South African Woodlands Wedding By Louise Vorster

By Magnolia Rouge

Joeline & Impi describe their wedding as an �extraordinary wedding celebration'. And their first piece of advice is to invest in a fabulous photographer which has totally paid off for them with these gorgeous images of their day from Louise Vorster. They were looking to have a traditional wedding that would be elegant, romantic and most of all timeless.

Their wedding was a complete family affair, with many of their talented family and friends helping with wedding details, which was a nice way to share the experience with them.

Tell us about your proposal: Impi proposed in December 2013, on a beautiful cold and snowy day, while we were on holiday in South America. He woke me early in the morning with a steaming cup of hot chocolate and asked me to join him on the deck of our ship to see the landmark of Cape Horn. It was stunning! He subtly steered me to the stern of the ship, (where there were no passengers) to: 'admire the view of the Islands of Chile disappearing in the background!' It was beautiful, but I was freezing by now, and wanted to go inside. Impi tried to stop me but I was determined and marched off. I was probably 50m away from him when he cried out: 'Joeline, look at this!' (I am an extremely inquisitive person so my attention was immediately captured!) I turned around, and to my surprise and delight, Impi was bending on one knee, with a promising little blue box! I don't know if I walked, ran or floated, but I was at his side in a millisecond, and, so, so happy! The four words, WILL YOU MARRY ME? were spoken, and my answer was a definite and exultant YES! In that instant a lifetime of memories and love were wholeheartedly promised. We lingered on the deck for a while before re-joining Impi's family in the Constellation room. They were very excited and ready to congratulate us with a bottle of chilled champagne, we immediately phoned my parents in South Africa. We are very blessed to have the love and support of both our families. It was the most spectacular day that I had ever seen, and the fact that Impi proposed at Cape Horn, where two oceans meet, makes it even more special!

Tell us about finding your wedding dress: My dress was a very special one of a kind wedding gown that incorporated all of my favourite ideas. It was very important for me to have a wedding dress that is timeless and comfortable, and that would give the illusion of 'floating' down the aisle. Ever since I was a little girl I loved beading and lace, and I was so happy when we found the most exquisite material that had a lot of both, and to use that for my wedding dress was a dream come true! The design and detailing of the dress developed from the material, and we decided on a very simple and elegant style to complement the lace in the best way. My favourite feature of my wedding dress was that it flared out completely when Impi twirled me around on the dance floor; I felt like a princess!

Describe your wedding flowers: The type of flowers that we selected had a special significance for us, we chose pastel coloured Hydrangeas and beautiful Orchids to feature in all our flower arrangements. Hydrangeas are the favourite type of flower of both our Mothers, and it was a special tribute to them to use Hydrangeas in our arrangements. We also fell in love with the different pastel shades and hues of blue that you see in hydrangeas. It truly is a spectacular flower! Orchids are my and Impi's favourite type of flower! It was the first flower he ever gave me, and is so timeless and elegant! And the best part was that we bought living orchid plants, so they will last for months and months after the wedding! We combined our flower arrangements with silver chandeliers, glass vases and enormous blue and white delft jam jars at focal points. Delft is a subtle reference to my family heritage, since they are originally from the Netherlands.

Favourite detail of the day: There are quite a few, but one of the highlights was entering the reception hall and seeing the lovely flower arrangements and decor, perfectly placed in line, and ready for the wedding celebration, it was breathtaking!

Most memorable moment? There was a very special moment just after the ceremony, that we had a spontaneous embrace with my parents, it was so sweet! There we were: me, my new husband and my parents, in a big bear hug! At that moment it hit me... this is what it is all about: LOVE.