and spinning slowly, taking all the prettiness in, taking in the magnitude of the day, trying to store it all in memory, and trying my very best not to let it pass too quickly. The third is more of a feeling that accompanies the image of myself staring at our finishing reception through a window, feeling excited, happy, content. Feeling that everyone knows how much we love them, everyone knows how incredibly special they are, people are happy, and that it was a good day.
That’s right, you guys! It’s time for a brand new real life bride series, and I am SO excited! I was so totally overwhelmed by the response to my call for a new RLB a few weeks back – not just by the number of submissions, but by your enthusiasm and willingness to share your ideas and stories with me. It was truly heartwarming, and a reminder of how privileged I am to do what I do. In the end, I couldn’t bear to choose just one, so today I am thrilled to announce that you’ll be meeting not just one but THREE new Real Life Brides, who will be taking you on their wedding planning journeys! The posts will be staggered to accommodate the different wedding dates, so you’ll meet brides 2 & 3 later, but today I get to introduce you to the very lovely Candice, our Marie Antoinette bride! Candice charmed me with her introduction email (excerpt: “I love Downton Abbey and avoid the sun in an attempt to acquire skin as pale as lady Mary’s… I think that the time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time and that eating and sleeping are two perfectly respectable ways of spending one’s time. And if I could, I would wear a wedding dress every day for the rest of my life.”) She has her eye on Versailles for inspiration, and she’ll be telling you all about it in the coming weeks. For now, a huge WELCOME to Candice – don’t forget to show her some love in the comments! :)
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
Yaaaaay! We’re back with Part 2 of the Swan Wedding reveal!! So exciting!
A get-away car was not something I ever really thought much of, but when my mom sent me a photo of this beautiful old cream Citroen, Dirk’s and my hearts were completely set on it. What I didn’t know, was that my awesome brother and his wonderful girlfriend created special bunting (which matched the rest of our wedding perfectly) as a surprise pressie for us. Awesome, right!?! Aw, they even added a Just Married Emergency Kit filled with some munchies and Red Bull so that we could regain our energy for the ‘Groot Partytjie’ (for our English-speaking readers this means “big party” – while being engaged Dirk and I never spoke of ‘Our Wedding’ but always called it ‘Our Big Party’) which was to follow!
In terms of decor, we brought in more neutral tones in the reception area, with gorgeous French linen runners from Domaine du Cap in Paarl and whitewashed crates filled with white flowers. The pops of red, were created by filling brown paper bags with delicious bright cherries. Nom nom! I also made sure the menus and place names added that touch of colourful fun to the dining table, and Dirk’s and my ‘mascot’, a cardboard deer trophy we lovingly call Mumford, took centre stage at the bridal table.
We were dead set on our guests having a brilliant time. For Dirk, that means great music, so together with our ‘third Muskateer’ he spent time compiling the perfect playlist for our Big Party. It meant so much to us hearing all our favourite songs and we got the people dancing to classic hits such as Brother Louis. Even our uncles and aunts were on the dancefloor!
Being traditionalists at heart, we also added all the conventional thrills such as bouquet tossing, garter scrambling and even had activity boards prompting our guest to interact with the speeches by singing the traditional songs such as “Kinders by dosyne” and “Lank sal hul lewe” (basically the Afrikaans versions of “Jolly good fellow”).
A detail which definitely had the guests reaching for more was our cookie buffet. You see, I love a good cookie, so we decided that we would swap desert for a cookie buffet which doubled up as a favour too. I baked dozens of mouth-watering yummies (think, toffee caramel and gingerbread couples!). Annari from Nelle Cakes made the most beautiful hearts and zoo biscuits. Friends and family pitched in, and Delsma added delicious white chocolate wedding cupcakes until we had a table heaving with goodness. My brother hand silkscreened hundreds of cookie bags and Dirk’s sister gave us the wooden Bride and Groom topper as a gift.
