Carla & Hendrik

Part 2

This D&A model, Carla married her prince at the beginning of March in front of their huge group of family and friends in her backyard, Swellendam. Carla actually grew up in Riviersonderend so this is actually her happy place.

The next thing I knew this beautiful model had ridden off into the sunset with her gorgeous prince! Ok, this is sheer fantasy because anyone that knows Carla and Hendrik, also knows that they came back to the Reception and partied up a storm and never got to bed until 4am the following morning!

I am just a girl standing in front of a boy asking him to love her!

Notting Hill

Would you believe that I have been fortunate enough to have had this gorgeous model couple in front of my lens once before. As a result, I knew that I was going to have loads of fun with them. I wasn’t wrong!!

Run to you,

cos when the feeling is right, I’m gonna run all night!

Bryan Adams

Picture Perfect

Omg, did we have fun! Carla and Hendrik are pretty natural together and it was awesome to see their interactions with one another. They are also the sweetest of people and you can understand why they are so loved by their army of friends! Thank you Hendrik, for delaying that beer and allowing me to get my “fluffies” photo and how lucky were we that at that exact moment after a rather grey overcast day, an African sunset erupted on the horizon! Needless to say, I was beyond excited and they couldn’t help but laugh at my screeches of delight!

“I wanna be your end game. I wanna be your first string. I wanna be your A-Team.”

Time to party!

Then it was time to go back and party with all their nearest and dearest!

How lucky were this young couple, that Hendrik’s uncle is none other, than the famous wedding cake maker, Wade’s Cakes! It was lovely to finally meet him as I have for years enjoyed his masterpieces!

So they didn’t head off into the sunset but they definitely did head off into the sunrise!! Not sure if they surfaced for breakfast with the family but I am happy to see they made their flight for their Bali Honeymoon! Congrats Carla & Hendrik, I loved photographing your special day!

• Part 1 can be viewed here!
• Venue: Chris-Elle Wedding Venue
• Getting ready venue: Rotterdam Boutique Guesthouse
• Wedding dress: Robyn Roberts Bridalwear
• Cake: Wade’s Cakes
• Make-up artist: Evelyn Francis
• Caterers: Krummelkoljander
• Wines: Nieuwedrift Wine Estate
• Videographers: Bravo & Thatcher
• Bridesmaids dresses: Tiara on Kloof
• Wedding decor: Allthingswedding
• Wedding planner: Zahn Kuyler

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Alisha and Emmanuel

The Cellars-Hohenort, Constantia, Cape Town

The Cellars-Hohenort was once again the beautiful backdrop to another gorgeous wedding!  Alisha and Emmanuel chose to have a destination wedding and to fly 30 of their closest friends and family from the USA to enjoy a festive celebration in the scenic Cape Town.

They were all from the USA.  Alishas’ family are from Tennessee.  Emmanuels’  family are from Kansas but this gorgeous couple met in Houston after they had moved there for work purposes.  It was definitely written in the stars!

This gorgeous bride has to be one of the easiest brides I have ever encountered.   Emails were pretty minimal.  All she asked was for a meeting when she arrived in Cape Town on the Tuesday.  Wedding was on a Friday at one of my favourite hotels, the Cellars-Hohenort.  Decor was tasteful but minimal.  Colour palette was white and green. Their delicious wedding cake and the vanilla and red velvet cupcakes were  made by  Wades’ Cakes!

Anneqah Martin was the make-up artist who added some polish to this gorgeous beauty.  Alisha is genuinely a natural beauty, with the most gorgeous dimples.  When she laughs, she lights up the whole room!

Emmanuel is quieter and a little more serious.  Alisha is a perfect catalyst for Emmanuel!  She definitely creates a chemical reaction for him!  He shows his softer and fun side in her presence.  They are without a doubt a perfect combination.  

Emmanuels’ dad married them in the gardens of The Cellars-Hohenort in Constantia.  What an absolute blessing to be able to marry your son to his soulmate.

Ryan from Cape Dj’s got the guests onto the dancefloor and kept them there for the whole evening.  He read his crowd well and we had a sure winner for the title of the “Dancing Queen.”

And then just like that, this perfect day had to come to an end!  It was time for their guests to catch their shuttles back to their hotels and it was time for this newly married couple to enjoy their first night as Mr & Mrs in the honeymoon suite at The Cellars-Hohenort.  A big thank you to the wonderful staff at the venue, who always deliver superior service with such beautiful smiles on their faces.  Once again, it was a delight to capture another wedding at your venue.

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Shameema and Dechlan

This Hout Bay wedding buzzed with happiness.  You could actually feel it!  Regrettably, there were quite a few hiccups in the planning stages and on the day.  But nevertheless, Shameema remained happy and never let anything get to her.

Hout Bay Manor Hotel

Shameema was one of the few brides that was ready early for her ceremony and yet the irony is, that the ceremony eventually only started an hour later.

