When ZaraZoo started in London in 2003, our bread and butter jobs were Asian weddings.  We ended up becoming specialist Indian Wedding Photographers, but when we moved back to South Africa in 2006 it all changed back to traditional white weddings.

In July, I am shooting two Hindu Weddings in Durban back-to-back – our first in quite a while.  Can’t wait!  Very elaborate & bling – grand entrances and over the top Indian wedding dresses with very shiny and sparkly jewellery…. Yes I missed shooting these…

Avani & Vir traveled down to Cape Town for their pre-wedding photos at Val de Vie.  Avani’s dress, one of three she will be wearing at various wedding events over the course of a few days.  The dress is so heavily embroided with chrystals, it weighs in at 7 KG’s!!!  Wow – and then the main wedding dress is probably even heavier – good luck for the wedding day girl!

Love the colours and moody skies of Autumn weddings!  Jorik and Sune’s wedding at Damas (Worcester) started off rainy – the heavens cleared and gave just enough time to do the couple photos – then all hell let loose with torrential rain!  Whoever provided the stretch tent for this wedding should get a big pat on the back!  It is definitely waterproof!

Bernard and Siti’s wedding at Clouds Estate was one of the last at this popular Stellenbosch venue in its current form – As I understand it, they are tearing down a big part of the Tuscan structure to modernise and make better use of the awesome view over the Banhoek Valley – a bit sad if you ask me – Clouds has been one of my favourite wedding venues for years!

Day weddings are quite rare these days.  With the ceremony starting at 11am, it meant we would have had to do the couple photos after the lazy afternoon meal – a big no no!  Instead we opted to break another tradition by letting the couple meet up before the ceremony to do the shoot. It worked a charm!  And of-course, we captured that all-important “First Look”!

What time of the year to get married…?  That’s probably the one question that every couple asks when they start planning their wedding.

There’s no easy answer, but I’ve put down a few pointers below – “Why talk about dates”; “Isn’t this post about Samantha and Roderik’s wedding?” you might ask.  Well technically it is – They got their date spot on…. and here is why.  By the way, their wedding date was Monday the 3rd of March.

OK sorry, I started putting some details down and realised it would probably be better to do a blog post about what month to get married in the Western Cape – coming soon…

Samantha & Roderik’s wedding was coordinated by Simone of the Aleit Group. I’ve worked with this talented coordinator a few times now (last time Susie & Christo) and can highly recommend her as coordinator!

Claire & Jason’s wedding at Vrede en Lust in Franschhoek was a ball!  So much fun and laughter – I love it when friends and family come to celebrate the day and let their hair down…

Jason is a Bergvliet old boy and Claire from the UK – Like so many other South Africans that go over to the UK to travel, Jason ended up staying on after he met Claire in London.

First wedding in a while at Molenvliet.  I’ve forgotten what an awesome venue this is.  If she was a girl I could have said….  She’s got the looks, the charm and the personality to go with it!

Couples are really spoiled for choice here – plenty of outdoor and indoor ceremony options and a very versatile reception venue that can be easily transformed to fit into any theme.

Cheryl (UK) and Stephen (USA) now live in Cape Town – needless to say, the guest list comprised of quite a few nationalities.  During the pre-drinks guests were entertained by a “Trinidadian Steel Drum Band” and treated to traditional Caribbean delicacies.  In short – a very interesting affair!

“Drive-by Shooters” – a window into a distant world…

Sjoe that was deep!  hahahaha.

Every year, a bunch of us (mostly wedding photographers) pack our gear and head into some vast part of South Africa to do what we thought we would do before we signed up to be professional wedding photographers….  Take photos of interesting people and places that is!  Believe it or not, but for most part of the year we literally do not have the time or the opportunity to do stuff like this!

The 2011 trip in early August took us up the West Coast to places like Paternoster, Laaiplek and Lambertsbaai – also to the very interesting town of Wupperthal in the middle of the Cedarberg.

Franschhoek in the Cape Winelands can definitely claim the “Wedding Capital of South Africa” title!  So many of the top wedding venues in Cape Town is situated in this beautiful valley.  This is also the location of the Allee Bleue Estate

One of Allee Bleue’s best selling points is the fact that it offers an All-in-One service from the ceremony through to the reception.

The on-site honeymoon cottage is the perfect venue for the preparations of the bride and her entourage.  Check into the two bedroom en-suite Kendal Cottage the night before and relax in a space that offers a tasteful mix of a historical building and contemporary interior right in the middle of the estate.

Your open air ceremony can be held on the expansive lawn overlooking the Franschhoek Mountains or under the ancient oak trees, surrounded by the historic Cape Dutch Farmstead.   And if the weather is less desirable, the venue also offers more than one indoor ceremony options, depending on the size of the wedding party.

The picnic area or the lawn under the shady oak trees next to the main courtyard lends the perfect setting for your pre reception drinks.  Canapes prepared by the on-site kitchen and a convenient mobile bar service are also services that are offered.

Wedding Venues that are willing to host Greek Weddings can be hard to come by.  It might have something to do with the fact that it is tradition to set alight very expensive whiskey on the dance floor or maybe because of the breaking of plates….  But for Allee Bleue in Franschhoek the burning and breaking is just OK… hahahaha!

Christiana & Brad’s – definitely one of the highlights of our season.    Its just so much easier when you work with a couple that looks like they’re fashion models!  But even though these two are incredibly attractive, they’re so down to earth – love you guys – thank you for making my job a breeze on the day!

If I look at the number of weddings we cover in the Franschhoek & Stellenbosch area, then it makes sense to just go and set up shop there!  In the past month all 7 of my weddings happened in Franschhoek!  If I lived there, I could have saved 9 hours of traveling time and probably about R700 in fuel!

Susie & Christo live in the UK (Isle of Man) and got The Aleit Group to coordinate their wedding at Dieu Donne Restaurant high up on the Franschhoek mountain slope.  What sells this venue is its amazing view over the valley and winelands below.