Gaby and Matthew's South-African Wedding

Meet Gaby's Tribe!

On the venue, Gaby said "My (now) husband and I love greenery and being surrounded by plant life. That was the main reason we chose Bel Air, because the entire venue is covered in Jasmine and greenery. My theme of the wedding was to keep to the foundation of that but to add a “rustic garden party” feel. Incorporating roses, baby’s breath and hydrangeas".

Because we got married in a greenhouse, I wanted a curtain as my flower arch, bringing that element of home to it. We also had a large flower halo hanging in the greenhouse which was stunning and brought even more greenery to the space. The room was jam packed and had a lot of energy! 

Reception décor? "Lots of greenery and flowers, candles and hanging lights. We also had glass globes hanging with babys breath inside which I was obsessed with".

This spectacular dress Gaby chose was a Custom gown from South African brand, Alena Leena. The gown featured a bodice with dotted lace and an a-line overskirt for added drama!

On finding THE gown, Gaby told us "In South Africa that can make a good bodice or have that bustier shape. I was looking at wedding boutiques and came across Aleena’s page. I saw that she had a dress that had a bodice top. I called her up and told her my vision. She then had a similar dress in stock that was in gold which I fell in love with and asked her to make it in white, and low and behold my perfect wedding dress".

On the food, the couple went for "lots of canapes and street style food. Truffle pomme frittes, crispy calamari, duck pancakes, bread and pates and many others. The main course was a roast leg of lamb. It was all delicious".

"The celebrations were centered around the one day, but the previous Thursday we had a rooftop party with the bridal party in Cape Town as everyone had started arriving for the occasion. A lot of our friends had travelled from overseas so we tried to spend as much time with them as possible. On the Friday night before the wedding we had a wine and pizza night at Laborie Wine estate. About half the weddign guests were there and it was so nice to see everyone who had arrived and get excited together as a  build up to the big day."

We asked Gaby about her Tribe..."It took me so long to decide on their dresses. I was scrolling through Pinterest and came across a sage colored dress from Christian Dior. I asked the girls if they loved it and they all said yes. I had the dresses custom made for each of them and they turned out beautifully! I also got them drop down pearl earrings from Lovisa".

Gaby's favourite memories of the day...

The aisle – our aisle was incredibly long, and I loved every second of walking down it to my hubby. 

My husband’s speech – he was funny, and he said beautiful things about our friends, family and me. It was an all-round incredible speech. 

The dancefloor – we had the most incredible DJs, all our mates played on the decks and I had blisters from dancing so much!

Thank you for sharing your day with us Gaby and Matthew! Want to be featured? Drop us an email at features@thedresstribe.com