Sometimes, “plain and simple” just won’t do. The bold bride should have her ring reflect her fearless attitude and unique personality. There’s more out there than the rings you see lined up in mainstream jewellery stores. You might be on the hunt for something different, but you need options.
If you are looking for a ring style that’s off the beaten path, take a look at these gorgeous designs.
1. Jacquie Aiche Teardrop Diamond Crown Ring
This ring has an elongated teardrop shape that is repeated. Set with smaller diamonds, and no one will be able to keep their eyes off you.
2. Jade Trau “Rae” Wrap Ring
We love the openess and flowing design that will comfort your finger like a hug, while giving a daring look.
3. Bliss Lau “Mirage” Ring
This design absolutely screams “look at me!” We love that the first impression is dramatic, yet the ring has intricate detail.
4. Azlee “Glow” Diamond Ring
Playing with geometric shapes never looked so stylish. Stand out from the crowd with this triangle-shaped setting.
5. Opalescent kite with diamond sunburst
This modern-meets-vintage masterpiece is unique with its kite-shaped form that is accentuated by small diamonds on the edge.
6. Garden-inspired Montauk ring
Flower children, this one is for you. This delicate piece is light and fine with a romantic finish.
7. Cushion cut natural French
This design will accentuate your hands and give you a sleek look. We love that it’s not afraid to shine!
8. Swati Dhanak “Feature Shards” Ring
This stellar piece reminds of antarctic glaciers, or perhaps the pieces of a puzzle, fitting perfectly together. Take your pick.
Image: Unsplash
The quintessential wedding dessert is, of course, the big cake. Everyone loves the moment newlyweds slice into the cake, their first action carried out as a married couple.…
The regulations for social gatherings still in place, not much can be done about the hope of a traditional wedding. However, many have taken to new, creative ways of hosting weddings, as their nuptials are too important to put off any longer.
Some opt for virtual ceremonies, while others go for a courthouse wedding with no guests other than the court officials. These are options to consider.
Another option is a drive-by wedding. Your loved ones can attend your wedding from the safety of their cars, ensuring that all safety precautions are met while still giving you the feeling of their presence at your special celebration.
If this sounds good to you, then you’re probably keen to get started on the planning. Here’s how to host a drive-by wedding:
Location:
When choosing the location of the drive-by, ensure that it is a wide-open, public space. This will mean that everyone driving by will be able to clearly see you. You could even do it in your front yard, if you have space and don’t have walls.
Set up a spot to show yourselves off, for example you can decorate fancy chairs as thrones for you to sit on as your parade drives by.
Invitations:
Send out invitation (digital of course) as early as possible. It’s a bit difficult for people to get around under lockdown restrictions so ensure that you give your guests enough time to plan.
Logistics:
It may be difficult to co-ordinate a lot of people in this way, but you have to try! Included in the invitation, set a meeting spot such as a parking lot for your guests to gather at.
Assign a close relative or friend the role of head driver. This ensures that there is somebody leading the cars to your location, and allows for some sort of order for the drive-by.
Also, include times for when they should meet up, and when they should begin driving to arrive on time.
Stations for gifts and treats:
Since it’s not a full-blown wedding, you shouldn’t cater as though it is. If you really want to provide treats, get cupcakes and seal them in individual boxes, and set them up on a table close to where you will be. As your guests drive by, they can pick up a cupcake! Be sure to have a bottle of sanitizer on the table!
You can also set up a station for your guests to drop their wedding gifts if you’d like.
More than one way to do it:
For a drive-by wedding, there are two ways you can do it. However, the second option is riskier.
The first is as described above. All your guests simply drive passed you in a sort of parade fashion, to get a glimpse of you and your partner as newly weds. They have a few minutes to stop and get a treat, drop off a gift, and say some kind words. You could have this drive-by immediately after you’ve said your vows in a church or at the courthouse, or you could do it on a different day to avoid rushing.
The second option is to have a sort of drive-in, like a movie screening would be set up. All your guests sit in their cars and watch you say your vows, at an outside location. Only you, your partner, and the marriage officer would be outside, standing together. All other arrangements would stay the same. This may be a bit risky as it can still be considered as a gathering.
Image: Unsplash
If 2020 has proven anything, it’s that anything can happen, no matter how out of the ordinary it may seem. A 35-year-old Russian influencer has proven just that…
Even those who seem most perfect are still able to make mistakes. Similarly, while celebrity weddings always seem to go off without a hitch, there are often unexpected disasters and surprises.
Celebrities are not immune to mishaps. Bad weather doesn’t avoid the rich and famous, and neither does nerves.
If you’re wondering how this could be possible, we promise it is. We have proof. Here are some celebrity wedding disasters, to show you that these things happen!
Jessica Simpson and Eric Johnson
At their 2014 wedding, nerves ran high. Simpson was so overwhelmed with the nerves, that she said the wrong name during their wedding ceremony! Instead of pledging her everlasting love to love to her husband, she said her own name. The singer merely brushed it off, laughed at her mistake, and began again.
Hilary Duff and Mike Comrie
Have you ever had the stress-induced dream where your teeth fall out? Well, Hilary Duff experienced something similar just hours before her 2010 wedding to Mike Comrie.
On the morning of the wedding, Duff ate a bagel. A normal thing to do. The next thing she knew, her tooth fell out!
