This coronavirus free wedding happened just before the whole world went crazy.  When guests were still travelling from all over the globe to watch their special friends tie the knot on their home soil!

How things have changed in just under a month.  All my weddings have been postponed until later in the year.  All gatherings over 100 people were banned and then further stringent rules were put in place.  Venues had to close at 18hoo and no alcohol was allowed to be sold.

Consequently many weddings were postponed and  I totally understand the reason for postponing.  Weddings are definitely meant to be a celebration surrounded by all your loved ones far and near.

Carl and Kelly

Carl and Kelly are both South African and both left our shores to work on the Super Yachts .  Both jokingly said that they were keen to meet someone with a great passport but they met and fell hook, line and sinker for each other and decided that both were worth sticking to the “Green Mamba” (South African) passport for!

All their “yachtie” friends  and Durbanite family flocked to Cape Town to watch these two lovebirds tie the knot in front of friends and family at the picturesque Suikerbossie in Hout Bay.  Carl is originally from Cape Town hence the reason that they chose to get married in the Mother City!

The Wedding Day

They had thought of everything for their wedding.  Kelly and her aunt baked the wedding cake.  Kelly and her bridesmaids decorated the reception area.

Games were arranged on the Suikerbossie lawns to keep guests entertained during the bridal party photoshoot as well as a Photo Booth.

Suikerbossie laid out a delicious Harvest Table for all the guests to enjoy while they waited for the wedding party.  And if that wasn’t enough, the G&T’s were flowing all afternoon.

Carl and Kelly are super cute together and are totally comfortable with one another and were one of the fortunate couples to have had a Coronavirus free wedding!   Another couple of weeks and this wedding might not have happened.

To all my couples who have had to postpone because of the Coronavirus, your day will come.  It might have been delayed but when we do get to celebrate, we will celebrate in full force.  I am still excited to see all of you as beautiful brides just like Kelly!

Suppliers:

Venue:-  Suikerbossie Hout Bay

Dress:   Enzoani by The Wedding Boutique

Make-up artist:  Black Rabbit Make-up

Bridal lingerie:-  Free People

Photo Booth:  Bambooth

Videographer:  Gustav Films

See Kylie and Nick at Camps Bay

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Nina & Alex

This intimate Yzerfontein beach wedding took place in the middle of January in the middle of the week!

Most of the guests were from Johannesburg and flew down to Cape Town to celebrate with the happy couple and joined them in the beautiful west coast.

The minute I met Nina and Alex, they felt familiar to me.  I had just finished watching Younger on Netflix and Nina is the spitting image of Hilary Duff except Nina is a darker version.  It was surreal.

Alex on the other hand, reminded me of my sons best friend.  It wasn’t the looks but the mannerisms.  They were so familiar to me that I felt as if I had known them a long time.

Nina was a wedding event planner in Johannesburg and her attention to detail was phenomenal.  Even though her wedding was intimate, everything had been thought of and the decor was next level beautiful.

In fact, that is how Nina and Alex met.  She was the event planner at his brothers wedding.  Now doesn’t that remind you of Jennifer Lopez in the Wedding Planner!  How utterly romantic!

This intimate wedding took place on the beach in front of the beautiful Thyme & Tide Guesthouse in Yzerfontein.  Nina and Alex booked out the whole house for their wedding day and their guests were able to enjoy a beachfront property at its best.  Sitting on the decks and watching the sun set over the ocean while Nina and Alex had their photoshoot was an absolute treat.

While the guests enjoyed the sunset and the children swam in the pool, a small army of chefs were busy in the kitchen preparing a sumptuous gourmet meal for everyone to enjoy.

After the sun set, the happy couple returned to be surrounded by their loved ones and enjoy their wedding day with those who were really close to their hearts.

Their special  day was total perfection!

Suppliers:-

Make-up & Hairstylist – Makeup by Lauren

Florist – yes exclusive flowers

Dahlia’s – Adene’s flowers

Minister – Stephen Van Basten

Stationary – Oh Yay

Wedding cake and cupcakes – Florentines

Jewellery – GC Manufacturing

Planning & Designing- the beautiful bride, Nina!

Previous wedding can be viewed here!

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Simons Restaurant, Groot Constantia

This elegant  Groot Constantia wedding was an absolute joy to photograph.

Groot Constantia is one of the oldest wine farms in South Africa.  It was granted to Simon Van Der Stel in 1685.  The architecture has a definite Dutch influence and later this style became more famously known as the Cape Dutch style.

This stunning wine estate is popular with locals and tourists alike.  Its also a wonderful and scenic wedding venue and has two restaurants on the estate.

Kirsten and her family grew up in the area and were schooled locally at Westerford and she studied further at UCT!  But like many youngsters, moved to London to further her career.

Their love story!

