Real Garden Wedding {Sarah & Simon}

There’s nothing that tickles me more than fun, whimsical details, so this wedding had me at hello when I saw the boats floating in the swimming pool and the late night candy bar. Love! Sarah and Simon seem like such a relaxed (not to mention gorgeous!) couple, and you can see their joy and excitement just bouncing out of every one of Adene from Adene Photography‘s lovely photos. I’m so excited they let me share their day with you, and Sarah (a talented artist whose beautiful work you can see here) was sweet enough to send over all the inside info. Thanks Sarah, and congratulations again to both of you!

From Sarah:
Simon and I met when my twin sister (who was studying with him) introduced us – she knew we’d hit it off! We have been together for over seven years, so it was really beautiful to finally tie the knot and share it with everyone that has been involved in our lives as a couple – there was not one face at the wedding that neither of us knew. We wanted our wedding to be intimate, sophisticated and personal. We didn’t want it to be traditional or formal either, so we kept it simple and focused on things that were magical and personal to us. The venue specifically lent itself to this feeling we wanted. It is actually a family friend’s house (which already connotes to a personal connection), and it also limited us with the amount of guests to 80. Since it is not an official venue we had to bring everything in from suppliers, but this assisted us in making the whole celebration our very own.

The most wonderful thing about our wedding was that, as I am Jewish and Simon is not, we had a non-denominational ceremony but incorporated significant Jewish traditions, like circling the groom seven times, standing under a four-post canopy and breaking the glass at the end. Our marriage official was so relaxed and fun – she explained every step as we went along and we stood facing our guests so we could chat and hold hands instead of having to be formal. We incorporated all our family and friends in different ways – it was so touching and fun!

I’m an artist and Simon is a practical thinker so it was difficult to agree on specifics! We stuck to neutrals as it enabled us to incorporate all the bits and pieces we loved without anything clashing. Our colours ended up being ivory, cream, white, silver and champagne. The decor was vintage, rustic and elegant- an amazing combination that turned the entire day into a midsummer night’s dream! There were fairy lights everywhere in the garden and inside the venue. Our flowers included lisianthus and rough farm roses, and we had the bouquets wrapped in crocheted lace. This was reflected by the various sized and shaped jars on the dining tables, which had lace bows tied around them. Simon is a surfer, so one thing I had to add in was bringing the sea to the vineyards by making wire hearts and stringing them with shells I collected on the Sea Point beachfront. They hung from fish gut from the canopy during our ceremony and they looked amazing. In fact, we had things hanging everywhere: mini disco balls over the bar area, rusted wire hearts around the dance floor, and white birdcages and lanterns in the dining room. It was an array of gorgeous little details everywhere you looked.

Many of the details were courtesy of my sisters. They’re both very hands on, creative, and made themselves available to help me with anything. My twin sister was involved with an events company luckily, so she arranged everything from the booze to the bars, the staff, the crockery, the kitchen set up for the caterer, as well as the lighting, furniture and the candy bar we had for dessert. My older sister is a production designer so she created the most amazing atmosphere, from sourcing windmills, watering cans and boats for the pool, to Gatsby-style chaise longues for the grass and a croquet set for the garden! This really brought out the rustic comfy feeling of a home, together with the squirrels, chickens and geese that normally run around freely in the garden of the venue! She even surprised us with an antique loveseat for mine and Simon’s seating at the dining table. We also went to old junk stores and bought a whole bunch of old silver trays or bowls, and accumulated bits and pieces from home that we used on the dining tables. We really missioned. My dad even sewed the ceremony canopy and as a surprise made me a garter. My best friend’s mom also made our cake. Since I’m an artist I also like to make things myself so I ended up making the invitations, seating plans, name tags, and even beaded wire heart necklaces as gifts. Everything was a mish-mash of quirky, fun, beautiful things!

It’s hard to say what my favourite part of the day was – I loved every single teeny tiny part!!! I loved my dress- I felt AMAZING in it! I loved that it was a ridiculously hot afternoon and evening and I loved how involved everyone was in making it the wedding that it was. And the food was delicious! The day was so absolutely perfect I can’t believe how lucky we were… or maybe it’s because we were just relaxed about it. Don’t worry about what your guests will be saying or thinking- it’s all about you. So take it all in all the time, be conscious of everything that happens and just enjoy it.

Service providers:

Venue: Private home
Photography: Adene Photography
Catering: Annalise Buchanan – ab-cater@iafrica.com; +27 (0)21 7059851
Décor & flowers: Lush
Bar & staff: Blend Event Life
Cake: Carol Wienburg
Cupcakes: Sarah Alexander
Band: Crimson
Hair & makeup: Cheryl Parker