Inside an Artfully Designed Vineyard Wedding Weekend Beneath Table Mountain in South Africa

Spanning a week of celebrations across Cape Town and the Winelands, Jordan and Frazer's guests were immersed in mountain hikes, vineyard tastings, sunset gatherings, and a wedding weekend designed with effortless intention. Dramatic landscapes, Cape Dutch architecture, and endless vineyard views provided all the visual impact needed, allowing the couple to embrace a refined, understated aesthetic that felt deeply connected to its surroundings. Thoughtful details — from handwritten notes at every place setting to watercolor portraits painted during cocktail hour — brought warmth and personality to the celebration, while an African choir and live jazz infused the weekend with a sense of place. Jordan’s style mirrored the mood perfectly, from a crochet look for the welcome party to a beautifully custom gown paired with a cathedral-length veil. Elegant without feeling overly polished and personal without trying too hard, the celebration struck a rare balance between elevated design and genuine connection, resulting in a wedding that felt as meaningful as it was visually captivating.

Our Love Story

^{The Day We Met}

I met Frazer in June 2017 when I was a member at a gym next door to the CrossFit gym he owned. Yes, two gyms right next door to each other! He's 6'7", so he caught my eye pretty quickly. I asked a mutual friend to introduce us and, honestly, I had never believed in love at first sight until that moment. He says the same. We were pretty inseparable after that, and here we are almost nine years later.

^{The Proposal}

Frazer proposed in December 2023 while I was in South Africa with my family. He couldn’t make the trip because of work commitments, which was pretty disappointing. My family had organized family photos at Blouberg Beach, which has the most incredible view of Table Mountain. This wasn’t unusual for us because whenever we’re together in South Africa, we always make sure to take family photos. When we arrived, the beach was completely empty. My mom pulled out her phone to take a photo of me and told me to turn around — and there was Frazer. He had flown halfway across the world to surprise me.

He got down on one knee and could barely speak because of the nerves, but I knew what he was trying to say. It was genuinely one of the best moments of my life. I’m also very difficult to surprise, so the fact that he managed to pull it off still amazes me. He then planned a full week of surprises in Cape Town, and we even went to look at a potential wedding venue.

^{The Engagement Ring}

The year before, we had tried on rings together, and I knew I loved both a classic solitaire and a two-stone setting. I picked a few styles I loved and left the final decision to Frazer. After multiple trips to the Cotswolds to work with an independent jeweler, he chose a toi et moi setting with a pear and marquise diamond. I still love how unique it feels.

Our Wedding

^{The Vision}

As I’m originally from South Africa, it has always been a place that feels incredibly personal to me, and over the years, Frazer has fallen in love with it too. From the beginning, we knew we wanted our wedding to feel like an experience for our guests, especially for those who had never visited before. We planned an entire week that reflected all of our favorite parts of Cape Town and the Winelands. We organized activities such as a group hike up Table Mountain, wine tours through Franschhoek, and sunset drinks in Camps Bay overlooking the Twelve Apostles, so guests could experience the places we love most.

We welcomed everyone at La Cotte Farm with a marimba band, an MCC tasting, and local food before the wedding day. We also ended the week with a recovery day at La Cotte after the wedding, which ended up being one of our favorite parts of the week because everyone could truly unwind together. When it came to the design of the wedding itself, we really wanted the venues to be the stars of the show. Between the mountains, vineyards, and Cape Dutch buildings, the setting already felt so perfect that we never wanted to over-style it. We wanted everything to feel simple while still reflecting our style.

^{Our Team of Vendors}

I can honestly say we had the most incredible team of vendors. Our photographers, La Dichosa, were the very first people I contacted before we even had a date or venue. Photography is a passion of mine, so it was one of the most important elements for me. I wanted our wedding to be captured in a way that felt both aesthetically beautiful and candid, which is exactly what they delivered. They are unbelievably talented and somehow managed to feel more like guests than vendors throughout the entire weekend. We also worked with Bach Films, who captured the energy of the three days so perfectly, and Nina from Sante Studio, who created our wedding content. Having a content creator was genuinely one of the best decisions I made. She brought such a fun energy to the day and honestly felt like my own personal hype girl the entire time.

Our wedding planner, Anna Marcelle, brought every part of my vision to life and somehow stayed incredibly patient despite me being very indecisive. Heike from Fleur de Cordeur also completely understood the assignment when it came to the florals and even managed to source flowers for my bouquet that usually aren’t in season until months later. Looking back, one thing I didn’t fully appreciate until the wedding itself was how important it is to surround yourself with people who genuinely care about you having the best possible experience. We felt so lucky with every single person involved.

^{The Location}

Getting married in South Africa always felt special to me. Over the years, it also became one of Frazer’s favorite places in the world, so choosing Cape Town and the Winelands for our wedding felt like such an easy decision. It has everything: mountains, beaches, city life, and incredible food and wine. We wanted our guests to experience the South Africa that we love, which is why planning multiple events across the week felt so important to us. It made the wedding feel much more immersive and personal rather than just a single day.

^{The Ceremony}

My one non-negotiable for the ceremony was a mountain backdrop, and Brookdale Estate ended up being exactly what I had spent months searching for. I actually secured the venue before ever seeing it in person, but it was even more beautiful than the photos. Guests arrived to an African choir singing before taking their seats. I then walked down the aisle to "Circle of Life" from The Lion King, performed live by the choir, which was one of my favorite parts of the day. My aunt officiated the ceremony, which made everything feel even more personal, and we kept the ceremony fairly short because of the heat. For the decor, we opted for benches, which was one of those decisions I went back and forth on for months. However, with a smaller wedding, it felt perfect.

