An Open-Air Ceremony in Cape Town Surrounded by Vineyards, Mountains and an Abundance of Peonies

If you couldn’t already tell by the title, today’s wedding planned by Blue Olive Events is a total stunner. With the help of their all-star team of vendors, the gorgeous bride and groom brought their romantic outdoor affair to life – inspired by the many California weddings they’ve long admired. With endless vineyards and breathtaking mountains as their background, they decided to keep it simple in terms of decor and opted for a delicate, pastel color scheme. To see the magic unfold, including hundreds of heavenly pink peonies from Liezl Kotze Floral Art, head on over to the full gallery – captured by Punica Films!

From Blue Olive Events My husband, Ilyas, and I have always admired soft, romantic, outdoor destination weddings in California, US. Therefore, we chose an open-air ceremony and reception space surrounded by vineyards and mountains of Wellington, Cape Town where our guests enjoyed and commemorated the joyful times we shared together. Furthermore, we minimized the extravagant details and instead preferred delicate details by keeping our colour palette of pastel colours – nude, blush, silver and green. The light summer breeze let the chandeliers and sheer voile drape blow gently. The off-white linen tablecloth, marble pieces, silver candleholders, antique ivory underplates & scalloped dinnerware from Two Birds Celebration were exquisite. 

It was what I had exactly imagined: romantic but a natural scenery. Ilyas and I agreed on an elegant and timeless wedding dress. I found a beautiful beaded rose pattern lace from Turkey to apply on the top of my dress and at the bottom of my veil. Vonve Bridal Couture literally transformed one of their elegant gowns into a completely customized wedding dress. Thank you so much Rochelle for all your patience and effort. For my wedding bouquet, I was between pastel pink peonies and white orchids. Eventually, I picked peonies!! 

Huge thanks to Liezl Kotze Floral Art for importing those peonies from Kenya for me. Since it was a summer wedding, we mostly followed our florist’s suggestions of flowers that could hold up to heat. Moreover, we were glad to incorporate some personal touches into our wedding including the evil eyes hanging from the tree in the photobooth area and wedding favours – Zamzam water from Mecca, Saudi Arabia that possesses healing qualities thanks to its higher content of calcium and magnesium salts and, of course, Turkish delights. Our relatives brought the delights from Turkey and packed them all together beautifully before the wedding. 

There was so much emotion and high energy up in the air. Having a reliable planner who is able to understand your taste well and professional photographers you’re comfortable with would be our advice for couples hoping to create truly unforgettable memories. We’re very lucky to collaborate with Zenobia from Blue Olive Events for both our engagement party and wedding ceremony & reception. There’s such a thing as synergy between the couples and the planner. We had only 10 days to organize the engagement party which was held a year before the wedding. The decoration and floral arrangement were beyond our expectation!! We’re aware that planning a wedding can feel pretty overwhelming; however, we enjoyed every detail when brainstorming and working with Zenobia. She was very attentive and understanding of our priorities that we looked forward to seeing on our special day. Blue Olive Events, Punica Films and other suppliers were a huge help in making our entire journey unforgettable.

Photography: Punica Films | Cinematography: Punica Films | Wedding Planner : Blue Olive Events | Floral Design: Liezl Kotze Floral Art | Dress : Vonve Bridal Couture | Cake: Wades Cake | Stationery : Fleur Design Studio | Ceremony : Neo Event Venue | Reception Venue: Neo Event Venue | Catering: A Food Affair | Makeup: Makeup By Leandre | Accomodations: La Bella Vita Studios | Blush Draping : To-Netts | Furniture and Lighting : Baie Goeters | Table top rentals : Two Birds