Katie and Elton James love story began at a wedding so it’s no surprise that their own big day was an incredible celebration that they shared with family, friends and the scenic Ca
Katie: We met in January 2014 at my cousins wedding in Johannesburg. Elton took me out on our first date the day after the wedding and I flew back to Sydney (where I was living at the time) the day after that. We both knew this was something very special and spent the next 8 and ½ months having a long distance relationship with Elton visiting me twice in that time. By his second visit it was decided that I would leave Sydney and move to Cape Town. I arrived in Cape Town in October that year.
It was on a Sunday and we had been discussing where to go that day and we ended up driving to Cape Point. Elton proposed on a beautiful deserted beach and I wasn’t expecting it at all so I was in a lot of shock!
Katie: I knew that I didn’t want to have a long engagement and wanted to be married over summer time at a wine farm. So I started with the usual Pinterest boards, checking out lots of websites and blogs including SA Weddings for inspiration. I then got in touch with the lovely team at Evention to be my planners. The process was fairly relaxed as they took everything I liked and wanted and made it happen.
We wanted a chilled and relaxed vibe for our wedding. So took a lot of inspiration from country style weddings that I found on blogs and Pinterest. We also discussed what we liked about other weddings we had been to and drew ideas from.
Katie: The most memorable part was walking down the aisle and seeing all our family and friends. My UK friends were crying by the time I entered so that made me laugh and kept me calm! There were two very special moments, the first being my Dad seeing me all ready in my dress and having that special moment with him. The second was being introduced as Mr & Mrs James!
Elton: Seeing my wife-to-be enter the chapel and exiting as husband and wife, with all our friends and family welcoming us. That was a great feeling.
Katie: As mentioned we wanted a very chilled, rustic/country style vibe, which I think lent itself really well to the wine farm.
Katie: As I’m sure every bride has discovered, you go to try on dresses and the one you thought would look amazing sometimes doesn’t suit you at all! This is exactly what happened to me! I then tried on princess/ball gown dresses and I fell in love with them. If you can’t be a princess on your wedding day, when can you?! I went to Elbeth Gillis and after trying on dresses with her, she designed one for me and incorporated everything I liked and it was perfect. I also knew having a girly princess- like dress would surprise a lot of people and I loved that!
I wanted grey for my bridesmaids. I found a style I liked that would suit them all and had them made by Taryn Alcock. Although we had a slight issue in that one of my bridesmaids was in the UK, another in Australia and the other in Cape Town and pregnant! The first fitting was the week of the wedding! But Taryn was great and able to accommodate that and finished the dresses 2 days before the wedding!
Katie: In keeping with the theme I knew I wanted lots of roses and greenery, as they look so beautiful together. I trawled Pinterest and Instagram for inspiration on what I wanted.
Katie: We decided only a week or two before for it to be Adele ‘Feel My Love’. I wanted to pay homage to me being a Brit and I also love Adele. This song is so beautiful with very special words.
Katie: Having all our family and friends there to share it with us. It was amazing to have my UK family and friends down for it. It just went by so fast! Elton: The whole day was special. It was a relatively small wedding in terms of numbers, so we got to interact with everyone there which was great.
Katie: For the brides, it will all be fine on the day! There were times when I was starting to freak out about certain things, but it all comes together and it will be the most special day. The grooms have it very easy! Also, take time together after the ceremony and before the reception to take it all in.
Elton: The sessions we had with our marriage officer/counselor were great fun and ‘forced’ discussion about the wedding, etc. It wasn’t something I thought I would enjoy or want to do, but the sessions helped to ease the nerves/anxiety about the big day.
Yes we went to Zanzibar and it was the most beautiful place to spend time together after all the craziness of the wedding build up.
Elbeth Gillis's name has become synonymous with the exquisite bridal gowns she creates for her discerning client base; establishing herself as a well respected designer for the...
We believe that a well coordinated wedding should take the stress away from you and allow you to be a guest at your own big day. With full coordination we will conceptualise an...
