Oh this is easy... a definite highlight for us was walking for the first time as Mr and Mrs Coppin into a MAGICAL creation at our venue. This was on the Boschendal winefarm just outside Stellenbosch, in the Cape Winelands. The Olive Bistro was transformed into a Spring Festival with POP of COLOUR everywhere. We imagined a HAPPY day full of 'surprise elements' as Trav and I both like to think that we are a little bit out of the ordinary ... so we were blown away as we got JUST that. Bright cherise pink and chartrouse yellow were the prominent colours. These colours could be seen in colour- blocking of our flower installations hanging from the roof in various shapes. There were green broccoli towers and orange clementine glass bowls and even a collection of lampshades hanging above our dancefloor... boy-oh-boy did our MAGNIFICENT team of suppliers create JUST what Travis and I imagined. My exact brief to my wedding planner, Elizabeth at Bonton Events was "Dit moenie soos n troue lyk nie!" :) So that was exactly what we got - a SUPER festive, HAPPY celebration together with our AMAZING family and freinds - isn't that what it is all about?
Travis were very mysterious and planned the honeymoon all by himself. A week before the wedding him i forced him to tell me where we were heading as I needed to know whether I need to pack my bomber-jacket or bikini...so I was pleasantly suprised to fly like a real MADAM in business class to the beautiful, Croatia :) . We spent 2 nights in Split, a couple of nights on the island of Hvar and ended our honeymoon in Dubrovnik. This was a helluva lot of fun as I am a sea-and-sun-baby. Croatia has crystal clear water and AMAZING food, so after all the wedding stress were over it was just FABULOUS to stuff our faces with Mediterranean food & wine and to clliff jump mid-way through lunch into the peaceful blue sea.
I am more of a SHOE-girl so I was lucky to wear a pair of Jimmy Choo's we bought at Harrrods in London earlier last year. Dress wise, I did not really have a picture of a dress in my head and kind of just went with the motions- I just knew that i wanted something plain and no lace. I then chose the Alma dress off the rail at Robyn Roberts Bridal Studio and Robyn and I played around to custom the dress for me. This was actually super fun as I am NOT a formal long-dress girl. Nevertheless, I felt like a princess on my wedding day. The feature of the dress was the beaded shoulders and dramatic cowl neck at the back. I also changed into my 'party dress' later the evening. This was made by the talented bespoke bridal designer, Charlotte Francina. Charlotte even made my pink espedrilles I wore with my second dress...I mean -have you ever! My veil is from Pronovias that my mom in law and I bought on holiday in Spain last year.
Make up: Algriax
Hair: Jeanette Genis
Dress 1: Robyn Roberts Bridal
Dress 2: Charlotte Francina
Shoes: Jimmy Choo
Veil: Pronovias
Lingerie: ...mmm
Jewellery: Swarovski and a beautiful Ruby & diamond bracelet I borrowed from my Lebanese mother in law's late gran.
The wedding ceremony was at Stellenbosch Moederkerk, wherafter we left to The Olive Bistro on Boschendal Winefarm. We booked most of the estate to make sure we could dance till the early hours of the morning with our guests. Did I mention that it was 3 degrees that night...brrrr
I am quite an avid cyclist so I would like to say I am relatively healthy and in shape so no major fitness regimes were followed. I did however whiten my teeth at the Cosmetic and Dental Emporium in the V&A Waterfront. My bridesmaid Zena Wood, treated me to a spa session at the Hydro in Stellenbosch too.
We opted for a happy, 'spring feeling' at the venue as we got married at the start of September. We had a pop of colour everywhere with colour-blocking in our floral installations that hung from the roof. We used bright pink and yellow as main colours with an organic look and feel. One could even spot a bit of 'delft' design on the menu's and table seating. We wanted something different with a lot of suprise elements.
The team:
Photographer: Jenni Elizabeth
Videographer: FJS
Coordination: BonTon Event Specialists
Coffee: Seattle Coffee
Music & entertainment: DJ Chopper (SA)
Tent: Downings Marquee Hiring
Lampshade installation: Okasie Flowers
Furniture & Flowers: Okasie Flowers
Decor: Okasie Flowers
Lighting: Something Different Concepts and Shows
Staff: Urban tonic
Stationery: Lara's Designs
Hangover Kits: Lara's Designs
Venue: Boschendal Winefarm, The Olive Bistro
Wedding cake by bride’s sister: Christa Blanckenberg
Wedding Favour: We gave our guests a slab of fudge from the YUMMY Basilei trailer :)
Travis and his groomsmen wore suits and shoes from Country Road & Trenery.
They had their hair cut and styled by the talented Byron from Widow maker. You can find him at Scar in Bree street, Cape Town when he is not galavanting around at weddings.
Sune Snyman Design made the bridesmaid's dresses.
She is just so easy-going and just fantastic as she had to make their dresses while they were in New York and Jozi irrespectively. Sune is located just off Kloof street in Cape Town.
We had two.
Father Paul and Ds Johan van der Merwe.
The award-winning Jennie Elizabeth captured our special day for us.
FJS was our Videographer... I cannot WAIT to watch this as their work is truely magical!
Elizabeth from BonTon events was THE BOSS and main wedding coordinator. Meagan Oosthuizen helped out on the day of the wedding and is a total GEM- give her ANYTHING to do and she makes it happen...and snappy!
I cannot give enough praise to Eilzabeth - it takes a super special person to put a wedding together for 269 guests, serving each one of them a hot plate of food at the same time. I mean... have you ever.
Travis is typical boy and loves cars. Did I mention that he LOVES cars!!! He arranged our wedding car and we were spoiled to have a classic Bentley as our wedding car to drive to the church and back to the venue.
The food was out of this world!! We had a harvest table as well as canape's during pre-drinks where we served bubbles, G&T and of course Whiskey (for the bride). We then had an option of two mains where we served wine and more bubbles for toasts. The rest of the night was open bar as we wanted a JOL with our friends and family and danced the night away...
The wedding cake was made by my super talented sister, Christa who lives in London. She arrived a week before the wedding and slaved away for 3 days to create me this masterpiece that had ALL of my favourite flavours together. What a LEGEND.
It was a three tier cake,
tier 1 being Salted Caramel and cookie dough,
tier 2: Carrot cake and
tier 3: Cheese cake witha butter cream filling... HEAVEN!
She can be hired by the Queen of England, just saying!
Sationary and Hangover kits were designed and made by Lara Friday Designs.
The one and only DJ Chopper kept everyone on the dancefloor till 2am. It was an absolute VIBE. DJ Chopper's company, The Chop Shop also arranged our live entertainment during pre-drinks.
