A sneak peek into Catherine and Rupert's magical day.
Rupert and I met fresh out of high school at our Plett Rage Festival when we were both only 18 years old. We started dating soon after. We grew together through our University careers at UCT where we studied different paths but shared similar interests.
Rupert moved to London for 3 years to complete his Masters and work. We continued our relationship long distance, one of us visiting the other every 3 months. This allowed us to see the world and learn to live with and without each other. In the end the pull was too strong and Rupert moved back to the Cape so that we could spend the rest of our lives together.
Rupert was visiting from London in April 2017. He woke me up one morning and told me to pack my bags as he was kidnapping me. He wouldn’t tell me where we were going. A few hours later we arrived in Franschhoek where he has booked a beautiful, romantic B&B.
We went for lunch, followed by a hike with views of the beautiful Franschhoek in the background. Rupert dropped to one knee and popped the question. We then had a weekend of champagne dinners, massages and wine tasting. It was truly magical.
I loved planning the wedding! Kath from SA Weddings was an absolute fairy godmother when it came to helping us plan our journey! We also got many ideas from the SA Weddings website and Facebook posts!
Many of my ideas came from Facebook and Pinterest. I "liked' a bunch of photographers on Facebook and gained ideas from wedding pictures they had posted.
There are so many to choose from! It was such a magical day! There are so many memories I will cherish forever.
For my wedding dress I wanted something comfortable and flowy with a bit of sparkle to match my personality. For my bridesmaids I loved the light blush colours. I wanted them to be comfortable and be able to move and dance easily.
My wonderful aunt and uncle own Alan Dawson Gardens and together with a friend VERY kindly offered to do all our flowers for us. It was the most amazing wedding present that anyone could ask for.
We gave them a few ideas (I loved proteas as they matched the colour scheme), but they were the creative force behind them. I absolutely loved everything they did and could not have dreamed up a better image. My goal was simple and elegant. We also had to add in a few bunnies as our surname is Hare.
I spent about a year drying rose petals to use as confetti!
Perfect by Ed Sheeran. The lyrics "we were just kids when we fell in love" really suited us :)
Rupert forgetting his trousers at home and having to send a friend's parents around to collect them! (We live in Cape Town and the wedding was in Wellington).
Our first dance was magical. Our guests lit giant sparklers and stood around the dance floor. I also managed to convince my dad and bridesmaids to do the "Baby Shark challenge" with me as a bit of a flash mob after our father daughter dance. That is one I will never forget!
The day goes by so fast. During the wedding day, make sure you take a step back with your husband. Take 10 minutes and walk a distance away from the reception area and give yourselves a chance to soak it all in.
Yes! We had a romantic week in Paris straight after the wedding! The cool weather was a welcome break from the 42 degree heat wave.
Riaan West is a Cape Town based international fine art wedding photographer who travels for local and International weddings.
If there is one thing that I truly love, it is making someone feel good about themselves and, in essence, also making them happy.
We are an Owner Driven EVENT PLANNING & DÉCOR HIRING COMPANY based in the Western Cape.
