The whole wedding was memorable from the getting ready to dancing the night away with all my favourite people but the highlight was definitely getting to marry my best friend!
Due to the bride being a teacher and it is currently in the middle of term 2, we were not able to go on a proper honeymoon but we went on a minimoon to Worsley and stayed on a beautiful Citrus farm in an accommodation called ' Orchard Stay".
We are planning an eastern European honeymoon for 2024 to explore the old towns and learn about their amazing histories.
I was privilege enough to work with the amazing Stephen van Eeden (stephenvaneeden.co.za) on my wedding dress and he really went above and beyond my wildest dreams. I gave him an overall feeling and shape I wanted to achieve and he delivered and masterpiece, we wanted a timeless, elegant look featuring pearl detailing and shear aspects to create a feminine look. He is so delightful to work with, I couldn't recommend him enough!
To mirror the dress and its elegant feel we went similar with the hair and make up. We used Angelique from Blush Babes for hair and make up and they helped create a beautiful and calm morning environment and every look they did that morning was flawless. I wanted a natural make up style to not overpower the dress and accessories.
I have always said I needed fun shoes for my wedding and they were not very visible so I went with a diamante studded, rose gold shoe from Steve Madden, OBSESSED.
For my something old I was given my Grandmothers pearl earrings to wear for the evening and they were so old that they were clip earrings that were now off-white due to their age.
We had a wonderful weekend stay at Au d' Hex estate, Our families and wedding party arrived on the Friday afternoon where we had organised a pizza and wine evening to kick off the celebration. Jacques from Taste Ateljee prepared a variety of wonderful pizzas and Au d' Hex took cared of set up and break down of this little pre wedding event.
The night of the wedding the same wedding party and family stayed the night and the rest of our guests stayed within the area.
Au d’ Hex Estate adds to the charming beauty of one of South Africa's undiscovered gems, Wellington.
We worked with Denicke from The Grant Botanist and was it just the most magical experience. She is such a wonderful person and creative. She used our love for Autumn to create a Autumn wonderland filled with rustic branch installations and autumn leaf covered floors.
The bridal bouquet had pieces imported in, like the most beautiful leopard orchid which blew me away. She even added in a bee signet ring to remember the day by for the bride. Her attention to detail in next to none and I would work with her again in a heart beat.
To add to our autumn theme we worked with Baie Geoters who added the furniture and lighting to match our aesthetic, the weather caused chaos and a lot of it was not used but all in all a very pleasant experience with them with lots of options and beautiful service.
We had to make sure the groom and groomsmen look better than they ever have. Justin is very particular when it comes to what he wears and the wedding was nothing different. Having gone from fabric store to fabric store to find the correct material he was on a mission to make sure the boys look great. After that, got it tailored at the Tux tailor. He was on a mission to have the autumn hues theme come out and that everything fitted perfectly.
We sourced the material for our bridesmaids in Woodstock and the idea was that we wanted all our looks to tie together is some way and a great way to do that was to get the bridesmaids in a similar colour to the groom and match the groomsmen to the bride. They all got different styles to match their body types and make sure they all felt comfortable on the day!
No one got their dresses made at the same place as they all live in different areas but again Stephen van Eeden made my maid of honours dress and it was spectacular.
Willie was a lovely addition to our day, he read the room in terms of the wild wind being unpleasant and adjusted his proceedings so that the guests weren't out in the elements too long. He also gave a beautiful speech about romantic love which the bride and groom will hold onto forever!
All in all, a very wonderful marriage officer that adds immense value to your day and gives beautiful life advise!
We used the lovely Pyper and Markus from Boland Photography. They have been so involved in the build up to the wedding with engagement shoots and sending possible ideas for the day of the wedding. They make you feel so comfortable and natural that cause the photos to be exceptional. Not to mention they are really quick to release your preview photos and the quality is unmatched!
I would use them again for any event as they have really become part of the family!
We worked with Dayna from Strawberry Weddings and events and she linked us with so many amazing vendors that helped make our wedding what it was. A lot goes into a wedding and it helped that she was so calm and understood what we wanted. The wind on the day really caused several issues but she worked through them all with help from those around us.
Without her help our wedding would have not happened so we are eternally grateful for her input!
Strawberry Weddings and Events wedding planners are run by a team of highly talented, passionate and professional wedding planners based in Stellenbosch.
Fortunately, we were able to use a transport company named lemon and lime that could pick up and drop off friends and family in the area. This was starting in the beginning of the day to the end of the wedding, even dropping of some people after the after party at around 3am
The food was prepared by taste ateljee. From the start we knew that they were awesome as they were keen to put our ideas to life. We wanted a vary social wedding and with that wanted a harvest table and canapés that were coming around. We then had two taster mains, one was a burnt butter ravioli (which was a dream in a plate) the other was a lamb dish. Thereafter, we had a dessert table and and canapés. I would really recommend this is you want a very social wedding where people aren’t sitting for too long.
We were so fortunate to have our neighbours, who own a coffee shop called Ellen Jay, make our wedding cake. A carrot cake that was to die for!
The bride designed all the stationary for the wedding and got it printed at Top Copy in Claremont.
We were lucky enough to have both a DJ (DJ Anker) and a live band which are good friends of ours that really are fantastic at what they do. ( Gareth Mostert & Cameron Mostert)
Our friends helped distract our guests from the hurricane level wind that we were experiencing, they had to move their set inside and it really created a lovely vibe. What made it special is that they are good friends of ours and it was really special to be able to showcase their talents to the rest of our guests.
Our reception was an Autumn dream, with seating in a horse shoe shape which meant everyone was meshed together and encouraged to mix and mingle. It created such a wholesome evening of laughter and love! We also cut our cake in the middle of the horse shoe which was such a great way to get everyone involved in every moment of the day.
We did get dance lessons from a lovely friend and colleague of mine at St Georges Grammar, Anne Siroky. She helped us immensely as we both have two left feet.
Strawberry Weddings and Events wedding planners are run by a team of highly talented, passionate and professional wedding planners based in Stellenbosch.
Au d’ Hex Estate adds to the charming beauty of one of South Africa's undiscovered gems, Wellington.