“I started laughing at myself and then I really burst into tears,” Duff said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. As luck would have it, Duff’s wedding planner managed to get an emergency appointment with a dentist.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds
The Gossip Girl actress experienced something no bride ever wants to, at her 2012 wedding to Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds. Lively’s gown caught on fire!
Speaking to Vogue, Lively said, “Florence Welch was singing at the reception, and they brought out these sparklers, and I’m watching her sing, I look down and my wedding dress has a big burn mark from one of the sparklers. Right on the front! And it was just so heartbreaking to me.”
According to Martha Stewart Weddings, Reynolds made the unfortunate turn of events into something sweet for Lively, when he said “Isn’t that beautiful? You’ll always remember that moment with Florence singing and the sparklers. You have that forever, right there, preserved.”
Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr.
At their 2002 wedding in Mexico, the popular 90s couple were hit with a real disaster. A hurricane (Hurricane Hernan) forced the couple to rethink their outdoor wedding, and as their guests left Mexico after the wedding, an earthquake hit too!
The talent manager who represented the pair at the time told People that it’s a great way to start their lives together. “All of those bigger-than-life natural events can only bode well for the marriage,” he said.
Nicky Hilton and James Rothschild
Another mishap where the wedding gown is the casualty. At their 2015 wedding, the train of Hilton’s wedding gown got stuck under the wheels of a car.
Image: Unsplash
Reggae musician Shaggy and his wife, Rebecca Packer Burrell, celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary on Sunday, July 12. To commemorate the occasion, the singer shared a loving message…
South Africa is a top wedding destination, with many beautiful venues to choose from. From outdoor wine farm weddings to beautiful hotels with big banquet halls, there is no shortage of traditional options. For the couple with a sense of adventure, there are unique options as well.
Here is our list of unique wedding venues to make your day stand out.
De Hoop Nature Reserve
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Getting married outside may be cliché but there is nothing boring about having your wedding in one of the country’s most spectacular nature reserves. This is an especially good choice for nature lovers, who would welcome the singing of the area’s birds and rippling of the water alongside their ceremony.
There are options as to where exactly in the reserve you’d like to have your wedding, so it can be tailored to your taste. Choose to say “I do” under a beautiful Fig Tree, alongside the Reserve’s 19km vlei or an indoor wedding in a rustic “shed” venue.
The area’s pristine white sand dunes also make for a great backdrop for those important wedding photos.
Backsberg Wine Estate
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Wine estates are not usually a particularly unique option but Backsberg offers something unlike most others, the option to get married in a cellar among the massive wine barrels. Wine lovers, this one is for you.
Walk down the aisle as guests sit on either side as the huge old oak barrels tower over the ceremony and chandeliers give the scene a warm glow. Although pretty big, the set-up of this cellar makes for a cozier feel and more intimate ceremony.
The Zeitz MOCAA
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Arguably the most striking building in Cape Town, the Zeitz MOCAA is a great museum wedding venue option for art and architecture lovers alike. You can have your ceremony on the roof with Table Mountain framed by the polygon windows behind you while your guests sit on the glass ceiling of the museum’s main chamber.
Hold your reception in the dining room of the hotel’s restaurant and dine on world-class food by their chef.
Greater Kruger National Park
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Bush weddings, while available across the country, are a truly South African choice. While many offer a wedding venue in their lodge which is beautiful, getting married right in the bush is truly unique.
Some game reserves outside of Kruger National Park, such as Timbavati, offer the unique experience of having the ceremony outdoors in a dry riverbed on the reserve. These kind of venues get you right into the bushveld and offer the opportunity for some local wildlife to pass as you say your vows.
Table Mountain
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This is for the venue for a true Capetonian couple as nothing is closer to the city’s heart than its mountain. The mountain boasts six different wedding venue options, both outside and inside, that look over the city from this magnificent peak.
Guests and the wedding party will make their way up to this incredible spot on the cable car, taking in the view as they prepare to celebrate your big day. The Table Mountain function team will have whichever location you choose set up for you as well.
Centre for the Book
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The Centre for the Book in Cape Town is an old Edwardian building which is impressive on the outside and inside. Originally built for the University of the Cape of Good Hope, it now houses the South African Library’s special collections. This makes it perfect for all those book nerds out there!
You can host your reception here, on the lower floor surrounded by stacked, old wooden bookshelves above. This provides a very antique aesthetic feel and makes for beautiful photographs.
It is a public space so renting it out is a bit more complicated than somewhere already geared for events.
uShaka Marine World
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Marine lovers, this one’s for you, uShaka Marine World lets your special day take place among the sounds of the ocean. With the cool blues of the water dancing off the table and your dress, it has the ambiance built right in.
Couples can hold their ceremony in the park’s Shipwreck Aquarium where your guests and the fish can share in your big day.
Rovos Rail
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This venue is for those who love a bit of old-world charm and find something romantic in the idea of a train journey. Rovos Rail’s Events Train can be hired as a wedding venue replete with all the luxury you would expect.
You can choose to hold the ceremony at the private Edwardian station after the bride makes her entrance in the private cab of a steam locomotive. The reception is then held on board the train as it makes a three-hour roundtrip journey.
This charming option will also make you feel like you’ve had a destination wedding, without even leaving the country.
Image:@zeitzmocaaevenets/Instagram