Country Chic Riverside Wedding
South Africa
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Doing it the country way is all about having fun. Today we hear from newly-married, real bride, Gillian Attwood from Cape Town. Along with her husband, Matthew Attwood, they decided to bring a little “Country Chic” into their wedding theme inviting guests to arrive in comfortable attire for a fabulous farm-style celebration, captured by Mavric Photography.
The couple chose green and yellow as their key wedding theme accent colours – the result was a fresh and fun country feel. The bride added some really unusual touches to their special day which included replacing the first dance with …. Well – you’ll just have to read on to find out… Yay!
Country Chic Yellow & Green Wedding Look
Gillian explains that the introduction of the “Country Chic” theme is what made their wedding special and unique. Guests were asked to dress smart casual with “a touch of the farm”. Their guests interpreted this in their own way and arrived wearing pretty summer dresses and wellington boots, checkered ribbons at the end of pigtails, large cowboy hats and feathered country fascinators. With their guests feeling at ease in their relaxed attire, more fun could be had!
Country Chic Yellow & Green Wedding Ceremony
The Country Chic Wedding Venue: Their romantic wedding ceremony was held outdoors along the beautiful riverside.
As their wedding was located out of town, along the banks of the Breede River. Surrounded by farmlands in the South African countryside, the Round the Bend Lodge was the ideal wedding to bring their wedding theme to life!
(Below) Country Chic Wedding Ceremony Decor: Other touches of country were found in the yellow flowers placed along the green wedding aisle and the raw wooden hearts stringed to the chairs at the ceremony.
(Above) Country Chic Chalkboard “Just Married” Sign: The newly betrothed couple, left the ceremony on a John Deere tractor/lawnmower with a “Just Married” sign stuck to the back which was a surprise for Gillian AND their guests! Ahhhh, we just love this special touch!
Country Chic Yellow & Green Wedding Reception
Outdoor Country Chic Wedding Reception: The wedding reception was held alfresco under trees and chandeliers to add elegance to the natural country charm!
(Above) Country Chic Wedding Décor and Guest Favors: Without getting wrapped up in expensive traditional décor and flowers, Gillian chose to rather incorporate small creative details like the personalized button badges. Not only did these look cute at the place settings, but were great icebreakers! The bride found that they also worked as wedding favours as she saw most of their guests leaving the next day with their yellow badge pinned to their luggage.
The “First Dance”: The couple decided that they would be much more comfortable if they were true to themselves, so instead of a first dance, they decided to have a “first swim!”. Gillian says “I have always been a water-baby and my passion is open-water swimming. Matt and I decided that we would be much more comfortable if we were true to ourselves, so instead of a first dance, we decided to have a ‘first swim’!“
During the cutting of the cake, they announced that they would be forgoing the first dance for a dip in the river and all guests were welcome to join them! Trading their wedding attire for something more suitable, the couple donned swimming costumes, onto which the words “Just Married” had been printed, and headed for the water. To their surprise, they were joined by more than half of their enthusiastic guests, all geared up to take on the water! On the count of 3, the couple led the way and dashed for the river, followed closely by their guests. The photo opportunity was priceless!
Real Bride, Gillian’s, Tips For Brides-To-Be
- Creating a Wedding Website: Getting your wedding guests excited about your wedding in advance can really enhance the overall experience on the day. Gillian and Andrew chose to create a website for their wedding where guests could RSVP, look at images of the accommodation on offer, and submit songs for them to include on their wedding song playlist. Sites like eWedding.com and Project Wedding.com offer couples the ability to freely create a personal website for their wedding day. Gillian says, “This went down very well as every now and then someone would cheer – this is my song!”
And that is how Country Chic is done! After a memorable day spent in celebration with their loved ones, we can see that Gillian and her husband Matthew were certainly Country Chic down to the bone! With all of our well wishes, we have no doubt that this fun-loving couple will seize many more days to come in their journey together! A special thank you to our lovely country bride Gillian and her wedding photographer Kirsten Mavric.
We hope that you are inspired by the charm of Country Chic so that you can be true to yourself, create your own traditions, and to do it your own way! For more real bride inspiration, take a look at our dreamy {Real Bride Feature} A Fairy Tale Wedding Theme.
If you have done it your own way and created your dream wedding and would like to be considered for our next Real Bride Feature on Confetti Daydreams, you can submit your photographs and pretty projects here. A big country-style Yahay!