After eight years together, Marielle and Tom decided to go big or go home. Before they knew it, they were planning some seriously decadent South African nuptials. Running a boutique residential construction company together in their spare time, these two utilised their super skills to organise the elegant nuptials from the other side of the globe and we are rather impressed! For more pics of the brides three gowns and Page & Holmes’ crisp captures, do scroll down…
THE VENUE “The Olive Press can seat up to 250 people, so with a guest list of 35 people, we really had to think of a way to create a sense of intimacy. We did this by setting up one long table running down the middle of the room underneath a tent-like canopy of fairy lights. Tom and I spent countless summer evenings in the park drawing up plans for décor, lighting and furniture.”
THE VIBE “We had a black and white formal dress code on the day of the wedding as well as white/neutral furniture as I wanted the florals to be the standout. I am a huge fan of flowers and knew they were going to be a big part of our day. I almost cried when I saw my cascading floral bouquet and it was so lovely when I got to meet Pippa from Wildeflower when she delivered the bouquets on the day. I couldn’t have chosen a better florist, she was so helpful and attentive throughout the whole process and turned my vision into reality. We went for a combination of autumn coloured (dark red, white, peach and soft pink) garden roses, peonies, orchards, pampas grass, dried palms and hydrangeas.”
FAVOURITE MOMENT “All of the guests holding hands in a circle at the end of the night and dancing to ‘The Circle of Life’ when the lights came on.”
THE DRESS “I ended up having three dresses, which in hindsight sounds ridiculous given I had to transport them halfway across the world! The selection was a fairly quick process because instead of having to decide between the two more formal dresses, I got both. I thought the Mariana Hardwick dress would be more suitable for the reception and the One Day Bridal would be more suited to the ceremony. I realised I couldn’t dance in the Mariana Hardwick dress so ended up purchasing a Rachel Gilbert dress for the first dance that I had to order without trying it on. It was delivered after I had already arrived in South Africa, so my sister brought it along with her. I was incredibly lucky that it fit on the day!”
WE’RE GLAD WE… “We are so glad we had a small, intimate, destination wedding where we had the opportunity to spend some quality time with family and friends. We fell in love with Africa when we visited a couple of years prior and wanted our friends and family to experience that too. Cape Town is the only place we’ve ever travelled to that can rival Melbourne in the food and wine scene, so it was an obvious choice for us!”
Keen to plan your own destination wedding after a peruse of this big day? Click here for more inspo. But first, be sure to scroll down…
CONTRIBUTING VENDORS Photographer Page & Holmes Cinematographer Orpen Film Co. Florist Wildeflower Stationery Bride Printer Peterkin Envelopes Honeybee Calligraphy via Etsy Venue Boschendal Estate Hire Items Baie Goeters Cake The Birdcage Entertainment Shout MC, Tones of Note Celebrant Georgia Love (Friend) Rings JMS Diamonds BRIDE Dress (Ceremony) One Day Bridal (Reception) Mariana Hardwick (First Dance) Rachel Gilbert Veil One Day Bridal Hairpiece & Earrings Christie Nicolaides Shoes Gucci Hair & Makeup Corle Barnard Bridesmaid Dresses Manning Cartell Bridesmaid Shoes Tony Bianco GROOM Suit & Shoes Hugo Boss Cufflinks Calibre Groomsmen Suits Dom Bagnato