And I'm back! Not quite at a hundred percent, but so much better. As much as I missed sharing pretty weddings with you this week, it was good to have a few days to recover - as a small business owner, it's easy to lose sight of giving yourself some time off (hello, weekends, what are those?). But I couldn't let the whole week go without a wedding, because at the end of the day, sharing these beauties - and more importantly, sharing in the excitement that comes from each bride and groom we feature! - is what makes my job awesome and totally worthwhile. Today's couple are the lovely Melissa & Jürgen, who pulled off a beautiful country wedding brimming over with proteas and pops of colour against the rustic surroundings, all with an eye on keeping things eco friendly, locally sourced, and easy to recycle. It was definitely a case of waste not, want not, since despite the green focus, nothing was wanting in prettiness and atmosphere! Nicole Rich was on the scene, taking these lovely pics.

DIY Elements
People often ask where we got our inspiration from, and it really was 90% from the heart. Everything was DIY, since we were going for a recyclable DIY budget wedding. We collected jars and tins for months leading up to the wedding and asked family members to collect too. We went to various restaurants and asked them for jars, and also the small Karoo water glass bottles. You'd be surprised how much restaurants collect in a week! We used these jars as vases, and family members and bridesmaids worked hard on the Friday night (over glasses of champagne) putting the flowers into them. My dad spraypainted old toys gold for us to use as name tag holders, my bridesmaid made our name tags and a family member folded oriami for us for the ceremony. My mom drilled holes into old cans and we put tea light candles in these for the evening. We also approached market vendors in Hermanus and rented signs from them for a nominal fee, then gave them back to be sold; our candles also came from a lady who buys them back at a reduced rate per kilo. We only supported local and spent months just gathering together some things and buying random pieces here and there.

You can see more from this wedding on Nicole Rich's blog.

SERVICE PROVIDERS
Venue & catering: Rockhaven Farm | Photography: Nicole Rich Photography | Cake: DIY cheese cake using Fairview cheeses, plus cutting cake by our friend Chadae | Flowers: DIY, flowers from Oak Valley | Stationery: Jessica Natasha Artist & Janita Steenkamp | Bride's dress: Gayle from Pure Bridal Studio | Hair & makeup: Caren Fourie | Bridesmaids' dresses: YDE | Groom's attire: Trenery, Woolworths | Hiring: 4EveryEvent | DJ: Newton and Co.