Lifestyle - Inspired Living SA

Planning Your Dream Wedding

Weddings like people come in all shapes and sizes. Every girl fantasizes about planning her Dream Wedding, pretty much from the time she is born the dream begins. The dress, the cake, the flowers – there are so many things at play and someone needs to co-ordinate it all. Having planned my own wedding, 15 years ago and having the pleasure of assisting in the planning of my brother’s wedding, you quickly realise the enormity of the task at hand.

Planning Your Dream Wedding

Every bride-to–be has her own idea of what her dream wedding should be like – all you need to do is watch the endless array of reality “wedding” TV productions to realise how different peoples ideas can be. Different cultures and religions can also influence the path that the “big day” will follow – I guess some people can handle all the pressure and stress while many opt to use a wedding planner or co-coordinator.

One thing you quickly realise is how out of control the “spend” can get when you start planning your wedding, especially if you are having a big wedding. Which is quite a scary thought, seeing as we have two daughters! Yes we probably need to start saving now. Many couples do however choose to have a smaller, more low-key wedding and successfully manage to keep their budget under control.

From personal experience there are a few key elements that should be your top priority when planning your wedding – your dress should be top of the list, followed very closely by choosing and booking your venue, next on the list should be a photographer and flowers. If you are making use of a wedding planner they will steer you in the right direction as to prioritising all these various elements.

Choosing your wedding dress is an exceptionally personal thing and can be quite daunting when faced with the vast array of styles and fabrics available. Again there are various factors that should be considered when making your choice, like the climate and venue you have chosen – you do not want a wedding dress with long sleeves if you are getting married in Cape Town, in December. If you have chosen a beach wedding – a loose flowing chiffon gown could be the way to go. As I said the choices are endless and can pretty much go wherever your imagination takes you and your budget allows.

We are fortunate to live a truly beautiful city, Cape Town, which easily lends it’s self to be a perfect wedding destination. From beautiful beaches, breath-taking vineyards, spectacular garden and mountain back drops who could ask for more? Venues vary in size and price so there is something to suit all tastes and budgets.

In my mind the major stress factors when planning a wedding are the guest list and the table seating plan – if ever you want to see sparks fly this is where it will happen. Especially when your Mom insists that you invite your long lost Aunt that nobody has seen or heard from in years and then where do you seat “Aunt Mary” seeing as nobody likes her! I think that it is advisable to take a few steps back and remember that this is your special day! In my mind nobody remembers where they sat or what they ate, they are there to see the bride and groom and witness a truly momentous occasion.

So most of all – remember to have fun and enjoy the whole experience from beginning to end, it is your one opportunity to live out your fairy-tale, so make the most of it.

I have included the details of a few wedding and event planning companies, photographers and other wedding resources, to assist you when planning your Dream Wedding:

Wedding & Event Planners:

Affinity Wedding & Event Management

Celebration

Theme Creation

Wedding Concepts

Photographers:

South African Wedding Photographers (A comprehensive list compiled by SA Venues)

Images: Pinterest Wedding Board

4 Things I...., 4 Things..., Featured Posts, Lifestyle

4 Things I… from Kayleigh Jackson

Today my featured blogger is local lass, Kayleigh Jackson, from Pretoria. Kayleigh was born in Harare, Zimbabwe and grew up in Amanzimtoti, Durban with her parents and younger brother. She is currently living with her husband in Pretoria, where she works for a non-profit organization – but is looking forward to new challenges ahead.

Kayleigh spends her time taking long walks, listening to old school music, playing with her kitties, reading and expressing her thoughts and ideas through writing.

[quote style=”1″]I love my husband; we’ll be married for three months this Sunday – 27 Nov. I love my friends and family – although some are far away – they are all very important to me.[/quote]

Kayleigh is new to the blogging world – she has two lovely blogs – A Quiet Joy, which is an inspirational blog and about being grateful. In her other blog – The Parasol and Cupcake, she shares her insights about weddings, from her own personal experiences as a bride”

4 Thing I am looking forward to at the moment….

New horizons for 2012

I am leaving my position at a non-profit organization at the end of this year and now looking at various work and study options for next year. I’s an exciting change after five years of doing the same thing.

A road trip with my husband

Both our families live in Natal – so we take many trips down there to see them. Neil prefers driving – he says it helps him to switch off from work-mode into holiday mode. I love it for the quality time we can spend together – that is when I’m not falling asleep to the hum of the engine.