Kirsten and Greg met on a blind date.  I remember Greg telling me about it.  His version is that he saw this beautiful girl walk through the doors of the restaurant and started to pray “Please let it be her, please let it be her!” Imagine his delight when she was his blind date!

Greg

Kirsten wasn’t interested in a relationship at first but they did become friends.  Needless, to say, it wasn’t long before Kirsten found herself falling under Gregs spell.  This strong, rugged man from Botswana, is in fact, the most gentle soul who loves his family and friends fiercely.  She fell in love with his strength, his integrity, his loyalty and the way he made her laugh without even trying.

Long distance relationship

Their relationship had to endure a long distance relationship for a year when Kirsten went over to London to work for a year.  After the year, they decided that Greg should join Kirsten in London.

Needless to say, he didn’t need much persuasion to follow her over to London!  Greg doesn’t strike me as a fool …and he would have been a fool to have not followed her.

Kirsten

Kirsten is not only beautiful on the outside but she is beautiful on the inside too!  She has a warmth and calmness about her and embraces her friends and family into her circle with such ease.  Gregs family seem to be as besotted as he is with her and they aren’t the only ones either, I must admit I too, am completely smitten.  She is just lovely to be around but so is Greg!  As a couple they seem perfect for one another.  Greg is strong, protective and a complete gentleman.  They seem to be perfectly suited for one another.

Kirsten looked chic and elegant in her gorgeous wedding gown.  She later changed into an elegant one shoulder mini dress for the dancing and became the “Dancing Queen” of note!  This elegant Groot Constantia wedding was definitely one for the books!

Kirsten and Greg would like to thank the following people:

A big thank you to Mary-Ann and Mike Lumb for their friendship and hospitality!

The bridesmaids, Philippa, Claire, Yvette, Megan and Mary-Ann!

Their parents, Alistair & Julie and Dougal & Gail!

Francesca for all her help on the day!

My green love affair for all the flowers and table decor

The DJ Company for keeping the dance floor going all night!

The fantastic staff and managers from Simons Restaurant for making sure everything was perfect!

A big thank you to our make-up artist, Sarah Hoberman

and our hairdresser, Marite Crous!

we are forever grateful!

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Belair Wedding – Paarl

Megan and Evan – a joyous Belair wedding reunion!

This Belair wedding was joyous.  I have never, ever seen a bride who glowed with happiness as much as Megan did on her wedding day.

Evan was definitely the biggest reason that she glowed but he wasn’t the only reason. Although without a doubt, he was the main reason!

The other reasons!

Two months before their wedding, Megan and Evan emigrated to Australia as she had successfully applied for a position in Melbourne  but had to start immediately.  They decided to go but fly back to Cape Town for their wedding.  Needless to say, coming home after two months and having all your family and friends at your wedding was another reason to glow!

The final reason, I am sure, is that jet lag definitely was catching up with her, so the best way to handle it , is to pour the bubbly and be jolly!

Friends and family came from across the globe to celebrate this stunning wedding.  Her best friend travelled from Sydney, her uncle and his family travelled from the USA and her sister and her family flew down from Johannesburg.  Not only was this a wedding but it was a glorious reunion too.

Suppliers

Belair was the most magical, pretty venue in Paarl.  A perfect backdrop to a beautiful wedding.

Tracy from Trunk Events was the cool, calm & collected wedding planner.  It is always a pleasure to work alongside this talented lady.

My Pretty Vintage were the talent behind the floral creations. The venue looked amazing.

Shake ‘n Bake created the beautiful cake!

The awesome, Minki Du Plessis was the Make-up and Hairstylist.

Her perfect wedding dress was from Tying the Knot!

DJ Joe kept the party going until way after my bedtime!  He had everyone on the dance floor all night long.

DJ Dean was in charge of all the sound and lighting.

Chef Daddy were the caterers and  also treated the guests to midnight snacks.

A big thank you to my second shooter, Just Judy!

View previous wedding here!

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Anderson & Jackie

This windy Blaauwberg Beach proposal took lots of planning on Andersons’ behalf.

Anderson and Jackie have been a couple since high school.  They have encouraged each other through high school and university.  Both of them had difficult courses.  Anderson is a qualified Chemical engineer and Jackie is a Chartered Accountant.  Both Jackie and Anderson knew what their end game was.  There was never ever any doubt that they would be together.

Where it all started!

They met at Pinelands High School in Cape Town.  They have now been together for nine years!

Anderson recently moved to Pretoria to take up a position as a chemical engineer.   For the last couple of months this has been a long distance relationship.

He definitely felt it was time to take the next step and to propose to his lady love.  He had no doubt that it was Jackie he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

But trying to get the logistics of the proposal correct was quite a challenge.  He had to make one trip to Cape Town to officially ask Jackies’ parents for their permission.  This was difficult to do without Jackie figuring out what he was up to.   Another challenge was to keep it secret for another two months until he was able to get some leave in order to fly back to down to Cape Town and pop the question.

