Modern Romance In The African Bush

By Magnolia Rouge

The continent of Africa holds a special place in my heart after spending a few months travelling through there many years ago. One of the first animals I saw after arriving in Nairobi, Kenya was the Giraffe. As we were driving down a rough country road I look over to the fields alongside us and there were these magnificent animals just gracefully gliding above the treetops. It was truly surreal! Anyway enough about my story, let's get on with the beauty you see below from JULIA WINKLER and stylist Candace from ABSOLUTE PERFECTION.

Candace tells us, �Gentle Giants, thats all that comes to mind when I think of Giraffes. I had been dying to style a shoot with my absolute favorite African animal as the starting point of our inspiration, and when Julia emailed me about doing a collaboration with an African take, the creativity in me started to explode with all types of ideas. I had the perfect venue in mind, and the colour palate of the venue, MONATE GAME LODGE, out in the beautiful Limpopo, was exactly the right palate.�

�Having just revamped the entire lodge, it had just the look I was wanting for the shoot; sleek, modern African Bush, with countless Giraffe on their property as an added bonus. I love interior, so it was effortless creating a concept around Monates' new look. Every interior designer knows White and Grey is the basis of great contemporary design, so I sent my brief to CHRYSTALACE and PIPPA & POLLY CAKERY and we ran with it. Having our shoot set out in the African bush, I wanted to play with the textures that can be felt and seen throughout the landscape into the shoot. We brought in elements of natural wood, and of course zebra print beige linens, which we then �glammed� up a bit with a chevron pattern.

As always it's about �the dress', and both Julia and I had a certain style in mind. We contacted JOEL JANSE VAN VUUREN and were blessed enough for him to allow us to use one of his latest dresses, just off the runway for the shoot, and it was beyond perfect. We wanted the florals lush and overflowing, so we created an open bouquet which we used in different ways. Again with the tablescape, I played with different textures, and just had to use the incredible directors chairs Monate has, they are just simply gorgeous and very modern Africa. We finished off the shoot with the ultimate African Sunset, with our ceremony set up by a tree more that 100 years old, what a blessing.