The simplicity of today’s elegant wedding is so pretty! Carla & Core had a beautifully understated boho chic big day with a colour pallet of feminine pinks and peppered with autumn inspired jewelled tones, think sapphire, emerald and ruby.
Words by Carla. Images by Yolande Marx.
Babylonstoren, Franschhoek, Western Cape, South Africa was the first place I wanted to go see as I knew it was the perfect venue from the moment we saw it. It is such a wonderful place, like out of a dream. Everything feels so real and authentic.
Babylonstoren has a wonderful team that does the planning of your special day, they are really professional and listen to everything you need & require to make your day go smoothly, I never had to worry about a thing & really left most of the work for them, they are such a wonderful creative group of people, I just had to tell them once what sort of wedding I wanted and left them to be creative and I was very pleased that they brought out all the stops in making it a reality.
Because I’m also a creative person I know what it feels like if someone cuts off your hands, so I knew that the Babylonstoren team has done this many times & I could really trust them with everything.
I wanted a unique take on my dress and needed the best of the best, Robyn (who made my wedding dress) was exactly that, she’s not only been making dresses for many years, it is her passion!
She is truly an artist in dress making, she paints with fabric and when you visit her it’s not just about a dress, it’s about you and what type of personality you have, she looks at all those details and if you’re not exactly sure what you want, she will guide you in the right direction. It was such a wonderful experience creating this dress with Robyn.
I wanted the girls to feel comfortable and be themselves on my wedding day, so I asked them to each choose their own dress, all I did was give them more or less the look that I wanted and the colours I preferred for the and they could go shopping for their own dress. This gave them the freedom to choose what suites them and their personalities. I love mismatching and that is what I was going for with the look for the bridal party.
You would think that getting the Groom’s outfit would be easy, it was the hardest thing to do and find but when we did it was perfection. We wanted a navy or dark blue suit right from the start and found the most beautiful and comfortable suit at Hilton Weiner.
We had it tailored to perfection and this is a tip for all bride’s out there, have your man’s suit tailored, it is so important that it fits perfectly.
We got a lovely tie from Hugo Boss, stunning ceramic cufflinks, the tie pin was brought all the way from London from Wedgwood.
My dearest Brother gave me away, I loved that he was able to give me away, we have always been so close and this was a special moment for both of us.
My husband and I met through a mutual friend almost 10 years ago, I was playing hard to get and almost lost my opportunity to be with him but as fate had it all planned out we did end up together, when we saw each other again I said to myself that I won’t let this opportunity pass me by again, a week later we moved in together and you know what they say… the rest is history.
We didn’t get engaged until about 7 years later and it was the most romantic proposal in the mountains of Hogsback in the middle of winter in an old ruined building next to a stream, the setting was like something out of a romance novel, he had pictures of us pinned up all around the building with pink roses everywhere, a fire crackling in the background with candles lit all around me, it was so beautiful, he’s knees was shaking as he proposed and I just could help myself, I was crying with joy it was just perfect.
Many years went by we never rushed getting married right away, we only decided that almost 2 years after the engagement that it is time now to do this and then only did I start planning all the wedding shenanigans. I secretly collected ideas and inspiration but eventually it grew into something much more simpler and without all the fuss
Yolande Marx is truly a story teller when she captures your moments, I was very excited to have her as our wedding photographer! I’ve seen her work on many occasions and fell in love with her storytelling. That is what I wanted for our wedding and Yolande never disappoints.
She is such a wonderful person & calming soul to have on your wedding day, she will make you feel special and capture the most amazing moments on your big day. Yolande Marx is truly a story teller when she captures your moments, I was very excited to have her as our wedding photographer!
I’ve seen her work on many occasions and fell in love with her storytelling. That is what I wanted for our wedding and Yolande never disappoints. She is such a wonderful person and calming soul to have on your wedding day, she will make you feel special & capture the most amazing moments on your big day.
Babylonstoren provided most of the decor, to be honest you don’t need much decor with such a beautiful venue and the most amazing surroundings, I think if you had to add more decor you would completely ruin the beauty of that. So I really only had a few brass ornament and small brass vases that I added to the table to give it the BoHo Chic look that I wanted.
My inspiration came from everywhere, I reflected on myself and my partner, what was important to both of us. My colours were really just inspired by the season of Autumn, warm deep tones, the pink flowers just added that bit of femininity and went perfect with all the other tones.
I loved the royal colours of emerald, ruby, sapphire they just spoke to me & made so much sense to use those colours as my inspiration pallet. I used a lot of colours but in subtle ways.
If you could impart any words of wisdom to a future brides planning their wedding day, what would they be?
You think you need all these fancy things for your wedding but all they do is over shadow what it is actually all about. Keep it simple and only take what you truly need! Reflect on what is the most important thing for you and your partner for your big day, Ours was to celebrate our love with good company, close family, good food, wine and music, this is all our loves and that is all that mattered.
If you could impart any words of wisdom to future brides planning their wedding day, what would they be?
You think you need all these fancy things for your wedding but all they do is over shadow what it is actually all about. Keep it simple & only take what you truly need! Reflect on what is the most important thing for you & your partner for your big day, Ours was to celebrate our love with good company, close family, good food, wine & music, this is all our loves & that is all that mattered.
Our First dance was also a track from Angus & Julia Stone ‘Big Jet Plane’. It just completely describes our love and our story.
Thanks to the wonderful Yolande Marx for sharing another super gorgeous wedding with the blog and massive congrats to the lovely Carla & Core – love your beautiful wedding.
wedding credits / photographer: yolande marx / wedding venue: / brides dress: / brides veil: / grooms suit: / brides shoes: / grooms shoes: / bridesmaid dresses: / bridesmaid shoes: / hair & makeup: / florist: / wedding cake: / catering: / rings: / videography: / stationery
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