‘Tis the season for tying the knot
Posted on 07. Sep, 2010 by Marina in News & Trends
Spring has officially sprung, and it’s time for us to say hello to jasmine blossoms, the balmy Cape berg wind, Christmas beetles, strawberry picking and a whole lot of brides.
South African Wedding season kicks off right about now and over the next few months picturesque locations around the country will host wedding celebrations for local couples and those returning home from, far and wide.
Wedding planning is not an industry for the faint-hearted – brave men and women take on the lifetime dreams of starry-eyed brides (with protective fathers standing by) and get one chance to make or break arguably the most important day in someone’s life. That’s brassy stuff.
Because Yuppiechef offers an online wedding gift registry we’ve had the occasion to get to know some of the top dogs on the South African wedding scene, including industry pioneer Aleit Swanepoel of Aleit Wedding Coordination.
He’s Afrikaans, dresses to kill and gave us sugar encrusted stirring sticks with our coffee when we went out to their very plush office in Stellenbosch. If you want your wedding to be on Top Billing, you’d do well to speak to this guy.
Here are Aleit’s thoughts on the current trends in wedding colour palettes:
Gold and Silver
“Calling all princes and princesses of style – put your dancing shoes on and revel in these gorgeous metallics. As my personal style is slightly extravagant and high-spirited, my heart always flutters with the glistening shades of gold and the cool tones of silver.
These colours were favoured by the Art Deco stylists, and combined with geometric shapes can be exceptionally funky and out there. Think zigzagged and stepped patterns, sweeping curves, chevron patterns and sunburst shapes. For the traditionalists, hints of old Hollywood are helping to bring some glamour back, and if solid metallics don’t appeal – consider classic black and white with accents of metallic sheens.
If you’re into Feng Shui harmony and serenity but want to bring out your inner diva at the same time, consider an almost all white palette and introduce accents of gold by way of ochre water glasses, gold base plates and gold candelabra. Keep the white elements contemporary and introduce a contrast with slightly ornate approaches to the glassware and candelabra.
Organic earthy
‘Green’ is the new black. Decor trends have been aspiring towards a natural environment for the past few years, but there are limits to the sophistication and elegance that is possible from the likes of stationery printed on recycled paper and plastic chandeliers made from coke bottles. Fortunately, sophisticated simplicity can be stylishly obtained using the natural approach as a guideline and drawing inspiration from nature’s soft greens, earthy browns, sky blues, golden yellows and colour-tinged greys!
We recently hosted a brainstorming session at The Aleit Group’s studio on how to bring the outdoors indoors. If you are planning a marquee wedding (and wondering where to put the ever popular lounge area for the party session later on) consider laying a section of grass in lieu of a carpet and you’ll have your guests gaping in amazement at your ingenuity. In the case of actual grass – it can always be donated to a crèche or school afterwards.
The natural approach also allows one to play with texture – our latest passion is raw wood. Try using exposed table tops instead of spending money on expensive linen, and purchase succulents and cacti which double up as guest favours afterwards.
Golden Earth
Finally, just to show how creative one can get, imagine a combination of the ‘Gold and Silver’ and ‘Organic earthy’ themes for a beautiful ‘Golden Earth’ palette… For instance, working with raw wood and introducing shimmery metallic gold and silver finishes through paint effects or combining an exposed table with metallic Tiffany chairs and a shimmering candelabra. Who needs coffee when you have design to get your motor running?”.
We couldn’t agree more, beautiful design is food and drink for the soul. Although, we are still suckers for a great cup of coffee. Especially when served with sugar swizzles…
Thanks, Aleit, and good luck over the next few months.
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