Organising me as the photographer was the easy part as Jackie had always wanted to do a couple shoot.  So he gifted her the couple shoot as her Christmas present!  Her sister actually asked her if he was going to propose but because they had asked blatantly, it threw Jackie off the scent.  She didn’t think they would be so obvious plus she thought he would propose on her birthday in April!  Needless to say that is exactly what the family were hoping!

When Jackie turned around after admiring the view and found Anderson on his knee she was totally blown away!  She hadn’t had a clue!  It was pretty magical!

These two are perfect together.  They are perfectly in tune with one another.  Relaxed, comfortable and natural with one another.  I am excited to see them tie the knot!

Alex and Carl luxury wedding can be viewed here!

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Engagement shoot

I am so excited for this beautiful young couple who have recently got engaged and set the date! I have no doubt that this will be a beautiful wedding as Heine and Inge are perfect together. You can feel the love, support and respect between them.

Where have you seen them before

If they look familiar, then its probably because you recently saw them on my blog or instagram account. They were the gorgeous couple who met me in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris during my recent trip to France. Check out the Paris photoshoot here!

A jewel fit for a queen!

It was very exciting to see on social media when Heine dropped his knee and popped the question about a month later in the Italian Alps. Heine had her gorgeous ring made by a talented, local Cape Town jeweller, Gerhard Moolman who has apparently been their family jeweller for many years.

The post Theewaterskloof Dam engagement shoot appeared first on Jo Ann Stokes.

Estie & Johan

This was definitely a Family Affair Wedding! Firstly, it happened on Christmas Day when its the most celebrated day for families to come together and to celebrate the birth of the baby, Jesus! Secondly, everyone had a part to play in organising this special day. The children helped with the flowers and decorating. Brothers and sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great grandparents all had a part in helping to make this wedding very special. I think the only people who weren’t somehow related to this bride and groom was the make-up artist, Mathilde and myself!

The beautiful flowers were supplied by Adene’s Farm Flowers!

As the family gathered to celebrate this beautiful wedding between two very special people, it had a slight bittersweet air to it for a couple of reasons. It was also the day that the family were saying their sad farewells to sisters, brother-in-laws and cousins. Both Johan and Estie’s sisters were emigrating within the week. Johans sister was leaving the following day with her family for Canada and Estie’s sister and family were leaving in a few days to settle in Mauritius!

Many South African families are split all over the world but no matter the opportunities around the world, it will always be heartbreaking for those left behind!

On the other hand, now there is a definite reason to travel!

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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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Table Mountain maternity shoot

Sophie and Yonathan

Table Mountain was a gorgeous backdrop for Sophie and Yonathans maternity shoot.  This beautiful couple are from Ethiopia but met each other in California, USA, where Sophie was studying and Yonathan was working in IT.  They plan on heading back to the States for the birth of their little boy.

Luckily, we had no rain on the day of the shoot although the wind pumped and was freezing!  Not too bad on the side of Table Mountain but the wind on Signal Hill was gale force!  In fact it was pretty scary!  It was a case of take a few pics and run back to the car, warm up a bit and then brave the elements for another few minutes.  I am pretty glad that we persevered as when Table Mountain lit up with the setting sun, it was pretty awesome.

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Cape Town Engagement Shoot

Levarne & Sharne’

I was excited to capture this Cape Town engagement shoot.  Levarne and Sharne have patiently waited for me to arrive back from Dubai.

To be honest, I could not wait!  How awesome to come home to Cape Town and have a gorgeous young couples’ engagement photos to shoot.  Especially against the beautiful backdrops of Cape Town with some incredible winter light.  I was in my element.  This was home!

The young couple!

Levarne and Sharne were just absolutely perfect.  It was fairly obvious to me that this young couple were well suited.  They were just so comfortable and relaxed with each other, as well as being totally supportive to each other.

They have both needed to have been supportive of each other over the years as they both completed their studies.  Sharne qualified as a dentist and has recently bought her own dentistry practice and on top of that is organising their wedding.  Levarne, has worked hard and achieved so much to be proud of in IT Development.  They are both immensely proud of each other as they should be.

The Shoot!

I loved being this young couples engagement photographer.  It was fun from start to finish.  They themselves made so much effort in their choice of settings and clothing.  They complimented each other to perfection.  I was almost sure that they had read this previous blogpost!

Our whereabouts!

We started off in the quaint town of Kalk Bay and took a drive down to Noordhoek Beach.  It was an absolute perfect winters evening.

And finally the light disappeared and it was time to go home.  I was happy.  Sharne and Levarne had sizzled  in front of the lens and I was home, Cape Town will always have my heart.   I was doing what I loved best!  Photography!  I cannot wait for when I get to see this lovely couple walk down the aisle.

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