As most Capetonians are aware, Cape Town is experiencing a serious drought at the moment.  We are praying for rain. Of course, it doesn’t always happen at the right time.

Just as Shameema was getting ready to walk down the aisle, a fine drizzle started.  The bridal party and planner did a quick rethink and decided to do the ceremony in the hotel.  This was not really ideal as the hotel area was small and dark.

So that idea was scratched and it was decided to rather do the ceremony in the reception area.  So all the chairs were moved to the reception area.  And then just as everything was being finalised, the rain stopped!  All gone!  Never to be seen again!

Furthermore, I must just add, that at no stage did Shameema say a prayer for the rain to stop.  She had such a positive attitude and shrugged it off and said “we need the rain and rain is a blessing on a wedding day”

At this point another decision was made by the chief “bridesmaid” and planner to rather go back to the original plan.  A delay of 10 minutes was not going to make any more difference to an already delayed timeline.  In my opinion, they made a great decision!  As a result, we were able to capture stunning ceremony images in beautiful light under a beautiful big Oak Tree!  It was absolutely perfect!

s a beautiful and picture perfect hotel and we were able to use their beautiful facilities!

This gorgeous young couple just laughed it all off.  Their happiness was actually contagious

“A good laugh is sunshine in the houseHotel guests photobombing our bridal portraits!!__

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Le Bac Wedding

Ksenia & Juan

This Le Bac  wedding was  absolutely breathtaking.  Ksenia, was my snow princess bride from Russia and she positively glowed on  her wedding day as pledged her vows to her charming prince.  Juan is a local boy from the shores of South Africa with Argentinian descent from his mothers side.  They had met in London at their place of work, so as you can imagine, the guests had flocked from every corner of the world …I think if I am not mistaken there were only about 4 guests from Cape Town ….everyone else was either from London, Ireland, Russia, Germany, Argentina, Pretoria …it was an absolutely charming, beautiful wedding at such a hidden gem of a location.  This Le Bac wedding had so many beautiful surprises and the venue is hugged by the majestic Drakenstein mountain range and the valley is positively exquisite in Autumn as the sun sets and turns the mountains to glowing pink and purple hue.

There were so many things that I loved about this wedding. I loved the children …how cute were they? …I always find that children at weddings ease things …people laugh at their antics …communication gaps just disappear when children are around ..they get strangers talking and laughing …like only children can! The other thing that I loved …is Ksenia’s stunning veil …I am a sucker for a gorgeous veil …and this one was just heavenly ..and lets not mention her gorgeous dress. Ksenia told me that she tried on a lot of dresses before she found the one …I think this was the 68th dress …..but gosh was it worth the effort …she was regal in this dress. Juan couldn’t take his eyes off her the whole day! He looked like a man who had won the jackpot ….and hadn’t he just!

Another thing to love about this wedding is that the talented Retha Rix was the event planner and caterer for this wedding. This is the second time that I have worked alongside this wonderful woman. Her food is delightful! Her planning prowess is exceptional. Ksenia & Juan were able to know that as they planned their destination, Le Bac wedding, they had a very capable lady in charge.

Suppliers : –

Wedding Dress – Helen Miller, Vanilla Studio, Moscow
Weil – Rosa Clara, Vanilla Studio, Moscow
Bridal accessories – DeniseJewelryDesigns (on Etsy)
Shoes – No. 1 Jenny Packham
Bridesmaids dresses – Reiss
Florist – Mint and Magnolia
Events Co-ordinator – Retha Rix
Catering and cake – Retha Rix (Rix Catering)
Venue – Le Bac Estates, Paarl
Grooms suit – Hackett London
Groomsmen – suits were their own.
Groom and groomsmen ties – Thomas Pink
Bridal and bridesmaids hair and make-up – Liz Kaplan

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Destination – Luanda, Angola

Part 3

Luanda, Angola  was the place of my very first International destination wedding.  This destination wedding felt like a true Royal wedding and was definitely fit for a King and Queen.  Tania looked exquisite in her imported Portuguese wedding dress.  It reminded me a lot of the wedding dress that Nicky Hilton wore to her wedding a few months earlier.  Jose was a true suave gentleman in his top hat and tails!  Tania’s dress suited the grandiose of the beautiful Catholic Cathedreal in the City Centre of Luanda.  It was a truly magnificent church.  Not only was this my first international wedding, it was also the biggest wedding I have ever covered!  There were about 500 guests and I loved how smartly dressed they were but how as the evening progressed they let their hair down and boogied the night away.  The Angolans definitely know how to party!  Tania & Jose were definitely smoking hot on the dance floor.

A big thank you to my friend, Jilda Gildenhuys who  was  my second shooter but  also my translator (Portuguese is the mother tongue in Angola) but more importantly she was my friend and support during this trip.  It was so much fun having her along for this adventure!

