Preview walking tour 28 July 2009

Darlings! Last weekend Rooster, his parentals and his niece (flower-tot #1) did a sneaky reconnaissance trip to De Hoop and I took photies so that YOU can have an idea of what we’re looking forward to…

We first fell in love with the big fig trees. In the Opstal area there are two GIANT fig wild trees that are just overwhelmingly Big and Lovely. It was in a post-engaged state of  bliss that we first laid eyes on the fig trees and I knew I could marry under their branches.

The view of the wedding tree through the old gates to the Opstal

And, so it is that our lovely guests will enter through the gates (pictured above) and take a seat under one of the magnificent fig trees…

One of my favourite childrens’ stories was from Enid Blighton’s The Magic Faraway Tree. Below, a pic of  Bride-tot #1 climbing in the boughs of The Magic Wedding Tree:

And a close-up of the magical trunk:

(Sincere apologies for being such a technology-eejit that I can’t figure out how to spin that pic. Sorry. Really).

But, darling Internet, that tree just keeps getting better! There is a “HITCHING POST”!!! I kid you not… see below:

My Rooster and his parents will await me and mine at the hitching post as we walk towards where we’ll be wed…

And this will be my “aisle”:

After the ceremony, Roosterandme and our family will lead to the little “chapel” at De Hoop (off the side of the square) to sign the registry and become official. The Law says that we must sign in “a place of worship or private residence” and because I am a lawyer I’m funny about legal stuff like that. Ergo, the signing will happen in the chapel!

Our guests will proceed through the far gates of the vlei to a spot with a lovely view for canapes and lovely music.

(Please note Rooster’s wedding scouting outfit of lime green and black boardies and his springbok ugg boots… he’s a veritable trendsetter…)

After canapes we (the wedding party) will tootle down to the waters edge and boat across the vlei (lake) to the other side: the reception venue at the Melkkamer!

In the meanwhile, our guests will take a drive around the lake. This should give us a sneaky half hour to 45 minutes to take photos uninterrupted on the far side… and it will mean that we won’t have to miss out on any of the fun socialising time over cocktails.

On the way around, we won’t want our darling guests to feel at all parched, so we’ll set up a drinks refill station somewhere pretty… like here:

(‘cept it will be about 40 minutes lighter when our lovelies are refilling their beverages)

The rest of the evening’s festivities will take place in a beautiful 100 year old barn: please imagine it cleaned up a bit more and filled with soft light from dimmed paper lanterns and hundreds of candles in recycled glass jars and gorgeous crystal stands.

Aaah…

For more pictures of De Hoop and the beautifulness that will be around us on our wedding weekend, please visit their site here!

A garland for my locks… 3 July 2009

I very nearly shed small tears of delight when I tootled over to a.mountain.bride this morning and saw these beauties

I really, really, really want to wear my hair loose with a hair garland (there I was calling it a flower crown… “hair garland” is FAR superior!). I have a lot of hair and I have imagined that garland would look beauty: who says they’re only for flower tots? (Although my small army of nieces will all wear them too…) My garland will most probably be made out of blushing bride so as to match my dress and to be a little clever (how can one ignore a flower called blushing bride?). Blushing brides look like this:

All pics from flickr.

But, Internet, unfortunately, there is scant inspiration for garland-loving gals out there. The only other example I’ve yet stumbled upon that looks like something a real person would wear is this stunner:

This bride who was all over the internet like a rash a few weeks back, but alas, it was in the days when i had no aspirations of blogging myself so I don’t have the foggiest idea where she came from… Any ideas? I have small bride-crush on those pics above.

Anymore garland inspiration I’m missing out on?

whataweekend! 22 June 2009

Some stuff that I can tick off after this weekend:

1. First registry items! Rooster and I got to shoot that gun at @Home on saturday morning. Ridic fun! I think we got some goodies… Yippee yay.

2. Round corner cutter. When our invites are printed (hopefully soon!) we will want to give them round corners becuase I think round is prettier. On saturday we tracked down (what may be) the Only round corner punch in CT. Hurrah for us! Tis being delivered to our nearest store tomorrow. Hopefully this will be followed closely by our invites which are being test printed as I type!

3. Flower girl dresses!!! Well, we found the fabric. Rooster’s mother is a fabric artist and some years ago was given an enormous box of indian silk from an international quilter friend. We found it while enjoying father’s day at  their house yesterday afternoon and went a little beserk. The Most Beautiful fabrics. In keeping with my desired theme of kititng the kiddies in same-same-but-different dresses, we selected six of my favourites that are mainly green, but feature pinks and blues and whites and yellows as well and set the three bigger girls onto them.

Flowergirl 1 (age 8) chose wide pink stripes alternating with candy stripes on white. FG 2 (age 6) chose similar fabric, but with more blue. FG 3 (age 4 – I’m her fairy godmother) chose a pale yellow with large colourful checks. Mother of FG4 (age 1 1/2) chose a white with pink and green checks. Tiny FG (current age 4 months – she just gets a frock!) got the smallest piece and remaining FG is left with a multicoloured checked fabric.

We stopped off on the way home at my folks and raided my mum’s patterns and found the patter that was used for HER flowergirls when they wed in 1978. Per-fect!

Fabric, pattern and measurements will be given to an amazingly talented refugee seamstress to do her magic. Fantastic! And the remaining fabric will be worked into our wedding quilt…

A weekend well spent