^{The Cocktail Hour}

Cocktail hour ended up being one of my favorite parts of the entire day. Guests gathered around the pool for cocktails, lawn games, and live jazz music while the sun started to set over the mountains. I loved the badminton setup, which was inspired by a photo of a crocheted net I had seen online. My wedding planner and I sourced vintage crochet blankets from eBay and somehow managed to bring the whole idea to life. We also had a watercolor artist painting our guests throughout cocktail hour, which felt like such a meaningful keepsake for people to take home afterward. 

I know many couples disappear for hours to take photos during this part of the day, but I really didn’t want that. Our photographers managed to capture all of our family portraits around the pool area in such a relaxed way that we didn’t have to miss out. As the sun started setting, guests moved onto the lawn for dinner, where they found handwritten personal notes from us at their seats while we briefly snuck away for sunset portraits. The lighting was perfect, and I think we absolutely nailed the timeline.

^{The Reception}

Dinner took place on the lawn overlooking the mountains and Brookdale Manor House, and the setting was truly incredible as the sun began to set. Because the lawn itself was circular, we decided on one large semi-circle table, which created such an intimate atmosphere. I wanted the florals to feel very simple rather than overly formal, and Heike understood that vision perfectly. One thing our guests still talk about is the food. Wedding food can sometimes be hit or miss, but Brookdale Estate completely exceeded every expectation. For the evening party, we created a more intimate dance floor tucked into its own area, which ended up working perfectly, especially when it became quite windy later in the evening. It naturally kept everyone together, and the dance floor stayed full all night long. The speeches were another highlight: a perfect balance of emotional and funny. Keeping them fairly short also helped the evening flow really well.

^{The Special Touches}

For me, it was always the smaller details that made the wedding feel personal. At dinner, every guest received a handwritten note from us at their place setting, which felt incredibly meaningful and gave us the opportunity to thank everyone individually for being part of such an important moment in our lives. These thoughtful touches ended up becoming some of the most memorable parts of the day for both us and our guests.

^{Our Favorite Moment}

Apart from Archie’s speech (Frazer’s stepson), which was amazing, I honestly think the dancing ended up being my favorite part of the night. Frazer is usually the first person to avoid a dance floor, so I had fully accepted that I’d probably spend most of the evening dancing without him. But he never left the dance floor once. I think that energy carried through the entire night because everyone stayed dancing together until the very end.

Our Style

^{The Bridal Looks}

For our welcome party, I worked with designer Laura from Kettle Atelier, who created the most incredible crochet dress for me. I sent her a few rough ideas only a couple of months before the wedding, and she somehow turned them into something even better than I had imagined. I designed my wedding dress and veil with Emma Beaumont, a process that took 18 months. I drove eight hours round-trip to Manchester throughout the process, and it was absolutely worth it. 

I also decided to do my own makeup for the wedding day. I wanted to feel completely like myself and knew I’d feel most comfortable creating a look that felt natural and true to how I normally wear my makeup. I honestly don’t know how I managed to pull it off, but I’m so happy with how it turned out. For the evening, Emma designed my second dress as well. We wanted something slightly more sheer, modern, and comfortable enough to dance in all night. Changing into it after hours in a structured corseted dress honestly felt amazing.

^{The Groom Looks}

Both Frazer’s welcome party look and wedding-day look were from Suit Supply. We still can’t decide which one we loved more, but I have to say his brown wedding suit felt absolutely perfect. We were initially unsure whether to choose the brown suit or go with a more traditional black tuxedo, but the brown felt like it suited everything — including my dress — so well.

^{Our Bridesmaids' & Groomsmen's Looks}

We kept the bridal party styling quite relaxed because the most important thing for us was that everyone felt comfortable and genuinely like themselves. For the bridesmaids, I chose different shades of green that tied into the wedding palette. One dress was from Line & Dot (via Revolve), and the other was from Rat & Boa. I loved that they complemented each other without feeling overly matched. Frazer’s dad, son, and best friend wore neutral suits from Suit Supply. It was a fairly last-minute decision, but they ended up looking perfect.

Our Advice

^{For the Planning Process}

Book the vendors you love as early as possible because the people around you on the day make such a huge difference. Beyond that, try not to put pressure on yourself to have every tiny detail figured out months in advance. I realized that so many things naturally came together in the final few months, and I probably created unnecessary stress for myself by trying to perfect everything too early. At the end of the day, the atmosphere and energy of the wedding matter far more than tiny details being perfect. And don’t forget — this is your wedding, no one else’s. Do whatever you want to do.

^{For On The Day}

One thing I intentionally practiced leading up to the wedding was mindfulness and being present. Everyone tells you the day will be over before you know it, and when you spend so long planning something, that’s the last thing you want. In the months before the wedding, I kept reminding myself to slow down and really take everything in because I knew how quickly it would all pass. I genuinely think doing that beforehand helped me stay calm, present, and able to fully enjoy the day as it unfolded.

^{For Post-Wedding}

Apart from the recovery day at La Cotte Farm after the wedding, we stayed in South Africa for a few more days with friends and family, which felt like the perfect way to end the experience. I also tried really hard not to become too consumed by the idea that the wedding was "over" because I knew that would make the post-wedding blues feel much worse. Instead, I focused on how grateful I felt for the experience and how exciting it was to move into the next chapter of our lives together.