A marquee overflowing with flowers, hung with bowers of greenery, edison bulbs twinkling, whimsical china, pops of fuschia and candy pink – all in a lush, green garden setting. Sounds magical, doesn’t it? Well folks, that’s the setting for this gorgeous intimate celebration, with sort of an Alice in Wonderland meets Secret Garden vibe. Sjaun and Anita came from London to celebrate their big day and they did it in style, with their closest friends and family, in a wedding that looks like it was as much fun as it was pretty. And with pretty pictures by Sonje Ludwick, whimsical brides will be pinning to your hearts content!
If there’s one literary inspiration that weddings have embraced again and again, it’s Alice in Wonderland. I have a bit of a weakness for Alice myself, since I played her a million years ago in a school production, and the sense of wonder and whimsy that runs throughout the story has never been forgotten (I mean, croquet with flamingos? Fun!) So I just had to include some Alice-y inspiration in our month of fairytale wedding style, and today I get to share this lovely little shoot by Jaqui Franco and her team, which puts a fresh spin on this old favourite. The tea party element is still there, of course (with some to-die-for cakes and ‘eat me’ macarons!), but glitzed up with sparkly linens and foiled stationery. And there’s plenty of whimsy thanks especially to some oversize paper flowers, which would add a touch of Wonderland to any wedding celebration!
I have a special place in my wedding-loving heart for elopements. There’s something so utterly romantic about the idea of two people taking this moment away from the rest of the world for just them, to promise their forevers wrapped up in one another with no distractions, and bask in the glow of the moment, seeing it reflected in each other’s eyes. Sure, it’s not for everyone, but a beautiful wedding à deux always makes me smile. And I know someone else who loves these kinds of weddings as much as I do – the lovely Rebecca of Runaway Romance, who has made it her mission as a wedding planner to focus on more intimate celebrations and bring them a special kind of magic through her love of detail and styling. After all, just because it’s only the two of you, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t look amazing! Today’s wedding is just that. Theuns and Ewalda chose to infuse their elopement with their love of literature in general and Alice in Wonderland in particular, and the result is a wonderfully whimsical celebration with the sweetest of details, from paper flowers (mixed in with red roses, of course!), to Scrabble tile elements, to a custom ceremony backdrop that proclaimed ‘It was always you’. Told you elopements were romantic! Andries Combrink was there to capture the whole thing on film.
Hello lovelies! I am rushing around backstage, getting the last bits ready for our Editorial Wedding workshop… tomorrow! Eek! Anyway, I had just enough time to put together an inspiration board – and this was such a cool reader request! Kayla wrote to tell me about her summer wedding at The Cheney Place, which is an absolutely stunning venue with face brick walls and an elegantly urban loft sort of vibe. She and her fiance want candles and string lights everywhere, a wedding that is casual, romantic and fun. They also want a bit of an Alice in Wonderland theme going on. I have to say, I absolutely LOVED this whole idea (using a palette of navy, cerulean blue and white, although you could add in a rose or blush shade for extra colour). Candles and hanging lights (love the bulbs!) are so magical, and work beautifully against brick. Keep bridesmaids chic in navy and flowers soft, but with a bit of an unexpected edge like the spiky accents to the bouquet below. Alice is a great theme, but can be completely overdone – you can keep the motif fun and classy with stationery details (love these character card place settings with the original artwork so much!), a few clocks and keys and then some slightly mad touches, like the hanging teacup installation or the teacup glasses (how cute are these?). You just need enough mad hatter to give your guests the idea that this is a fun, slightly avant-garde celebration, and then let them take it from there! Have a great wedding Kayla – can’t wait to see it and hope you like your board!
Lovelies, I am VERY excited about today’s post. It all started when a lovely reader and bride-to-be, Tanya, mailed me the invitation to her Alice in Wonderland bridal shower. It had Mad Hatter tea party theme (or ‘Alles in Wonderland’ in Afrikaans!) I asked to see some pics, and she sent over loads of them – these girls looked like they were having a wonderful time! I couldn’t believe how much effort her friends had gone to in creating the Alice in Wonderland-themed decor, but the best was yet to come. Tanya’s friend Andrea Kuhn mailed me offering to send me her files as free downloads for the blog, so she could share them with all of you. How sweet is that? We love Andrea. What I love about these printables is that they’re really whimsical – a perfect nod to the novel, but so usable for a fun bridal shower. Cupcake flags, tags, cards for the table, photo props – they’re all there for you to download. And to get you started with the rest of the planning, we’ve also put together a bridal shower essentials buying guide! Links in bold denote affiliate links. SBB may receive a commission for any sales made.
