Hello lovelies! Today we’re heading just a little bit north of the border, for the first SBB wedding from Namibia. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been fascinated by the Namib desert, and would love to visit one day! So I couldn’t resist this lovely wedding of a Swedish bride and Namibian groom, with its sweet rustic detailing in the middle of a desert setting. It reminds me of the pictures we have of my great grandfather having picnics with his tennis club in the bush – they’d trek out with blankets and chairs and a gramophone, and it was all very civilised! With so much natural beauty in our country and those of our neighbours, I’m a particular fan of weddings that take advantage of these incredible views, and you don’t need to compromise on the classically pretty wedding you’ve always dreamed of to do it. Photographer Drikus Le Roux was there with Karolina and Arno to capture the beauty both inside and out of the marquee. Oh, and PS, don’t skip the text – this is the cutest ‘how we met’ story!Read More
Hello lovelies! We have a cute little wedding coming up soon, but first, here’s our weekly roundup. Actually, this post was going to be about a whole other cake trend, but when I asked myself what sort of cake I could see South African brides really going for in the next year, one answer immediately sprang to mind: lace. I mean, we love lace, right? Especially all you Cape Country Vintage brides. It’s a beautiful texture to add to a cake without having to go too bold – in fact it’s the perfect way to amp up a classic white cake. Not that you can’t do something more colourful, as you’ll see below – the base cake or the lace itself can be any number of colours. I think my absolute favourite look is the blush/nude cake with a white lace overlay, since it reminds me of the illusion/portrait back trend we’re seeing in dresses so much at the moment – so gorgeous! I’ve gathered up my Top 20 lace cakes – which is your favourite?Read More
I ♥ Durban. I’m just saying. I’m not from there, but I’ve always felt like I kiiinda am, and not just because I say hull-ton and not hill-ton. When I was little, my grandparents lived in Umdloti, and so from then right up until university I spent large chunks of my summer holidays there. Oh, and then my parents moved there, so it’s where I fly home to. Anyway, what it adds up to is a huge soft spot for the Durbs. And what all you Cape Town and Joburg people may not have cottoned onto yet, is that the cool quotient of Durban has been on the rise. Not just a surf town, my friends. I am seriously seeing some of the most gorgeous weddings and suppliers coming out of KZN, and I am especially loving the sort of handmade hipster take on South African style showcased by dapper brides and grooms like Debra and Mike, today’s happy couple. Think: fresh proteas mixed with carved ones, bunting in the church, fairy lights in a restaurant courtyard, balloons and photos in MINI TOWN. In case the caps didn’t alert you, I am especially excited about that last part. Mini towns are the best thing, ever. (Can you get married in one? If you can, I might have to.) Anyway, I can’t imagine a better couple to capture this amount of awesome better than Dylan and Emma-Jane of Lad and Lass Photography (formerly Hello Harbour), whose work I have been dying to feature for a while. I just love their fun style, and I know you will too. Enjoy!Read More
Time for our second inspiration board of the week, and it’s another in your new favourite colour combo of pink and green. Who can blame you ladies for loving it though – it’s the perfect combination of pretty and calming. For this board, bride-to-be Lana asked for inspiration for her game farm wedding – she wanted it country, romantic, vintage and South African. This is such a classic look, and I’ve tried to add some chic homegrown touches to the basic country vintage palette. For example, pretty tin cups with a sophisticated silhouette, a hand-drawn invitation, Skinny La Minx fabric napkins, and of course proteas. For the vintage touch, I love these crocheted cap sleeves and lace chair covers, soft pink bridesmaids dresses and roses. Add in some mismatched containers with pink and green flowers and succulents on the tables to add a country green touch, and you have the prettiest of South African weddings! Hope you like your board Lana – and thanks for your patience!
Sjoe. I have been getting more reader requests for inspiration boards than I can keep up with, but I absolutely love hearing from you and will get to as many as I can, so please do be patient! Our second board for the week is for Kelsey, who is planning a summer wedding at the college she and her fiance attended. I’ve seen quite a few college weddings on US blogs, and I think it’s a lovely place for a wedding – something I sort of wish we did in SA. Mind you, I don’t think you could pay me enough money to get married at the ugly shoebox that was the Stellenbosch arts building! Anyway, I digress. Kelsey dreams of a wedding that’s delicate, simple and romantic, and wanted to include both lace (because of the pretty vintage factor) and stones, because her fiance proposed while they were skipping rocks on the Boise River. How adorable is that? I love this sort of personal touch, and luckily I have come up with some really cute ideas. Kelsey’s palette is absolutely dreamy, and incredibly contemporary – light blue and light grey are such an of-the-moment colour combo. LOVE. I’m envisioning a classic wedding with some pretty but not too fussy touches. I adore the idea of a blue or grey wedding dress, but bridesmaids in these shades are just as wonderful, and I’d recommend bringing in quite a bit of sheer fabric if possible (also a big trend for 2013). The lace motif comes in through a lacy wrap for the bride, pretty lacy stationery (I wouldn’t use too much actual lace on the tables, to keep it unfussy), a lace decoration on the cake and even a lace backdrop for the photobooth. Flowers are mostly white, as is the rest of the table decor I’m picturing. (If Kelsey would like to keep it simpler, she could scale down that table decor.) For a vintage touch, I’d include simple details like ‘something blue’ embroidery, piles of ‘love letters’ tied together with ribbon (a new take on the book table decor trend), and how adorable are these crochet covered stones? The stone motif was the most fun to include – I absolutely heart the runner, because it reminds me a little of a riverbed (so appropriate here) but other ways to bring them in are though giving your guests wishing stones to hold during the ceremony, or stones to write on as a guest book alternative, stones inside hurricane jars with candles on the table, or even stones covered in clay with names stamped in as place cards (although not all at once please!). The end result is so pretty and romantic, don’t you think? Hope you agree Kelsey – good luck with the rest of your planning!
