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Urban Botanical Wedding

Arts on Main, Joburg

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Natalie and Dave’s urban botanical wedding is a sight to behold and pleasure to share – we love a gorgeous South African Wedding blog feature ! The couple wanted something simple, relaxed and something true to who they are. Everything just seemed to flow from that. The venue was the perfect starting point for the inspiration behind their wedding and after time spent searching, they eventually realised that what they really wanted was right under their noses in Joburg itself.

Dave went to school in town and has big ties to the city, while Natalie is a nature baby. The couple decided to combine their loves and their artistic talents to have an old school botanical wedding theme in the heart of industrial Joburg at The Canteen at Arts On Main, featured as part of these 10 Lovely Johannesburg Wedding Venues . In the end, Natalie got her grass aisle and string lights and Dave got his city energy. It was a beautiful juxtaposition, perfectly preserved by Lad and Lass Photography.

Urban Botanical Wedding Look

Urban Botanical Wedding Bouquet and Corsages: Her bouquet had a relaxed indigenous feel with a Cape Fynbos influence, as that is where Natalie grew up. The corsages mirrored the bouquet. Heather Thompson from Botany SA did the most incredible job making her vision come to life.

(Above Left) Urban Botanical Wedding Dress: Natalie wanted something that would mirror her personality. “I’m certainly not a meringue dress kinda girl,” she says. So she decided on something with a low back, simple lines with a hint of vintage and very talented designer, Rozanne Whyte created the magic after that.

Urban Botanical Wedding Boutonnières: Natalie’s friend who owns a wood cut business created these wooden Cape Fynbos boutonnière pins for the men to wear.

Urban Botanical Wedding Ceremony, Arts on Main

The entire day was a magical experience, but the couple’s personal vows were certainly the most special and almost a bit surreal. “We heard afterwards that there wasn’t a dry eye around by the end of them,” says Natalie.

Natalie and Dave’s Love Story

Natalie recalls the story of how they met and fell in love…We met one cold Winters night and held hands the entire evening. Dave promised to take me “on a real date”, and he did. The next day in fact. He couldn’t ice skate, but neither could I, and that was ok because I knew he was The One.

The Tale Of Their Proposal

Natalie shares the tale of Dave’s two proposals: Dave proposed on a beautiful sunset beach at Paternoster (very romantic), only thing was, the ring box was empty! Turns out he left the ring in his pocket to get through the airport and forgot (in his nervous state) to put it back in the box. After a small panic attack, he found the ring and re-proposed. I said YES, again.

Urban Botanical Wedding Reception, Arts on Main

Urban Botanical Wedding Arts on Main, Joburg Wedding Venue: Natalie and Dave wanted the venue to be right before they planned anything else, as it would describe the mood and theme of their wedding. It took a while of searching through horse-and-carriage-cookie-cutter wedding venues before they found The Canteen at Arts on Main.

Urban Botanical Wedding Decor: Natalie’s parents are both scientists so they used a lot of glassware from their work to suspend orchids in them like scientific specimens. They found the rest of the décor in secondhand shops. They also created unique pieces of decor from items found in Natalie’s parents garage.

Real Bride, Natalie’s, Tips For Brides-To-Be

Slow down, breathe, and enjoy yourselves. Start your planning early and try not to let it stress you out too much.
Try not to drown in the details. The planning process is very time consuming and it is easy to get bogged down with the details. We had to remind ourselves that it didn’t matter what happened on the day as long as the people we loved were there.
Do as much of it yourself. Dave and I are both creative people so we did most of the design and décor ourselves.
You don’t need to buy things from wedding supplier shops. Dave and Guy’s suits were made in town by an incredible tailor who was really affordable.
You don’t have to get married at a traditional venue. Finding somewhere different can often lower costs.
Pinterest and wedding photographer’s blogs are great sources of inspiration. Looking at wedding photographers blogs and Pinterest did help for some extra ideas.

If you’re planning a wedding in Johannesburg or just searching for magical wedding inspiration at a venue, take a look at this Pink and Ivory Vintage Wedding {Johannesburg} hosted at The Shepstone Gardens, Johannesburg – another top Joburg venue that made our list in this Ultimate Guide to Getting Married in Johannesburg.

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