It’s a very special day here on SouthBound Bride when we get to share the wedding of one of our friends, and I feel like that’s what today’s bride has become. Not just to me, but to all of us who have followed along with her story through our Real Life Bride series. Liana’s been our ‘bride abroad’, planning her South African wedding from Europe as so many of you do, gathering inspiration from some of our home country’s top suppliers and dreaming up the perfect mix of rustic and classic wedding loveliness. I’ve been dying to see her beautiful pictures from the fab dna photographers – they were just as heartfelt and lovely as I was expecting, and now I finally get to share them with you! Vair, vair exciting. So here we go! And just in case you missed any of it, you can follow Liana’s complete wedding journey right here.Read More
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times. I love details at weddings (make that LOVE in capital letters) but the details that really light up a wedding are the ones that come from the heart. Well, today’s wedding is ALL about personal significance. From the ceremony venue (a labyrinth built by the bride’s grandfather in her family garden – how amazing is that?) to a beautiful bouquet ceremony, to an intimate picnic dinner, it’s chock-full of ideas that were thought out for their significance and connection to family and friends. I can only imagine what a wonderful, memorable celebration it must have been, but luckily we have Lauren Kriedemann‘s gorgeous pics to inspire us. Ah garden weddings! How I do love them!Read More
Get ready, friends. Some of you are about to have a new favourite wedding to inspire you. You’re definitely about to wear out your Pin It button, or fall in love with a whole new colour scheme. I know I have. But back to the beginning… Today’s wedding is the marriage of two winemakers, one from Australia and one from South Africa, who met in California (love it!). I’m honoured that Rienne chose her husband’s homeland (and mine) as the venue for their wedding because of the love Johan has for South Africa, and Vrede en Lust rewarded them with incredible views and a light, bright, contemporary classic appeal. Which their decor more than did justice to. Long hessian/burlap runners, coloured glassware, a base of purples, blues and neutrals accented with spectacular pops of green, orange and yellow. Wow. Giant balloons. Little coloured eggs as favours. Oh, the list goes on! The spectacular Catherine Mac did an amazing job as always capturing every detail, from Rienne’s drop dead gorgeous lace detail dress to the happiness radiating between bride and groom. As a sign at the reception said, this truly was “made with love”.Read More
It’s such a pleasure to me to be able to share the stories of so many brides and grooms here on SBB. But it’s even more of a pleasure when I get to share the love story of someone I know, and that’s what I get to do today! Natalie is a fellow Minervianer (which for the non-Stellenbosch crowd means we were in the same res at uni). She’s the loveliest person, and very beautiful, and I always knew some dashing man would sweep her off her feet. It turned out to be one of those stories where Nats fell in love with her best friend (love those, right?!) – I finally got a chance to spend some time with the couple here in London recently and they are ADORABLE. What I love most about their wedding day is that you can see the sheer joy radiating from both of their faces, and in fact this is the first thing Cheryl McEwan, their fab photographer, said to me afterwards, that the love on their big day was so tangible. This is what it’s all about, people! Well, that and a lovely in lavender intimate French-style reception at La Petite Dauphine and a bride in a romantic Suzanne Neville dress… but mostly the love. ;) Don’t miss Nats’ goosebumpworthy description of how they met and got together!Read More
I always smile when I see that episode of How I Met Your Mother when Ted tells his kids that long distance relationships hardly ever work. I mean, he’s right. Most of the time, they’re a disaster. But I’ve read enough love stories here on SBB to know that there’s a big gap between “hardly ever work” and “impossible”. In fact, sometimes it’s weathering the storms of long distance love that can show a couple that the vessel they have built together is made of stronger stuff. Guess that makes it a relation-ship, boom boom. Okay, I’ll stop with the nautical metaphors, except to say that today’s couple, having made it through some time apart in their courtship and been all the stronger for it, were ready to sail off into the sunset. Which they did, figuratively, with a beautiful wedding (and literally, when they emigrated to Australia). I love the sweet little touches they added to their day – Lerize’s shoes that said “I do”, little wooden hearts tied with lace, a ribbon backdrop. And I also love Michelle Joubert-Martin‘s beautiful photos, that really capture the depth of emotion that these two were feeling.Read More