SANTA!! OMG, Santa’s coming!!
Okay, that’s a lie. But what the hell, it feels like Christmas today, what with the awesomest wedding I have to share with you guys! I have been fit to BURST wanting to show it to you, and I know you will love love love it. First of all, it’s Alice in Wonderland inspired (!!). Secondly, it’s colourful and super fun and playful but at the same time really elegant and beautiful (I could go on all day about the décor alone, and don’t get me started on the dessert buffet!). And thirdly, the combination of an incredibly photogenic couple and the stylin’ talents of Ms Nikki Meyer, photographer extraordinaire, made these images some of the hardest for me to narrow down yet. Every one of them is so gorgeous, and so full of life and colour, that I wanted to include them all. Seriously, I could look at them all day. (And I would, except my boss might not like it.) So here’s my little not-Christmas gift to you all! It’s a pleasure. ;)Read More
Oh I am SO EXCITED! Today’s wedding is a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party!! Now I should admit, I’m a little partial to a bit of Alice in Wonderland because once upon a time I, myself, was Alice. Not in a went-down-a-rabbit-hole-and-hung-out-with-a-stoner-caterpillar sense, obviously. But when I was 12 my school put on the play, and I got to be Alice. Actually, I feel this is probably a good moment to apologise publicly to anyone who had to listen to me sing. Or act. Sorry folks! But whatever, I loved it. And the thing I remember loving THE MOST was that I got to play croquet with my own prop flamingo. (Cool, right?) So basically the second I spotted this wedding – flamingoes, playing cards, key necklace and all – I tweeted photographer Drikus Le Roux telling him I MUST feature it, and to my relief, he said yes. Cue me grinning like the proverbial Cheshire cat. And I’m doing it again today. So… without further ado, let’s follow the King’s advice to the White Rabbit: Begin at the beginning, go on until you come to the end; then stop…
Lovely bride Angela sent over all the background on her Wonderland inspiration: Gerrit and I are both originally from Johannesburg. We met in a nightclub there. He asked to take a photo with me, and the rest is history! We moved to Cape Town about two years ago and Gerrit proposed in February 2010. He planned a very romantic dinner for me at our home – we had a fondue and when he brought the dessert he asked me to close my eyes and when I opened them, before me was a pot of melted Lindt chocolate and a plate of sliced fruit. In the centre was the most beautiful ring! Then he asked me to marry him – it was very romantic :)
We are both huge Tim Burton fans and I have loved ‘Alice in Wonderland’ since I was a little girl, so after we went to see the Tim Burton ‘Alice in Wonderland’ movie we decided that we wanted to go with that theme for our wedding. This also helped us decide on the red, black and white colours for our wedding.
We went to have a look at a lot of venues but when we saw Le Manoir De Brendel we fell in love with the place and the giant chess board was a huge plus! We wanted an intimate wedding with all our important family and friends there. We also wanted something different as we ourselves are very unique in that way that we don’t want to go with what everyone else is doing, but to have something unique that would wow everyone, whether it be good or bad. We decided to have a morning wedding with a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party as our reception, where we served a lot of finger foods presented as a buffet and cakes as this would fit in better with our theme. We were so happy that we chose to have a casual wedding as opposed to a more formal one – it made us and our guests feel very relaxed.
I think our whole theme speaks for itself and to be honest a lot of people didn’t think that we would be able to pull it off and we did. With a lot of help and advice from our wedding planner and a lot of hard work it was a huge success! We supplied most of the decor, such as the flamingoes and stuffed hedgehogs, the place name cards and all the props for our photos. Laura (my maid of honour) helped me make feathered hearts.
Angela & Gerrit – you guys rock! Thank you for sharing your lovely and original day with us! And big thanks to Drikus Le Roux for sharing more of his fashion forward pictures – love them! You can see more on his blog here.
Let’s be honest, organising a wedding is hard work. Even for those who give themselves a full year or more, it can be a little crazy trying to juggle all the different ideas and demands with the practicalities of booking a venue and service providers and staying within a budget, not to mention preparing yourself for married life. Which is why today’s couple just blows my mind. They organised their wedding – and a truly fabulous wedding it is too – in just three months. Yep, THREE months. Wow! Even with that timescale, the attention to detail is amazing. It just shows that you don’t need all the time in the world to come up with something spectacular. (And speaking of spectacular, I am loving the vibrant photos taken by Drikus le Roux – hopefully we’ll see lots more of his work here on Cap Classique in future!) But enough talking – time for the eye candy!
