Favours. They’re kind of a pain, aren’t they? You want to give your guests a little something special, that reflects the design of your wedding, makes them feel special and appreciated, but doesn’t cost the earth. So you spend months making pots of jam following your grandmother’s recipe, and adding pretty lids and labels. Come the end of the night, half your guests have left them behind. So.Annoying. For that reason, I’ve become a big fan of favours guests can enjoy at the wedding itself or immediately afterwards, and today I have SUCH a cute one to share with you! I’ve seen temporary tattoo favours popping up in a few weddings over the last year, and I absolutely love them. Advantage one: they add something really fun and irreverent to proceedings, because they’re unexpected in a wedding context. Advantage two: they make for awesome photographs. Advantage three: they’re relatively inexpensive, and you don’t have to worry about your guests leaving them behind.Read More
In our Reader Survey (if you haven’t completed this yet, you still can right here) one piece of feedback that has been coming through is that you’d like to know more about wedding pros. So I’m delighted to introduce you to Stephanie Veldman, a Cape Town-based photographer. Her photographs really caught my eye from the first time I saw them – they seem to have a special kind of radiance, which is of course exactly what you’re looking for on your wedding day. I wanted to find out more about her, so I asked Stephanie to answer a few questions for you all.
To finish off your Friday, I’m trying something new here on SBB. I’m lucky enough to have some wonderful sponsors on the site, who make it possible for me to bring you beautiful inspiration on a daily basis. Many are talented photographers, and while we regularly feature their real weddings, I thought it would be nice to showcase their work on a monthly basis, so you can get a glimpse of their different styles. They’re all taking bookings right now, so if you like what you see, be sure to get in touch! We’re starting off, as any wedding day does, with images of the bride getting ready. My mom reminded me the other day of a wedding that happened in our street in Johannesburg when I was a very little girl, and not only do I clearly remember the awe that my best friend and I had for the bride in her white dress and veil, but I remember the photographer posing her looking into her mirror, and when I saw that picture I thought it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Photography trends and techniques have changed as those years have gone by, but the images taken as you share special moments with your mom and bridesmaids, the nerves and anticipation, the sense of expectation as you finally put on The Dress (not to mention your immaculate hair and makeup), are going to be some of your most treasured. So without further ado, give it up for the talented SBB photographers!
Woo, it’s Friday! What will you all be doing this weekend? Before that gets started, here’s a little something special for you. You may already know how much Cap Classique luurves Monica Dart, not only because she shoots beautiful weddings, but because she managed to make me look half decent in our photoshoot a couple of months ago. What you may not know about Moni is that she also shoots shut-the-front-door-beautiful boudoir pictures. Now I know what you’re thinking: ugh, boudoir. Rudey dudey pictures of you in your nuddies trying to look like a model from your husband’s FHM collection. Or maybe you’re thinking: “maybe, if I were thinner”. Because when you’re going to be wearing undies in front of a camera, you can never be skinny enough, right girls? Wrong. See, here’s what I have discovered about boudoir in the last couple of years, since it’s become a bit of a trend here in wedding world. One, you may give it as a gift to your husband-to-be, but really, it’s something you need to do for YOU. It’s not only a lovely experience to be dolled up and pampered, and a liberating one to be part-clothed in front of a photographer, but what it really is is an acknowledgment to yourself that even with your lumps and bumps, you deserve to be turned into a piece of art. And art is exactly what a photographer like Monica produces – yes, you’ll be frozen in time looking hawt, but this kind of shoot is as much about what you don’t see as what you do, and it’s class all the way. As with an engagement shoot, you’ll want to think about styling and making it a reflection of who you are, and then just having fun with it. The ladies I know who have been there have all said that it made them feel incredible, and really accept themselves and their bodies in a way they hadn’t before. Sounds bloody fantastic, I’d say. Sign me up, Moni!
PS And yes, your eyes do not deceive you. Below you’ll find boudoir shot on an empty South African Airways aeroplane. How. Awesome. Is. That?!?
I’m continuing our series of Q&A today with an interview with the photographer of yesterday’s lovely wedding, Cheryl McEwan. I know from experience that Cheryl’s an absolute sweetheart as well as a fantastic photographer (she took all the pics at the hen party I organised last year) and I’m so excited that she’s joined the other amazing photographers lighting up the industry in Cape Town. I’m also SUPER excited to announce that she’ll soon be starting her own series of guest blogs here on Cap Classique, as our newest real life bride! So look out for that in the next few months. In the meantime, here’s a chance to get to know Cheryl just a little better.
Hi Cheryl – thanks for answering my questions today! How did you get started as a photographer? Hi Gaby, I’m so excited to be interviewed on Cap Classique! Thank you :) My love of photography started whilst I was living in the UK, and was lucky enough to travel extensively around Europe. Along with my passion for travel I wanted to be able to capture the essence of these amazing places as well as the cultures of the people that I was seeing and meeting. Ultimately I turned my focus to weddings and was lucky enough to second shoot on a number of UK weddings, which led to me going solo and shooting my first wedding in London.
How would you define your style?
I have a reportage type of style – I aim to ‘capture the moment’ as the day unfolds and most importantly I aim to tell a story through my photos.
Which part of a wedding do you like shooting the most? My favorite part of the wedding has to be the couple shoot, where it’s me and my camera capturing the special love between the newlyweds, and generally just having loads of fun with the two of them – capturing their reactions amongst lots of laughing! I like to form a good relationship with my clients, getting them to relax and enjoy the shoot.
Do you have any favourite photographers or major influences? South Africa has an abundance of fabulous photographers, however there are a few whose work I really admire and whose work constantly inspires me, namely a few of these photographers would be Nastassja Harvey, Nikki Meyer, Wesley Vorster & Lizelle Lotter. These guys have been so supportive and fantastic I can’t thank them enough!
