C h a n t e l & D e r i c k

{ALL IMAGES PC BENADE PHOTOGRAPHY}

The Cape Town couple recently got married in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Their wedding ceremony took place in the beautiful historic Dutch Reformed Church in the centre of Stellenbosch's town while their reception was at Skilpadvlei, a nearby wine farm.

F R O M T H E B R I D E ...

The Meeting...

We were both students at Stellenbosch University, but we didn't know about each other. In my final year at university, my sister and I went for a dance at the University's student centre, where I met Derick. I couldn't dance too well, in fact many guys that evening commented on my dancing skills but Derick said I wasn't so bad and we spent the evening chatting.

I sent him a message on Facebook telling him how I enjoyed our evening-but he didn't reply until 3 months later! Turns out he doesn't use Facebook much, but he did reply to my message eventually and asked me out for a coffee and since that first coffee, we were inseparable. And three years later he asked me to marry him.

The Proposal...

We went to the spot where we first went camping together near Gordonsbay. There was no one else on the beach and it was all just perfect-especially when he went down on one knee and proposed!

The Ring...

I liked the idea of a dainty engagement ring with a diamond and smaller diamonds next to it. My wedding band is also a simple, thin ring with small diamonds on it.

The Dress...

The dress I chose was actually only the second dress that I tried on! I really wanted an off-shoulder or strapless dress that had ribbon criss-crossing at the back. I also really wanted a flower feature somewhere on the dress and when I tried on this dress it had all the things I wanted.

The Photographer...

We had a great photographer, PC Benadé. We really enjoyed our photo-shoot before our reception in Stellenbosch's historic centre, since it makes such a beautiful backdrop.

The Wedding Venue...

We chose Skilpadvlei as our reception venue because it was in Stellenbosch, the town where we first met. The location and surroundings were just perfect. I also wanted to keep it simple and the venue took care of everything from the décor to the catering.

The colours at the reception were pink, white and silver and we chose all the décor and flowers to fit in with our colour palette. I also wanted a three-tiered wedding cake, which was decorated in silver and had beautiful pink roses on it to stick to our colour scheme. Furthermore, we had fairy lights throughout our reception venue, which created a lovely, romantic atmosphere.

We served savoury pancakes as the starter and had a buffet of traditional South African dishes for the main meal. We served warm puddings and coffee for dessert.

At the end of the day, we had a great DJ, delicious food and had a wonderful time with our friends and family.

I couldn't be happier with how things worked out. Our wedding day was perfect in every way. Everything was just how I wanted it! I got married to the man of my dreams and I was able to share my special day with my friends and family-I will always remember it!

Chantel and Derick went to the Garden Route region for their honeymoon and now live and work in Cape Town.

Reception Venue, décor and catering Skipladvlei Photography PC Benadé

MW x