our wedding C: rings and things

While we were busy being beautified, my photographer and his assistant arrived. They were early, which I found to be such a wonderful little gift for a bride! Without a moment's hesitation, they started capturing the details of the day.

Ian Mitchinson is the owner of Westside Studios and the only local photographer whose work left an undeniable impression on us during our search for a wedding snapper. We were always looking for something a little bit more interesting than your standard classic wedding portraiture. While great creative photography in this style seems rampant in the US (if wedding blogs are anything to go by), the matrimonial market in SA is still hesitantly exploring anything even slightly outside the expected. So we felt doubly blessed and confident when Ian's work held just the right amount of class and whimsy. Once we met with him, Ian's easy-going yet professional demeanour and clear understanding of what we were after made the decision a very easy one. We never met with any other photographers, the case was solved!

I'd decided early on that I wanted to go short and dark on my nails. I'm just not a french gal.
I was looking for a modern/vintage brown/red/grey colour but ran out of options and settled on Essie's Decadent Diva. I guess it's all in the name! The ring was a gift from my bridesmaids, we were all wearing matching ones on the day, but forgot to get a pic of it. Oh well.

I love this picture of my engagement ring that my Beautiful Boy had to work so hard for, lovingly named Lucy.

My wedding band is a very slim channel setting half eternity ring. Isn't it shocking how much smaller it is than BB's?

We lucked out with BB's ring. He never seemed to like anything overly much and I started wondering whether he'd ever choose something. When I finally found my band it was such an easy, obvious decision. I'd thought about different options and felt confused for a while, but when I slipped on the one, it was clear! The sales girl at that store then showed us a ring they were having made for another male client and that ring sparked the design for BB's one. You can see the detail nicely in this next picture. It's a comfort fit matt white gold band with a fine shiny white gold thread running over it in a wave pattern. We both love it for it's unique simplicity.

Every detail here has a little story. The bracelet (with the crosses) was an unexpectedly generous birthday gift from a friend. She gave it to me just two weeks before the wedding, not knowing anything about my dress or wedding style and I just knew it would suit and that I'd love to wear it. I also found it quite sentimental as she's actually one of BB's best friends, who have now also become mine. The earrings I bought for a REAL bargain and was never sure that I'd actually wear them.

Then I decided my personalised rhyme would simply be:
something old: I was wearing (fab) old shoes
something new: my (fab) new dress
something borrowed: the bow brooch was very kindly, and usefully, lent to me by the lady who altered my dress so that we could bustle it ourselves (after Jenny Packham Boutique told me it's impossible to bustle this dress, ha)
something cheap: my earrings!

I've had these shoes since 2005, and since they are beautiful and comfortable and I love them dearly, I decided they are worthy of carrying me through my wedding day.
Okay okay, I also couldn't find anything new that I really liked and trusted to be wearable and party proof. But I was very happy with my decision in the end. They stayed on and on and on...

My dress is Jenny Packham's Papillon. I am a very, very, very lucky girl. I felt comfortable, glamorous, sexy and natural. A dreamy dress for sure.

My bridesmaids all chose and bought their dresses themselves. I know them as super stylish cool & classy ladies so had no fears regarding their choices. I was only with my sister when she bought hers (the middle one) and nearly cried when she came out of the dressing room, all grown up and womanly. I love how they all looked together. I didn't prescribe shoes either. We were thinking all different colours, all silver or all black, but in the end I honestly didn't have a care, so we ended up with me in green, Sis in purple and the rest in black!