Afternoon girlies! We’re back with more from Bianca & Tiaan’s DIY rustic vintage wedding. SO many details coming up in Part 2…

Here’s beautiful bride Bianca ~

As soon as we started planning on our wedding I had a very distinct and clear idea of what I had in mind….but tying all the loose ends together was quite a bit of a challenge to me. I found my inspiration on sites like Pinterest by scanning through hundreds of wedding pictures and pinning the ones that caught my attention. Google images searches also helped bring my ideas together.

La Colline was the first and last venue we went to look at…we fell in love with our venue the moment we saw it. It has a chapel, reception area and large wooden deck area that overlooks the whole of Port Elizabeth on the same premises. Our venue just fitted in perfectly with what we had in mind for our wedding as well as what we felt we needed in order to make our wedding day the perfect unforgettable moment in our lives. The venue was classically elegant, romantic and modern at the same time…with neutral shades of creams and browns, different textures and a fire place that was perfect for a winter wedding. We didn’t have to do much or add much to the venue in order for it to fit the look we needed it to have….the venue just fitted our wedding ideas like a glove!!!

Both of us were very involved with the wedding and all the planning and DIY projects that came along with it.  The week after we got engaged, we immediately started planting different kinds of succulents; aloe’s and rock roses…plants that we knew we wanted to use for the wedding.  They grew and multiplied so quickly that by the time of the wedding we didn’t have to buy any extra succulents! We mainly used cream and coffee coloured roses to soften the look of all the succulent plants that we used for the centrepieces, decor and bouquets. The succulents were majority a variety of rockroses used in different sizes, shapes, colours and shades as well as the thin/long leave aloe.  We used broken sea shells as decoration on top of the soil of the wedding favours…it made them look so rustic.

We used family wedding photos in old frames to display and each guest received a “fill in the missing word” card that also acted as a name card.  I also printed our favourite inspirational quotes to display around the space.  I used an old suitcase from the family to make the table plan, and Tiaan and I made a wedding sign to display outside the venue.  Our favourite alcoholic beverage would definitely be wine…so we collected and cleaned about 40 wine bottles. We got them cut open at the bottom and used them as lanterns on the steps as you walk up to the entrance of our venue, placing a candle underneath each one.  I used doilies to make cones that we used to place the rose petal confetti in, and  I also used different types of doilies to make bunting that we hung in the chapel and on the deck.

photographer

Choosing our wedding photographer was a challenge, our biggest “thing” was that we needed to find a photographer that had the ability to capture our love for each other in a lens…which is not an easy task!  We came across our *A*M*A*Z*I*N*G* photographer, Erna Loock on Facebook.  After going onto her website and looking at her stunning photos I realised that she was one of those super gifted photographers that just had the ability to capture the love that is within that moment that you share with your partner…we were SOLD on that!!!

After our engagement shoot we had with her we just knew that we had made the right decision! She really captured “US”…who we are, what we feel for each other and what we mean to each other….that in itself is an art! I can’t explain the warm feeling I get in my heart every time I look at our engagement and wedding photos…brings the brightest smile to my face!!!

favourite moment

My favourite would definitely be that moment when I walked down the aisle and made eye contact with Tiaan and saw a tear running over his cheek all the way down to his chin and he just had the most content and happy look on his face!!! That was definitely an “Aaaaaaw” moment for me.

OUR favourite moment would be seeing how our guests enjoyed the wedding…laughed, cried, danced and partied with us! Without our beloved friends and family there – it just wouldn’t have been the same!

first dance

Bryan Adams/Sting & Rod Stewart – All for Love

advice

I wouldn’t do A N Y T H I N G differently! I loved every second of planning our wedding and I’m so very sad that it’s over! It’s such an exciting part of your lives and so much “blood, sweat and tears” goes into this ONE special and unforgettable day in your life!!!  My advice would be to make the wedding your own and not follow trends if it’s not your kind of scene.  Try to involve your partner as much as possible when it comes to decisions being made regarding the wedding as well as any DIY projects. We had so many fun late nights drinking wine and working on DIY projects together for our wedding and while we are busy, chatting about other wedding goodies or just catching up on how our week has been going.  Remember to compromise … they might not say it in so many words, but men also have a ‘rough’ idea in their mind of what they want on their wedding day!

DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF!!! It all just has a way of working out in the end

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Suppliers Photographer: Erna Loock Photography // Dress: Bridal Flair // Accessories: Caress Jewellers // Shoes: Queue // Bridesmaids dresses: Jenni Button // Groomswear: Heinz in Style // Florist: Floral Creations // Cake: Simoné Luckhoff  // Stationery: Crystal Print & It’s a Gift // Hair: French Twist Hair & Beauty // Makeup: Theano Zenois Dowlman  // Venue: La Colline // Catering: Petronella Fine Dining & Catering // Music: Colin Nance // Coordinator: Lynley Cusens at The Hire Warehouse