Good morning, lovelies! Today, we’re transported to the forests of Tsitsikamma for a really lovely, heartfelt wedding. I wish I could have shared Sharné and Ryan’s whole questionnaire, because there were SO many details and special moments and thought put into everything, and the way they write about each other and their day is just so beautiful. It’s clear that it was not just the party of a lifetime (no surprise, with Sharné in PR!) but a day that they’d poured their heart and soul into. Everything, from their vows to Ryan’s amazing speech, to the videos they prepared for the reception, was meaningful, and that created an atmosphere of love for all their guests. Sharné summed it up best when I asked her favourite thing about the day: “I loved the way I felt in my heart… I was genuinely happy and felt so much love! I was so calm and confident with the man I have chosen. I was so ready for this! And this is what made me get goosebumps the entire day!” Ah! These two are just so adorable, and I’m so excited to share their gorgeous pics, courtesy of PE photographer Niki M.Read More
Whenever people ask me how I choose which weddings to feature, I end up talking about the Ooh Moment. The detail or idea or photograph that makes me go “ooh”. Literally. If you sat next to me while I was looking at it, you would hear that I actually say “ooh”. There were quite a few oohs in today’s beautiful wedding from photographer Heather Steyn (Hello! Bride and bridesmaids hairstyles! And dresses! Wildflowers! Wreaths!) but the biggest one came when I realised that each table had its own little decor theme. Each cleverly thought out (and super pretty) and each meaningful to the bride and groom. It’s like awesome table decor using found objects, times multiple. Or like a little art installation. It’s completely adorable, and it turns an already lovely wedding into a veritable ooh-fest. And that’s not all, because this sweet couple, who have careers as Afrikaans teachers in common, also share another commonality – that their fathers are both ministers. So who’s to perform the ceremony? Well, both of them! How cute is that? Very, that’s how. Now go forth, and ooh.Read More
Okay, I have to tell you, I’m in love with this board. Which is a surprise, because turquoise and chocolate hasn’t always been a favourite combination of mine. I think it’s because I’ve seen it done tacky too many times, but when bride Klarissa wrote to tell me about her wedding, I knew this girl had style. After all, she chose an awesome venue – Searle’s Trading Post in Greyton. It’s super quirky and rustic and fabulous, and Klarissa knew well enough to work with its eclectic feel and just accent it with her colours. I adore the idea of a trading post ‘theme’ – a mix of found objects and rustic textures like wood and burlap. I started thinking about the sort of things you might have found at a trading post (or at least ones you might have found at my fantasy imaginary one!). How about pretty birds eggs in nests, for example? (Love these for place holders, or as part of the table decor, and they’re a fun DIY.) Old tins full of flowers. Mason jars, old door knobs, suitcases. I stumbled across this image of a poshokkie (what is the English for that, anyway?) with brown paper packages wrapped up in string – wouldn’t this make an ADORABLE escort card display? I also loved the idea of string decorations (this SBB couple did this brilliantly) and a statement turquoise necklace for the bride. It’s kind of a case of ‘anything goes’, but natural textures are the key to making it work – fortunately in a venue like this one, Klarissa will have no shortage of them. Thanks for waiting patiently, Klarissa – hope you like your board as much as I enjoyed creating it!
Quite early on, we decided not to have a ‘strict’ colour scheme… quite simply, because we thought it would too difficult to co-ordinate exact colour match swatches from 10 000 miles away! (We were right.) So our colour palette ended up being pretty broad, and was inspired by the earthy tones of our venue, and the pastel shades of the Joules Hedy bridesmaids’ dresses I’d bought on a whim in the January sales. To tie the girls’ look in with groomsmen and the rest of the wedding party (dads, moms, grans and aunties) I crafted a set of fabric corsages, using Liberty print fabric, vintage pins and various buttons, which formed the base for the fresh lavender and rosemary sprigs we added on the day.Read More
You know, sometimes people in South Africa ask me why I bother living in London. The weather’s the first thing they comment on. The crowds of people. Living on top of one another. Long commutes. Everything being incredibly expensive. All true. But I think unless you’ve lived here, it’s hard to understand the quirky charm of this city, or the way that, being so big, it allows everyone to find their place and be exactly who they want to be. The unique way Londoners pull together in a crisis. The thrill of a sunny afternoon by the river. It’s very close to my heart and is also a special part of being South African for so many of my generation – at one point you couldn’t walk down a street in SW London without hearing a Saffa accent. And, of course, with the Olympics just gone and the Paralympics about to start, there’s no better time to celebrate this city. So it was a little bit of synchronicity when I heard from bride, Katherine (who I’d been lucky enough to meet at an event last year) – I loved the idea of her London theme, but I was really swept off my feet when I saw her beautiful pictures by Garyth Bevan and the incredible floor to ceiling backdrop of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. I can’t believe how it transformed the space – definitely one of my all-time favourite decor pieces! It was a very classy nod to my home city, which is where Katherine & Sam fell in love (and talking about synchronicity, they met at an Olympic-themed party!). In fact, the whole wedding at Steenberg Estate is full of class, with a subtle neutral palette, soft flowers and vintagey details. You’re going to love it. Oh! And if, like me, you’re not quite done celebrating lovely London, pop back this afternoon where I’ll be showcasing a London bridal shower theme…Read More
