Natural South African Wedding By Louise Vorster

By Magnolia Rouge

What a celebration to kick start the week with! This is a wedding after my own heart� beautiful outdoor location amongst nature, fresh greens and whites, just effortlessly beautiful. Louise Vorster seriously knocked it out of the park with this stunning wedding of Lucia & Hein's. Lucia is a wedding photographer herself so having been around plenty of weddings, she had a lot of experience to draw from when it came to planning her own.

Tell us about your proposal: He proposed on a Friday afternoon as the sun was setting over the waters of the Kruger National Park. He had arranged with the lodge we were stying to take us for a sunset cruise and in the middle of the bush, nest to a bench they placed a small table with a lantern, two glasses and a bottle of champagne. We sat down on the bench and soon after he began his proposal and surprised me with the most beautiful ring I could ever asked for. Right before he actually pop the question; I jumped up with excitement as I saw the most beautiful silhouette of an elephant crossing the river right before us. This made everything so special and I will always remember that moment.

Tell us about finding your wedding dress: For me finding me wedding dress was a wonderful experience. We went to two different stores that day and only found one favourite in the first store, we then went on to the second store and it was about the fourth dress I tried on there. The moment I walked out of the dressing room, with my wedding dress, and saw my mom and best friends reaction, I knew this was the one. When I saw myself in the mirror I did a little (or rather big) happy dance and that was it, I had my perfect wedding dress.

Any DIY elements? Basically our whole wedding was DIY. My mom made all the overlays, serviette, burlap bags, and dooly bunting. My dad made all the wooden crates for the centrepieces, all the sign and our ring box. I made all the stationary, escorts cards and everything in between. This really gave our wedding a personal touch and made the whole day so much more special.

Describe your wedding flowers: I wanted the wedding flowers to fit in with the natural feel of the wedding so we opted for a lot of greenery with touches of white roses and a bit of colour.

Favourite detail of the day: My favourite detail of the day would be the wooden ring box my dad made for us and my beautiful earrings my hubby gave to my as a wedding gift.

What advise would you give out to a couple planning their wedding? My advise to any couple would firstly be to enjoy the journey as it goes by so quickly and do as much things as possible yourself, as it makes the wedding really personal. Secondly (and this comes from the fact that I am a wedding photographer myself) TIME is super important!! Allow enough time for photographs, start early with hair and make-up. The only things that will allow you to create a relaxed environment that everybody can enjoy is TIME!! If you have time on your side you will enjoy the day so much more and you will be able to take in every minute that passes.