Kyla’s Curro Matric Dance

Hawksmoor House never disappoints but when you add a beautiful, young girl and handsome gentleman, then the results are mindblowing!

This venue has always been one of Cape Towns hidden gems and I was excited when Kyla’s mom told me they had chosen Hawksmoor as their pre-drinks venue for their family and friends.

Imagine my excitement when I saw how exquisite Kyla looked in her stunning soft pink romantic gown and then to blow me away even further, her father had arranged a beautiful old school Rolls Royce!  It was definitely fit for a princess and Kyla was definitely a princess that evening.

All we needed was a Prince!

While Kyla waited for her prince to arrive, we took the opportunity to play in the beautiful Blue Barn.

The Blue barn was absolutely magical.

And then Connor arrived!  A prince fit for a princess!  It was actually hard to believe that these two people had never met each other before.  Their moms had organised for Connor to be Kyla’s date for her matric dance.  It was a perfect match.  Connor was the perfect gentleman to this young beauty.

These two could definitely be Oscar winning actors in the future as it was hard to believe that they had never met before this day.  I definitely got the impression though that this would not be the last time they would see each other.  I could definitely see a few sparks!  If I am wrong, then give them the Oscar now!

A shout out to all the talented suppliers who made Kyla’s day magical!

The pretty dress was made by Leonie Jardim.

Hair and make-up was done by the talented Clarita Smit!

The beautiful hairpiece was from Lovisa

View previous blogpost here!

The post Hawksmoor House Matric dance – Kyla appeared first on Jo Ann Stokes.

Hidden Valley Wines – Caitlin

Matric Dance – Stellenberg High School

I did this Hidden Valley matric dance shoot the night before I flew out to Europe.  Once I had done the shoot, I raced home and started to edit in order to deliver the next day before I left.  Which I did and felt happier about as I would hate to keep a beautiful lady desperately waiting for her photos while I was swanning around Europe!  But I have realised that I never had the opportunity to blog this gorgeous girls special evening!  And her special day and her amazing dress deserves some blogging love!  Caitlin is a matric student at Stellenberg High School!  I wish her well as she writes her matric finals!

Caitlin knew exactly what dress she wanted for her matric dance at Stellenberg High School.  She was also very lucky that her loving mom, Diane, spent hours upon hours sewing each and every rosebud onto her skirt.  But it was all worth the effort as Caitlin looked absolutely gorgeous.

Jessica Truter was her talented make-up artist.  A lovely young lady who is making quite a name for herself in the industry.

The post Hidden Valley Wines – Caitlin appeared first on Jo Ann Stokes.

Your Narrative blog will appear here, click preview to see it live.
For any issues click here

The post Matric farewell dance – Alexia appeared first on Jo Ann Stokes.

Matric Dance – Rondebosch Boys High School

2017

The Matric dance comes around every year and every year they come around faster than the last.  I always enjoy photographing matric dances.  There is so much excitement about them.  Normally, the girls are all about the dressing up and the boys are all about their “ride”.

This year was no different.  The girls all looked beautiful, even if it wasn’t their own dance.  The boys, looked dashing and handsome.  But their rides were something else!  We saw some of the most expensive rides in Cape Town but we also saw how some of the boys used their imagination and arrived in some unexpected rides.  We saw the likes of Ferrari’s, the latest Merc’s to boys arriving in police cars, army trucks or even lifting dates on their mopeds.  This was definitely the fun part of the evening for the onlookers and the boys.

The boys met at the  grand old lady, Greenways Manor.  This stately guesthouse is situated in the leafy suburbs of Claremont and was a perfect backdrop for the dance photographs.  The Manor is a throwback to yesteryear and was quite intriguing.  There was definitely no lack of perfect spots to take photos for the young couples.

I had fun with all the boys and their dates.  Each of them brought a different energy to their session.  It was also fun to get them with their excited families.

This was a trip down memory lane for me as my own children went to this school.  My youngest matriculated in 2011 so it has been quite a few years now.  It was familiar to me and yet not.  Much had changed.  Teachers were no longer the same and it stands to reason that most of the boys were not familiar to me.

There was just one familiar sight to me, besides the school and the grounds and that was Cathy Duncan.  Cathy, is the Matron at the hostel.  She played a very important role in the boarders lives. It was great to see her still taking care of her hostel boys by delivering them safely to the dance!

Dirtybootsandmessyhair shoot can be viewed here!

