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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
