Elegant Outdoor | African Bush: Real Wedding

This pretty outdoor wedding held in the African bush is beautifully elegant! Our lovely bride and groom decided to keep the decor simple and let the African bush do all the talking. I absolutely adore the simplicity of their day. Natalie made a stunning bride too and aren’t the bridesmaids and flower girl gorgeous? I’ll hand you over to the lovely Natalie now so she can tell you all the details about her beautiful, beautiful wedding!

Jean proposed to me on a trip to India in the gardens of the Taj Mahal at sunrise. Probably the biggest surprise of my life!

When we started looking at wedding venues, we realised that many venues felt like you could be anywhere in the world. Only 2 and a half hours drive from Durban, is the area of Hluhluwe – with its uniquely African setting, we quickly decided that we wanted to be in the heart of the African bush and have our reception under the stars.

We were sold on having an outdoor wedding & just had faith that the weather would play its part as we had absolutely no back up plan! (Looking back I realise how lucky we were) Zulu land Tree lodge had a beautiful small fever tree forest which we chose as our reception venue. We tried to keep it as simple and elegant as possible.

We chose orchids for our flowers to keep the table settings simple and elegant and not to distract from the natural setting around us.

When it came to the styling of my day I just chose things I loved and hoped it all worked out together!

We gave Pashmina’s to our ladies as wedding favours to keep them warm, as the wedding reception was outdoors.

I bought the flower crown for my flower girl at a little shop in Thailand.

 

My wedding dress was by Maggie Sottero and called Everett. I choose this dress as when I tried it on it just felt right & fitted perfectly!

We had the Zulu Land gospel choir sing at our wedding during the ceremony. They also sang a few songs after the ceremony while the guests had sundowners.

I walked down the isle to the traditional “here comes the bride”. My mother escorted me as my father has passed.

Our wedding photographer was the fabulous Fiona Clair Photography!

If I could impart any words of wisdom? My bridesmaid said something to me on the morning of the wedding and it stuck in my head through out the day.. “Just remember what you are here for “. When everything seems over whelming and things might go wrong – Just remember that you and your husband are there for each other, and the day should be solely about the two of you and the commitment you are making to each other.

My most memorable part of the wedding day? I suppose the most memorable part was at the reception, when I just took a moment to take everything in. I looked around and the fever tree’s were all lit up by candle light and everyone was dancing under the fever tree canopy. I just remember feeling so blessed that it had all worked out so perfectly!

What a gorgeous and classy wedding huh?! Imagine your big day being set in the African bush… Natalie and Jean looked they had the best day ever and I’d just like to say a huge congrats to them. Thank  you too to Fiona Clair Photography for sharing her gorgeous images of the happy couple.

So my highlights are… the overall elegant styling in the African bush setting. I love that Natalie chose different bouquets for herself, the maids and the cute flower girl. The coral of the bridesmaid dresses was a pretty choice too. What are your favourite bits? Please do share and leave some love for our lovely couple, Natalie and Jean…

wedding credits | photography: fiona clair photography | venue: zulu land tree lodge, south africa | wedding dress: maggie sorotto | bridemaid dresses: kathrin kidger | grooms suit: suit up in westville | entertainment: zulu land gospel choir

View the Gallery