A Glamorous Black Tie and Gold South African Vineyard Wedding

Well what do you know! We’ve a glamorous little evening treat for you to cheer up this very rainy Thursday here in the UK. Can it really be the first week of September already?! Whether you’re back on the school run or just have that back to school Autumn feeling like me, we all need a reminder to stop and savour the moments as they pass. I’m hoping this wedding will do just that, taking us all the way to sunny South Africa.

Alexandrina and Ryan tied the knot in their home country on the 14^th of March at St Nicholas’ Church with a reception at Vredenheim Wine Estate. Normally London dwellers, they took much of their inspiration from the alluring glamour of the 1920’s and ‘30s and Art Deco scene, and were also hugely influenced by this very wedding blog. Alex’s asymmetric draped dress is pure perfection, and captures the era flawlessly. Photographed South African based Tracy Robertson, I hope you love this wedding as much as I do.

“The glamour and sophistication of the 1920’s and 1930’s inspired the wedding. I love the different geometric shapes and styles involved with this period as well as all the decadence. We decided on a black, white/ivory and gold colour scheme which Ryan was quite grateful for!”

Photography by Tracy Robertson Photography

Alexandrina found bespoke bridal dressmaker Margo Stankova with the help of google. Seeing this wedding featured on Love My Dress helped her to decide to take the plunge and have her dream dress made though. The dress encompassed elements of 2 red carpet gowns and Alex chose the champagne/biscuit colour as it looked more vintage than white and suited her colouring better.

“Margo Stankova now has her own bridal dress collection. She was fantastic to work with and I have no doubt in mind that she can make anything. My dress was everything I could have hoped for – perfection! I would recommend her without any hesitation!”

In keeping with the theme of the day, Alex opted for a classic old Hollywood look for her hair and make-up with a crystal hair vine by Gibson Bespoke. She also wore a pair of Valentino Rockstud T-Bar heels under her beautiful dress. Other accessories included some gorgeous 1930s glass drop earrings, her mother’s sapphire ring and a gorgeous gold embossed minaudiere clutch.

“We met in May 2001 in a club in Cape Town, South Africa where we are both originally from. Ryan moved to London in 2002 and I moved with him. We’d been together for 12 years before Ryan proposed on a holiday to Ischia, Italy in September 2013. We decided on the 14th of March as our anniversary is on the 14th of May so we thought it would be an easy number to remember.”

“Tracy Robertson Photography was recommended to us by a friend who used her for their wedding. We couldn’t have asked for anyone better! Ryan and I aren’t especially touchy feely people and don’t particularly like public displays of affection but she made us feel really comfortable for the couple shoot. She was very friendly and put everyone at ease. She produced some stunning images and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her!”

Alex continued the Art Deco look with her bridesmaids both donning beautiful black dresses from Bridesmaids of London. I love that both dresses mirror elements of her own dress.

“All flowers were supplied by our wedding reception venue as they have an in-house décor company. My favourite flower is the tulip, however, these were not in season in March so we gave the venue free reign using examples of the styles and colours we liked. They did an amazing job and somehow even managed to get some flowers in my bouquet to match my lipstick!”

Their junior bridesmaid and flower girl wore cream dresses and ballet pumps and the boys wore a cute chevron bow tie with black braces and converse. The children each carried a large round balloon with gold, black, ivory and silver tassels up the aisle.

Ryan selected a black bespoke tuxedo and white linen pocket square with his best man wearing a similar monochrome tux.

“My mother, Berta walked me down the aisle to a ukulele version of ‘Over the Rainbow’ by Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwo’ole. During the register signing, we had the instrumental version of ‘Spectrum’ by Florence and the Machine. We thought it was quite atmospheric.

We walked out together as husband and wife to Rudimental’s ‘Feel the Love’ – we knew it would get everyone ready for a celebration at the wedding reception.”

 

The couple had only seen Hudson’s online before they booked but were sure that they could create a dramatic art deco look in the space. It was the perfect size to hold all of their guests while still being an intimate space.

“We knew we wanted something dramatic for the reception so decided on black table cloths with black and white stripe runners to give that whole Gatsby feel. Even the napkins had gold napkin rings placed in the middle to make them look like bow ties. The venue took care of it all and really did an outstanding job bringing the glamour of that era to the venue.

 

While Alex was searching for art deco style wedding favours she found St Germain Elderflower liqueur. The venue didn’t permit alcoholic favours but she loved the mini bottles so bought them anyway, to be refilled with bath oil and added black ‘Thank You’ tags. They gave the 6 children large gold glitter lollipops in a cotton candy flavour.

“I loved catching up with friends and family we hadn’t seen in years who had made the trip to South Africa to celebrate with us. Surprisingly I actually felt quite calm the whole day and I think that helped in the enjoyment of the day.” 

“A friend of ours, Jeanine Groenewald, made the cake for us. We wanted to incorporate the bold geometric art deco shapes so the cake itself was a cream colour with a fondant fan and a series of black and gold lines. We chose chocolate and pink champagne flavours. We used the knife that Ryan’s parents used to cut their cake on their wedding day. We just added a black and white striped ribbon.”

“We’re not very soppy people and didn’t want a slow first dance so we chose ‘Rather Be’ by Clean Bandit. We love the words and thought that it summed the 2 of us up quite well.

The light up letters were a gift to us from Ryan’s Best Man, Wayne, who owns Xzibit, an exhibition stand company.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Be true to yourself, trust your instincts and don’t let anyone tell you what you should or shouldn’t do. If I listened to people, I wouldn’t have had black bridesmaid dresses and table cloths! Also, enjoy the day, don’t worry about the small stuff because if anything does go wrong, it will most likely only be you that will know!

Love my Dress gave me a lot of inspiration and ideas. I love anything to do with the 1920’s and ‘30’s and the glamour and decadence of the whole period so was especially excited that there were so many weddings incorporating elements from this era. I still read the blog every week!”

 

Thank you so much to Alexandrina and Ryan. They pulled their Art Deco theme together beautifully and completely in keeping with their gorgeous venue. You can see the weddings that helped to inspire Alex here. Also many thanks to Tracy Robertson for the stunning images of the day.

Love Caoimhe xx

 

Photographer – Tracy Robertson Photography
Venue –  Hudson’s, Vredenheim Wine Estate, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Wedding Dress – Margo Stankova
Headpiece – Gibson Bespoke
Shoes – Valentino Rockstud
Accessories – Earrings + Bracelet + Gold Bag
Bride’s Scent/perfume – Tom Ford, Black Orchid
Groom – Bespoke Tuxedo from Tailor4Less + ASOS Shoes
Bridesmaids – Bridesmaids of London
Flowergirls – I Love Gorgeous + Etsy Dresses + Freed of London Shoes
Page Boys – Etsy Bow Tie + H&M Shirt + River Island Shorts
Florist – Wedding Warehouse
Cake – Jeanine Groenewald (no website)
Entertainment – Bryan Farrow (no website)
Rings – Wedding Ring Studio + Elma Jewellery
Stationery – Etsy + Com Bossa Wedding Design
Hair Stylist – Iain Kaufmann of Vineyard Beauty & Haircare (no website)
Makeup Artist – Lindsey Boucher of Makeup & Delight
Balloons – The Flair Exchange