The post Matric dance – RBHS 2017 appeared first on Jo Ann Stokes.

Stellenbosch House Dances occur just before the frenzy of frantic studying before the start of the final exams.  Everyone takes this opportunity to let their hair down and party up a storm.

Stellenbosch is the heart of the winelands in the Cape and needless to say, the wine flows and the parties begin.

Stellenbosch House Dances normally take place at the end of the winter, just before Spring break.  Always a great idea to get the excitement of the dances out of the way before the students settle down to some serious studying.

This gorgeous group had their pre-drinks at Peter Falke Wine Estate in Stellenbsoch.  A gorgeous yet relaxed setting to the start of the evening.  Everyone meets for a few drinks in a relaxed setting.  All the dates are introduced to each other and as the wine flows, the laughter erupts and the fun begins.

View Previous post here!

The post Stellenbosch House Dances appeared first on Jo Ann Stokes.

The lady in red – Claudia

Chesterhouse High School held their matric dance this year, at the grand old dame of a hotel, The Mount Nelson which is in the City centre of Cape Town.  Originally when Claudia had asked me to photograph her matric dance, I was not sure I would be in Cape Town but luckily my plans changed and I was able to cover the special event for her.  Claudia looked smoking hot in her sexy red gown which was designed and made for her by talented ex-teacher, Ilse Roux.  Ilse is very well known in the Cape region for her bridal and evening wear and I have had numerous clients who have worn her beautiful gowns and they never disappoint.

Claudia has been a student of Chesterhouse High School, a private school in the northern suburbs of Durbanville in the Western Cape for her high school career.  She is a passionate horse rider and partakes in many riding competitions!  But on this evening, there wasn’t any tell tale signs of the horse rider ….there was more the signs of a glamorous Hollywood movie star and when we stumbled onto a movie set …I think the movie set workers believed she was the star.  I didn’t realise we had walked onto the movie set as I genuinely thought it was a flower seller on Greenmarket Square but when I got asked what our plans were with the photographs ….and I questioned why they wanted to know …and they explained that it was a movie set being set up …the penny dropped and when I took a look around …I then realised that there was a movie director sitting in a chair and cameras being set up …..and I had jumped in and shouted “Action!” ….and stolen their thunder ….innocently …I might add!  I must just say …I LOVE my job!  Thank you, Claudia …you were a superstar ….or should I rather say …you looked like a super model!

The post Chesterhouse matric dance appeared first on Jo Ann Stokes.

Zouhar & Aintree

Local Newspaper, Tygerburger finalist!

The Curro Matric dance was held on the 23rd September 2015. It was definitely a night to remember for Zouhar & Aintree. They both looked amazing! They are both matric students at Curro Private High School in Durbanville.  Its not the first time that I have covered a Curro Matric Dance.  The first Curro Matric Dance I covered was Dylan and Robins matric dance.  I also covered Robins sisters, Bridgette’s Somerset College matric dance earlier this year. View it here!  Unknown to me, Bridgitte and Zouhar are best friends ..such a small world.

I see so many beautiful matric dance dresses and Zouhars dress was no exception.  It was beautiful and accentuated her ravishing beauty.  I have just been informed today by her very proud mom that she is a finalist in Tygerburger’s (locl newspaper)matric dance dress competition.  How exciting is that!  If you love her dress and would like to vote for her, then go onto Tygerburgers website and give her your support.  If she won, what a great feather in the cap that would be for Curro Matric dance 2015 as well as for her as she gets ready to start studying to be a fashion designer with Fedisa. I dont doubt that she will make a great designer as her attention to detail was great.  Her dress suited her body shape, the colour of the dress was perfectly suited to her Lebanese colouring.  It goes to show that a matric dance dress does not need to be over the top to make a huge statement.  She also cleverly teamed the dress with a very sexy black pair of matric dance shoes.

Aintree was the perfect date for Zouhar.  He was courteous, respectful and yet loads of fun too.  They make such a cute couple and have been dating for six months.  He was very excited to get to drive the Mercedes Benz to the school.

I believe that Zouhar was also the Curro matric dance Miss Photogenic this year.  Now how come that doesnt surprise me.  The camera loved this young couple!  I couldnt have asked for more …perfect couple, perfect light, perfect weather …total perfection.

The post Curro Matric dance – Zouhar & Aintree appeared first on Jo Ann Stokes.