VENDORS

Date: Tuesday 24th January 2023,

Venue: Johannesdal Villa, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Photographer: Hewitt Wright

Dress: Made With Love

Bridesmaid dresses: ASOS

Grooms Suit: Kale & Co completely relaxed and comfortable. There was a lot of back and forth returns to start with. Ideally, I was hoping for something less formal or traditionally ‘bridesmaid’. In the end, we purchased the dresses off ASOS. I chose the colour, which was a light sage, and they chose the style they liked, which worked perfectly! I liked that they got to choose something that they loved and felt comfortable in, and that showed a little of their personality, too. They all shone and looked beautiful!

What was your wedding theme and how did you create it?

The entire duration of the wedding was outdoors. The ceremony took place on a lawn, with a wooden arch covered in flowers, with some breathtaking mountains as our backdrop. Post ceremony was an elegant garden party vibe. We had a cropper outdoor bar, a saxophonist who played with the DJ, sofas, a harvest buffet table. We used a lot of lighter colours and linen material, so the feel was elegant but earthy. We also incorporated a little South African touch by having the seating plan and name cards mounted onto golden sprayed safari animals which was SO cute, each table got a different animal. The evening meal was under a canopy of fairy lights, on one long table, we had lots of candles, and linen table cloths/napkins, ceramic white plates, crystal glasswear, and gold cutlery. I created the style through a mixture of Pinterest, Instagram and my own style. There are SO many styles to choose from. I quite like that ours was a little mixture that came together.

What was the highlight of your day?

So hard to choose, the ceremony was incredible and up lifting. The vows we promised to each other we personalised, and our officiator Lara brought a calming and lovely energy to it all. She shared some stories of our journey together, and included a hand fasting ceremony towards the end as well. It was emotive and meaningful, we really cherish that moment. Along with the ceremony, the evening meal was such a special time, we all sat at one long table. Looking around at all our friends and family together from all over the world, enjoying themselves, laughing with one another was wonderful. I also think, just seeing 6 months of detailed planning come together is amazing! I felt a big moment of achievement in a way.

What was your best buy?

Etsy became my best friend for 6 months, there are so many incredible crafts out there, very reasonably priced. One of my favourite purchases was a classic British style royal red, wooden post box, which we had personalised with our details. So guests could pop their cards in there. I also loved some personalised scratch cards we popped onto our guests champagne glasses to give them a chance to win a free drink on us. Etsy is amazing!

What’s your saving tip?

Maybe not the best to give saving tips as we did go over budget slightly in the end. I would say that personally for us, areas I would not be tight on are photography. I spent hours researching the right photographer for us, and it makes a world of difference on the day having someone who makes you feel calm, and that can provide you with quality photos after.

You won’t regret it. I also think if you have a budget in mind then explain this to your vendor. We were very kindly gifted so many free flowers on our wedding day, I think a combination of building a rapport but also explaining the budget we had. Also alcohol, we provided for the champagne for toasting and wine at dinner, but other than this our guests purchased their own drinks. I think a free bar can lead to wastage and guests taking advantage. We found this a good place to not splash out.