Chevron Style Wedding at Forest44 ♥

Michelle and Adriaan's white and gold DIY chevron themed wedding was held at the beautiful Forest 44 venue tucked away in a Pine forest in Stellenbosch, South Africa, last spring. Their outdoor wedding was sleek, simple, stylish and filled with handmade touches. Michelle used bits of chevron prints throughout along with hand painted vases and bottles. One of the cutest touches are the white porcelain bunnies in honor of their pet rabbit Pablo which you'll remember from their Bunnies and Balloons engagement feature, all captured beautifully by Claire Thomson Photography. (See more of Claire's work on Confetti Daydreams here. Not sure how she always manages to book the most gorgeous brides around!)

"It was an outdoors wedding and Cape Town spoilt us with the perfect day," shares Michelle. "It was pretty much a DIY wedding as I did most of the wedding myself, but off course with the help of all my lovely friends and family. I did all the flowers myself the day before the wedding. We sprayed jars to use as vases and the wedding favors were gold sprayed tins with a dessert rose succulents planted in them. We styled the candy table ourselves, with my mom making most of the treats. I also created all the stationary, made my own garter and personalized my wedding shoes."

White and Gold DIY Chevron Wedding

White and Gold DIY Chevron Wedding

Love Story: Our story starts back in 2005 when we first met in Oudtshoorn at the Klein Karoo National Art Festival. (Read their love story and have a peek at their cutie pie engagement pics here.)

Bridal Style: I bought my dress from Crystals and Crème in the Paarl. It was a princess cut dress and I loved the pleaded silk part on the top and the lace and long trail at the bottom. It was a very classic wedding dress and I felt like a princess in it. Adriaan's aunt was my make-up artist and as she has done my make-up for many other events, she knew exactly what I like, so I left it mostly up to her and she did an amazing job. With regards to my hair I always knew I wanted an updo for my wedding day with my hair to one side. I loved the little braided part on the side.

DIY Wedding Bouquets: I created the bouquets myself so I didn't want anything too complicated. I chose a bunch of white tulips for my bouquet and white gypsophila/baby's breath for my bridesmaids. I loved the simplicity of the flowers.

Bridal Party Styling: The bridesmaids each bought their own dresses, so they could wear what they feel comfortable in. Each dress was different, but they were all mint in colour and long dresses. They looked beautiful. The groomsmen were all dressed in light grey chinos with a white shirt and black tie. I made the boutonnieres for them.

Groom's Attire: The groom looked so handsome in a dark grey suit, white shirt and light gold tie.

Advice for Brides:

Wedding Ceremony: I walked down the aisle by my dad's side to an instrumental version of Christina Perry's A 1000 years performed by the Hungarian Trio. It was the most special moment! We lit a unity candle as well during the ceremony.

Guest Book: One of my bridesmaids made me a frame with a tree printed on it, so we had the guests put their thumbprints in gold on it. It looks stunning in our house and it is a lovely reminder of our wedding and all the guests that shared it with us.

Wedding Reception: The reception was one big party. I loved our venue and the fact that it almost completely opened up one the one side. I thought the reception area looked stunning. The table settings were very simplistic and stylish. I used bits of chevron print throughout the wedding and I loved our blue chevron print runners, which I think made quite a statement. All the flowers were white and a light fresh green. It looked beautiful against the white and gold table and chairs. One of the groomsmen made us a bookcase that was painted gold and used as a statement piece behind the main table. It was decorated with flowers, vases and a couple of porcelain bunnies. The bookcase really came alive with the fairy lights behind it. Our candy table was also a bit hit and served as dessert for our guests- they polished the table.

• Delegate. I tried doing everything myself and thought nobody would be able to help me as only I knew what I wanted, but in the end I had no choice but to include family and friends and thank goodness that I did. Planning a wedding in Cape Town from Johannesburg wasn't an easy task especially since I was making and doing everything by myself, but it is definitely more possible than I thought.
• Make sure that you click with your service providers as they can be of a lot of help. We had a great team that kept us relax and made the whole experience so much easier.
• Try to do as much as possible yourself or ask your friends and family. It is a great feeling to see everything come together and knowing you had a hand in it, it is more personal. I saved a lot on doing the flowers myself and I had so much fun doing it.
• Save on hiring as by using jars and bottles as vases.

♥ ♥ ♥ CREDITS ♥ ♥ ♥

Venue: Forest 44, Stellenbosch // Photographer: Claire Thomson Photography // Videographer: Pieter Seyffert, White Jasmin Films // Dress: Crystals and Creme, Paarl // Brides Hair: Hugo Bornman // Brides Make-up: Marietjie Hurter // Cake: Laura Mitchell // Flowers, Decor, Favors and Stationery: DIY by bride // Wedding planner: Bride and Bride's mom

Stand Out Vendor: Amy van Niekerk from Forest 44, she was amazing and also so accommodating. She really helped a lot, I didn't have to stress about a thing.