Lindsay & Brandon Wesner’s Wedding:

When Lindsay approached us to do their wedding flowers we were nothing less than excited – this girl’s got style. I knew this from the moment she mentioned the multiple tiered cheese cake they wanted, a refreshing change from the norm. I love doing flowers for personal friends and I loved every minute of planning and putting together the floral and decor concepts for this beautiful celebration, this gracious bride and her handsome groom.

The Bride’s bouquet is always a very important feature of the flowers on the day, not only for the bride but for the florist too, partly because the bride carries it with her all day, but it is often representative of her preferences, personality and character. This is always something that we are aware of when conceptualising her bouquet and it is often the last item to be designed as I like to get to know my brides so that I get a feel for them as a person and can really reflect this through their bridal flowers. Lindsay’s is one of our favourites to date, including a soft mix of coral and cream roses and tendrils of lisianthus, with touches of sea holly and miniature orchid blooms. The trailing olive leaves and asparagus fern added a whimsical flow to the simplicity of her elegant gown. Bound in wide cream satin with pearl pins it was finished with a beautiful silver and pearl brooch, the final touch to a carefully put together creation.

Lindsay’s bridesmaids looked perfectly pretty in their pastel coloured gowns and carried simple white and cream roses, framed by olive leaves off the olive trees on the farm, with trailing satin and organza ribbons in mint and coral.

At our first coffee date to discuss the concept of her wedding flowers further, Linds and I went through their colour preferences, flower choices, centrepiece design ideas and decor specifics. She loved the idea of one of the feature colours being very trendy gold which we used for the flower containers and candlesticks, adding glass candle holders for that fresh, twinkly effect it has under candlelight. They were set on using soft grey, minty greens together with a range of coral tones and cream and white and really wanted to incorporate some local greens and fynbos.

We guided Lindsay to use a banquet table layout for lovely, long, flowing tables, following current table flower trends, and suggested floral garlands of penny gum, olive branches and slangbos as centrepieces on the tables. These were perfectly suited to the castle-like, banquet-hall setting at Het Vlock Kasteel with the raw brick walls and natural tones of the earthy setting, and were punctuated with coral dahlias, snaps, roses and blue-grey sea holly.

Her lovely mum propagated aloes in her Bonnievale garden to place atop some of the gold candlesticks, adding height and texture to the table flowers, as well as for the potted aloe favours they gave away. The gold doily ‘chargers’ and table number picture frames were a brilliant addition by the bride and added a warm glow to the place settings. Each serviette was finished off with a mint ribbon and gold seal, bearing a monogram chosen by Lindsay and Brandon. So much thought went into every last detail.

Although Lindsay had a clear idea of the colours and the overall effect she wanted, she wasn’t sure what to hire or how much. With our guidance we were able to put together a truly beautiful table scape. We sourced a handful of King Proteas which we used on the main table as focal flowers, something that Lindsay really wanted to incorporate into the flowers on the day, and I think it was quite fitting that these regal blooms only appeared alongside the bride and groom. Floating candles bobbed gently in the glass candle holders and small gold, footed pots, in between the tall gold candelbra, adding soft candlelight at different heights along the tables. Low strung fairy lights added a more intimate ambience by giving the feeling of a lower ceiling, which in such a large venue can seem quite vast.

The romance between these two is clearly visible and there is such a lovely old world charm about them both. Lindsay is the epitomy of a lady and conducts and carries herself with grace and poise, and Brandon a gentleman through and through, not only in appearance, but in the way he treats his beautiful bride, so attentively and with such tender love.

As a venue Het Vlock Kasteel was a pleasure to work at. Friendly and accommodating they allowed us to work our magic in a cool oasis amidst the scorching outdoor summer heat. They really did provide the perfect venue for Lindsay and Brandon and a brilliant blank canvas which any florist is blessed to work in. In the most beautiful setting, surrounded by lush vineyards and rolling hills, Het Vlock Kasteel, a family run venue, is well recommended for destination weddings. Only an hour and a half out of Cape Town it’s far enough away to feel that much more special, but close enough for it to be a manageable travelling distance for all guests from the city.

It’s always a pleasure to work with the top vendors in the Cape. We’ve listed them here so that you know who they all are, but a huge thank you must go to Tasha Seccombe for capturing everything so beautifully and doing all our hard work justice.

Photography: Tasha Seccombe

Venue : Het Vlock Casteel

Catering & Waiting Staff: Heart Worx

Flowers: The Rose Cafe

Hair & Make-up: Beauty by Erane

Bridesmaids Dresses: Skylah Designs

Wedding Cake: The Mousetrap

Wedding Cake: La Mont

Hiring: Function Hiring 4U

Hiring: Rent a Candle

Hiring: Eensgezind

Flags & Bunting: The Roxy Foundation