I made a conscious effort to take every moment in – I didn’t want the day to fly by as so many people had said it would. And it was funny, the day felt exceptionally long (in a better than good way!) and I can remember so many mind blowing moments in absolute detail: the exchange of the ‘this is it’ with my maid of honour just before walking into the church, Dirk’s face when my dad and I walked down the aisle, the exuberant shower of popcorn once we could say we are now Mr and Mrs, all the hugs and kisses when we welcomed the guests at our pre-drinks area, the applause walking into the reception hall, our first dance as newlyweds…
But when asked what was my absolute favourite moment, I cannot say. If pushed I will say that walking down the aisle was it – tears were streaming down Dirk’s face, the music was overwhelmingly beautiful (a good friend played ‘Comptine d’un Autre ete: l’apres midi’ from the soundtrack of my favourite movie, Amelie, on the piano) and I was so aware of being surrounded by all the people we love and cherish. But even better was the moment I realized just how amazingly loved Dirk and I are: probably 70% of the guests flew all the way from Gauteng to attend our special day, Dirk’s parents drove over 1700km with their car filled to the brim with ‘wedding’ and never complained even once, my parents who enabled everything – they would have moved the earth if we had asked them to! My brother hand silkscreened the cookie bags, played courier, played driver and together with his girlfriend, Marike, make over a 100m of bunting; my aunt probably baked 300 custard cookies (if not more!). I can carry on forever about all the love we felt the weekend of our Swan Wedding – my good friend even flying from London just to be there, Dirk’s aunt who took so much care with the flowers, all the hands that helped set up (you guys rule!) and all the beautiful words of encouragement on the night (and re-felt when opening the mountain of gifts and beautiful cards). It was all pretty overwhelming, but amazing and I know I felt like the luckiest girl alive.
From Dirk, the groom (yes, we finally let him speak!): Funny how the big day just creeps up on you, although you’ve planned for it for such a long time in advance. I will never ever forget the sight of Anelle and her father coming down the aisle. That image is burnt into my memory forever and it’s one of my favourites for sure. Looking so elegant and beautiful, I saw my friend, my love, and my life from now on. I couldn’t be happier. Although I cried (a little bit), our wedding was all about being comfortable and having a blast with all our friends and family. It felt special to sit alongside my ever smiling lawfully wedded wifey, as well as my old and new family at the main table, taking it all in, sharing in the culmination of so much planning and preparation which I experienced first-hand. That, and getting to contribute to what was definitely a fantastic celebration, with all of my friends down in the “Boland” which I now call home, having fun and laughs until the wee hours of the morning. I look at all these pictures and I can honestly say it is EXACTLY how I experienced the whole day and evening. A great day and evening indeed.
Dirk and Anelle: You guys… THANK YOU for sharing your wedding journey with all of us. It’s been a privilege. I couldn’t be happier for you, or wish you more love and joy in your lives together. xx
Service providers:
Venue & catering: Delsma Farm Photography: welovepictures Stationery: Seven Swans Flowers: Anette van Brauershaven Bride’s dress:Lunar Bride’s shoes: Trenery Earrings: Ida Elsje Groom’s suit: Sesto Sento (Willowbridge Mall) Wedding bands: Ivan Bancroft Groom and groomsmen’s rosettes: Hill’s Rosettes contact Sue Eveleigh ([email protected]) Hair: Riana Ehlers Makeup:Iza Loubser Wedding Car: Kontrei Toere Bunting: Me Thinks (Marike Jordaan) Cookies:Nelle Cakes
I once had a boyfriend who woke me up on my birthday with champagne for breakfast, a very generous Harrods voucher, and the promise of a day of shoe shopping. That was pretty exciting. I kind of feel the same today, because I’ve been anticipating this wedding (along with many of you) for so long! Today I can finally reveal in all its splendour the wedding of our real life bride, Anelle Mostert of Seven Swans, who kept us wrapped up in her planning process and inspiration for much of last year without ever giving away too many of her wedding secrets (you can read the full series here). When Anelle and I first came up with the idea of Real Life Bride (Swan Wedding), I had no idea just how much enthusiasm and effort she would put into her posts, or that she would become a dear friend. And you guys, she made THE. most. beautiful. bride. She and her handsome husband, Dirk, look like a pair of rockstars and I am just blown away by all of the amazing details as you’ll see from their pictures. And oh, the pictures. Not only is this one of my favourite weddings ever, not only am I thrilled to bring you the big reveal, but I also get to feature images from the absolutely incredible welovepictures (happy dance!). Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you know Travis and Maike are big news in wedding photography (not just in South Africa) and they have knocked this one for a six. Seriously, I could go on and on, because their collective eye is just BEYOND… and more than that, sheer joy just shines out from their pictures. But I’m pretty sure they must be getting bored of hearing how amazing they are. It’s kind of a given at this point. So I’ll cut through the luvviness and just say wowthesepicsarestunning, and thank you so much Travis and Maike! Ok, here we go. (The post is in two parts with a FULL breakdown by Anelle, based loosely around the categories of her previous posts) so make sure to check back after lunch for LOTS more!