Tania & Jose’s civil ceremony can be viewed here! (Part 1)

Their e-shoot can be viewed here! (Part 2)

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Tania & Jose

Civil Ceremony

Luanda, Angola

Part 1

(Part 2 engagement shoot can be viewed here)

(Part 3 – Religious ceremony & wedding can be viewed here)

This was my first International Destination wedding in Luanda, Angola which is a country on the West Coast of Africa and is surrounded by Namibia to the South, Zambia to the East, Democratic Republic of Congo to the North East and the Atlantic Ocean to the West.  The language is predominantly Portuguese and the religion is mainly Catholic.

I will honestly admit that Angola was a complete eye opener to myself and my second shooter, Jilda.  The disparity between wealth and poverty is huge and Luanda is frightfully expensive.  I have been led to believe that it is the most expensive city in the world. And from what I saw, I could honestly believe it.  The roads are complete chaos …if you thought Johannesburg and Cape Town traffic was bad, think again ….traffic in Luanda is chaos.  The city is a hive of activity …it just seems to pump!

Their weddings are also slightly different to the way we do things in Cape Town.  Tania & Jose had a civil ceremony and a religious ceremony two days later.  The civil ceremony was held at the 5 star HCTA Hotel in Luanda which was beautiful and the ceremony was held in the courtyard.  The quality of light in Angola is really gorgeous and we were excited to see how soft and flattering it was looking.  Unfortunately though, our beautiful bride was very late and the light faded as she entered the courtyard.  The videographer was quite prepared though and zapped on his orange video light which lent some gorgeous drama to some of the images!

Another highlight of Angolan weddings is that their guests go to town with dressing up for weddings.  There were some gorgeous outfits on display and the men looked dashing in very snazzy suits and some of the ladies looked like Hollywood Glamour Stars!  The civil ceremony is not as big as the religious ceremony and less guests are invited to this …just very close family and friends from what I gathered.

Tania looked beautiful in her dress which was purchased in Portugal.  It suited her to perfection.

I wondered how she could possibly look any better for her religious ceremony!  But she did …..I do believe she gave every Royal Bride a good run for their money.  The Religious ceremony was truly beautiful …the church was something else …and Tania gave Nicky Hilton a good run for her money with a dress that was just as beautiful and traditional.

My first International destination wedding knocked my socks off me thats for sure!  Stay Tuned!

A big thank you to my second shooter, Jilda Gildenhuys for the support and for being an awesome translator!  Wouldnt have wanted to have done this trip with anyone but you!

Part 2 can be viewed here!

Part 3 can be viewed here!

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Camrin & Hans ticked all my boxes in making this a beautiful wedding to photograph!  Camrin got ready at the very luxurious, Morrells Boutique Estate in Northcliff, which was such a perfect backdrop for bridal portraits!  And Camrin looked absolutely gorgeous in a  Janita Toerien wedding gown.  Their choice of decor was truly unique!  Both Camrin and Hans are engineers …so obviously science has played a huge role in their lives ….and when I saw how beautifully they had married science into the decor theme, I was truly amazed ….not only was it clever …but it was truly beautiful too!  And then we were all treated to an evening of “fine dining” with the most amazing ten-course meal…every course was an absolute revelation!

Must admit ..that my first clap of thunder during their ceremony almost had me dropping my camera!  I had always thought that I was a tough nut …but boy that clap made me jump …but it seemed it was a huge one and quite close as the whole congregation jumped with me …and this wasnt new to them like it was to me!  I really enjoyed my time in Johannesburg for this wedding and I saw that Johannesburg is gorgeous at this time of year …yes, maybe not as dramatically beautiful as the Cape but it has its own unique beauty to it ….long yellow grasses, fields of cosmos …amazing skies ..(I wish Cape Town had these skies) …I loved my first Johannesburg wedding experience!  Thank you Camrin & Hans  for giving me this opportunity ..it was an honour!

The man of the hour -the talented chef!

The two men who brought all of Camrin & Hans’ vision together!

Suppliers: –

Make-up and hair – Marnel Toerien

Food and catering – Cube Tasting Kitchen

Cake – Sharon Kallmann

Venue – Nirox Sculpture Park

Groom’s and Groomsman suits – Diaan Daniels

Flower arrangements and Decor – Del de Angeli, Ané Gouws, Bronwyn Cilliers, Heidi Geustyn, Megan Bouwer, Ciawyn Bouwer, Ellen Bouwer

Flowers – Ludwig’s Roses & Anro flowers

Lights and labstands for Tables – Willie Uys

Lab equipment – Labotec

Stationery design – Janine van der Bank

Letterpress printing – Printaline Edward Malvern

Sound and Music – Lloyd-Anthony Smith

Accommodation – Bankenveld Guesthouse

Getting ready – Morrells Boutique Hotel

Rings – Peter Scott Jewellers

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