Today’s bride and groom are, quite simply, my kind of people. Carin’s philosophy of weddings could probably be my motto for life: good food, enough drinks, excellent music – add in lovely people and a gorgeous view and that’s pretty much all you need to be happy as far as I’m concerned. Luckily the couple had both of those too, surrounded by family and friends and getting married in the heart of the Cape winelands at Brenaissance. I love the classic style of their wedding, the perspex decor accents, the white tulips, the duck egg blue tablecloths, Carin’s pretty dress, her mismatched bridesmaids and OMG I love their food stations. Like, LOVE. Such delicious and fun combinations and there’s even a braai station! Stylishly presented, of course. It’s the perfect combination of old school elegance and minimalist modernism, and it works perfectly. Plus, there are the crazy beautiful pictures taken by Yolande Marx. So what are you waiting for? Get pinning!Read More
It only took one look at today’s wedding to know I would feature it here on SBB, because what can I say, a bride who gets married in her veldskoens, is most definitely a SouthBound Bride! For our overseas readers, veldskoene are a type of traditional South African shoe. And that’s not the only South African icon making an appearance in this Potchefstroom wedding, as it took place in the old factory of one of our signature brands, Snowflake. Add pretty Victorian/Dutch vintage details, navy lace runners, jewel tones, adorable book pear details and a grey lace dress (swoon) and you’re talking all kinds of lovely. But I think what I heart the most is the story that Rochelle and De Markhoff have – true love at first sight, and young love at that! Kallah Ohr was there to capture every moment of this joyous day, including the moment that De Markhoff clearly fell in love at first sight all over again as his bride walked down the aisle.Read More
Any good photographer will tell you that the relationship they strike up with many couples goes above and beyond what’s on the contract. Not only do they share your excitement ahead of the wedding and keep things calm (and moving) on the day, they’re also there to share some of the most incredible, intimate, personal moments, the biggest of your lives. Many become like a member of the family or bridal party, and often friendships are formed along the way. It’s a special relationship for sure, but usually, it only begins once there’s been a proposal – it’s not often that the photographer is there right from the word YES. But that’s what happened with today’s gorgeous, laid-back couple, Sarah and Oded, and their photographer, the fab Laura Jane. She was a surprise witness to their proposal (see the shoot here)! Laura Jane was also there to see Sarah and Oded’s love story cumulate in a beautiful, blissed out beach wedding in Ballito (try saying that after a few cocktails). I love all the little details, from the succulent and peacock feather bouquet (brilliant combo, who knew?) to the adorable favours. A wedding as sweet, fun and in-the-moment as that proposal.Read More
Oh, the loveliness! I’m such a huge fan of fruit being used as part of wedding day florals (more on that next week) so when I saw Charl and Mynderd’s wedding over on Just Judy‘s blog, I immediately fell in love with it. What I didn’t realise at the time, was that it wasn’t just pretty, but a really personal detail, since Mynderd grew up on a fruit and wine farm – the same farm where the couple were married. How fun is that? Whatever the inspiration, I adore the combination of flowers and foliage and little bell jars housing pomegranates and other treasures – it’s autumn-ey botanical style heaven. As always, Judy’s pics really do the details justice – it was so hard to narrow down the selection!Read More
Gather round children, and let me tell you one of my favourite love stories. Once upon a time, I had a friend called Sven, who was one of the loveliest chaps I knew. Clever and kind, best man and godfather many times over, he was one of those people whose friends are always all ‘how is he still single?’. But he was. And he didn’t want to be. He thought it was past due that he met the love of his life, but Destiny was taking her sweet time. One day, when I was home in Durban on holiday, I went out on a Midlands Meander with him, and Sven told me as we drove how he’d just about given up on finding love. He wasn’t unhappy – he has a great business, and he’d got into rowing in a big way – but he’d decided the the marriage thing just wasn’t going to happen. He was throwing in the towel. That very afternoon, we headed back to Durban to watch the Oxford/Cambridge boat race at Sven’s rowing club. And there, in the row in front of us (although neither of us knew it yet), was the girl he would marry, the equally lovely Louise. Which just goes to show. Timing is everything ;) The end of that story (and the start of a new one) was a beautiful brunch wedding at Nicolson’s in the Midlands, which I happened to be at, so I can tell you first hand that it was fabulous. Faye of Poetry Weddings did an awesome job pulling together all the gorgeous country-style decor, and CC Rossler took these breathtaking pictures. (I didn’t do anything, just sipped rosé and sighed over how much I loved the protea arrangements). Having a brunch wedding was such a lovely alternative – it felt very civilised, the food was amazing, and while the wedding party had their photos taken we all enjoyed a perfect Midlands afternoon. There was even a rainbow – now there’s a fairytale ending if ever I saw one!Read More
