Rustic Wedding With a Touch of Quirkiness

When I came across this wedding I couldn’t wait to post it.  This creative South African bride, Ellené, and  her British groom, Howard, put together a  unique rustic wedding that had quite the touch of quirkiness.  There is a lot going on, but it all works so well together and I just love looking at all the fun decor ideas.  Thank you to Lizelle Lotter Photography for capturing such a wonderful day!

Comments from the Bride

What was the overall theme for the ceremony and reception?

The theme was a mix of ideas and eras. The save-the-dates and invitations had an old library/school look to them, whilst the ceremony and reception decor were rustic, romantic and vintage with a touch of quirkiness.  My ideas were all very random and I did not worry too much about a theme, but in the end the combination worked well.  Lace is such a popular item that you can use within a vintage theme, but my husband asked me to take it easy on the lace (his only request regarding décor). I was a bit disappointed, as I love lace so much but the ideas for creating a rustic/vintage theme are truly endless. Who need’s lace!

Brides/bridesmaids attire

I’ve been gathering images of wedding dresses long before I ever got engage and the image I had of my dream dress never changed. There are so many dress designers in London; how does one choose? I had a list of names and luckily my second visit was successful. The designer is Sanyukta Shrestha and the style I was going for was 1920’s vintage elegance. Our bouquets were a combination of deep burgundy, green and cream and this color scheme was used throughout.

How many guests were invited? & what was the final guest count?
We invited 120 guests and 107 attend. Fifty percent of our guests were from abroad and not everyone brought their partners along, which we thought would be the case. We were very pleased with the amount of people that actually managed to make it to our wedding as it is quite an expense to travel such a distance for a wedding.

What were some of the challenges that you faced planning your wedding?

Howard and I are both in the hospitality industry so we knew exactly what we wanted and how we want it. I must admit though, the entire experience was still a challenge. The hardest thing for me was to make all the arrangements and do all the planning via telephone and email. It is so much more fun to be there, meet people, touch, taste and look at all the options, but as a South African living in England I was very privilege to have my dream wedding in the mother City where I was born.  Before the wedding, we had a weeks worth of entertainment and activities for the foreign guests planned out.  This was quite a challenge as well with all the final wedding arrangements happening at the same time but we managed it and I still enjoyed every moment regardless of the high stress levels.

What was the budget, did you go over or stay under?

Our parents gave us a budget of R180 000 ($17,500 US) which covered all the large expenses – the venue, co-coordinator, décor and stylist, music, catering, photographer, bridal cars, guest shuttles, Bedouin and a few smaller suppliers. All the other extras Howard and I payed for ourselves.  There will always be unexpected expenses, in which you should make provision for. We did decided to spend slightly more than expected but it was totally worth it.

We did not save money on anything specific but overall it was certainly cheaper to host our wedding in Cape Town and not England. Our wedding was exactly how we wanted it and we could afford to spend money on smaller detail due to the current exchange rate.

Any tips to share with brides planning their own wedding?

For a bride who’s organising her own wedding and is quite a perfectionist  (like me), start planning early so you don’t have any regrets afterwards. I started my planning in March 2013 and we got married Feb 2014. I never thought a year would be enough but you can easily do it if you’re organised and have a list of what you wish to achieve every month.

Try not to rely on your family to help on the day of. You want everyone to be stress free and enjoy the day.

If you want to see the venue the day of to make sure everything is set up to your liking, then give yourself time to go early to do so. My biggest regret was tiredness. Everyone always say it but do try and go to bed early so you can look fresh and stress free.

Make sure everything is done the day before as you might think there is plenty of  time on the wedding day but it flies by so quickly and you don’t want it to be rushed. Spend time with your bridesmaids, have breakfast with them and make 100% sure you are happy with your hair and make-up before you put your dress on.

What were the highlight from the ceremony & reception

Definitely our first dance! Our photographer took a great photo of the lift we did and she named it the Flying Bride.  I also really enjoyed the ceremony as it was so different from the norm. When I got out the car and stood on the hill, looking down at all my guests sitting in the rustic field I had goose bumbs from head to toe. It was exactly how I imagined it. The best feeling ever!