Family time in Natal

We haven’t seen our families since the wedding in August so we’re looking forward to being with them over the festive period. I LOVE giving presents! So, I can’t wait to go shopping and pick out special trinkets for each of our loved ones in Durban and ‘Pietermaritzburg. 🙂

Christmas Production and Carols by Candle Light

Every year our church puts on an awesome Christmas production over the last weekend in November and then a beautiful Carol by Candle Light service on the Sunday night. This totally gets me into the Christmas spirit and makes feel like giddy child again!

Thank you so much Kayleigh for sharing your 4 Things I with us, it has been great getting to know you a bit better! I wish you great sucess with all your new ventures – I definitley be will be keeping up to date with your wonderful blogs: A Quiet Joy & The Parasol and Cupcake.

Image Source: Kayleigh Jackson, Pinterest Christmas Board, Pinterest Travel Board

Beauty, Lifestyle

My Beauty File – "rubybox"

Imagine my delight when I came across a new and innovative concept, rubybox, right here in my own home town! Needless to say I love discovering new and clever ideas and rubybox is certainly all of these things and more!

I am sure you have felt the overwhelming feeling of trying to select a beauty product, which you have never tried before, only to discover that there is no sample available to try before you have to out lay oodles of cash.

This is exactly what rubybox offers the consumer, an opportunity to sample some of the leading beauty brands before going out and buying them. Giving you more confidence in your purchase and limiting the chance of wasting hard earned cash.

[quote style=”1″]Say goodbye to your beauty graveyard with www.rubybox.co.za[/quote]

So how does this brilliant concept work? You pay a minimal monthly subscription fee of R100.00 and you are sent a bespoke box containing 4-5 luxury, trial-sized samples, which you can try at your leisure. Each month the box will contain different items for you to sample.

How exciting! Each month you will receive this awesome box of treats delivered to your door – it will feel like your birthday every month!

So why wait, click on over to rubybox and find out more about this amazing product.

An added bonus is that they offer an online service called Beauty-Insider, which offers beauty advice, helpful tips, beauty news and trends.

I thought I would include this clip from their recent press release, to give you a bit of the inside scoop:

[quote style=”1″]Who is rubybox? The team consists of Austrian-born Sylvia Gruber, CEO who before moving to South Africa to start up Africhic.com – an online fashion retailer that promotes African designers – worked in brand management at beauty giants like P&G in Frankfurt, Germany and L’Oréal Paris in Paris, France. Margaux Knuppe, current beauty editor of GLAMOUR and ex beauty assistant of FairLady joins the team as Content and Communications Director. Need more convincing? To date, over 1200 South African women have been convinced by rubybox and are eagerly looking forward to their monthly rubybox.[/quote]

All Images: Courtesy of rubybox

Fashion, Fashion, Lifestyle

My Fashion File – Temperley London by Alice Temperley

I saw a fashion show, on style TV, the other evening, featuring a range of Alice Temperley designs and instantly fell in love with her work. Her ultra-feminine designs and romantic flair appeal to my sense of fashion.

Alice Temperley was born on 22^nd July 1975; she grew up in Somerset on her parent’s cider farm before moving to London to study. She graduated from the Royal College of Art and Central Saint Martins before setting up her company “Temperley London”. She launched her fashion label “Temperley London” in 2000, along with her then boyfriend, now husband, Lars Bennigsen.

She cleverly crafted a niche for herself in the fashion industry with her attention to detail; focusing on beautiful fabrics and hand-finishes. She was hailed as “the designer making the biggest waves in British Fashion” by “American Vogue”.

Her designs, for me, are effortlessly elegant, creating a long-lean silhouette – with a side of goddess glamour!

“Temperley” produces four collections a year: Autumn/winter, Cruise, Spring/Summer, and Pre-fall. They have four stand-alone boutiques in London, New York, LA and Dubai. Their designs are also sold in 300 stores, in 37 different countries. They also ship items world-wide, yes even to South Africa – who knows I could be wearing an “Temperley London” design to my brother’s wedding in December! Well – maybe not, as the dresses start at around £800 pounds – it’s ok to dream!

For those of us with a smaller budget, the company launched a sister range called “Alice” in 2010. This more affordable, easy-to-wear range, inspired by the London girl of the moment, already has an international following. For a look at the current collection, go to “Alice by Temperley”.

Alice Temperley has also written and published a book called “True British” which catalogues the past ten years, which she has spent building the “Temperley brand”. The book includes mood-boards, detailing the colours and fabrics used to create the designs, along with pictures of the finished items. In the book she has also combined snippets of her personal life, along with the evolution of her fashion brand.

All the designs I have featured, in this post, are from the “Temperley London” Spring/ Summer 2012 collection. You can see more of the collection on the “Temperley London” website.

Image Source: Temperley London

FAR Photography, Wordless Wednesdays

Wordless Wednesday

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