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.

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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.

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Wedding planning can be tough, and sometimes you need some help. The Wedwise app is a new service designed to help South African brides and grooms with every aspect of their big day.

“WedWise is an advanced SA wedding app offering geolocation, live chat and useful functionality for brides to conveniently locate and connect with wedding vendors to plan their day,” it reads on the WedWise App.

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The geolocation allows couples to find vendors closest to them. Couples can even share their photos and ideas onto the app, which will help vendors hone in on their specific visions and allow them to provide an even greater service.

The app can assist with the proposal, the ceremony, entertainment, food, photography and the honeymoon.

Wedding suppliers can easily register to join the app, and get a free monthly subscription until lockdown ends, which means all the exposure at no cost.

The app is currently only available on Google Play. Visit their website for more information: www.wedwise.co.za.

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The wedding industry may have taken a backseat amid the pandemic, but that doesn’t mean planning has to stop. Wedding planner Lisa Barnardt of Nooitgedacht wine estate lets us in on how she is adapting to the times, as well as her top tips for weddings.

Barnardt works as the Nooitgedacht wine estate’s wedding planner, where she first began as an intern. She says that prior to lockdown, she was very busy planning weddings at the estate and making sure the couple’s day was perfect and everything they wanted was organised.

However, with weddings temporarily halted, she’s been keeping herself busy with researching ways to still offer great service.

“I’m working from home and actively busy researching what we can do to adapt to the new norm, such as having more intimate weddings as well as implementing social distancing such as splitting a wedding ceremony and invite family in the morning or afternoon and a small group of friends for an evening reception. I’m currently working with fellow industry professionals in making sure all our weddings will align with the protocols as outlined by the government.”

What are Barnardt’s top three tips when it comes to planning a wedding?  “Firstly, the food! People won’t necessarily remember the decor at a wedding but everyone remembers the food. If you have an amazing menu and enough for everyone to eat, then you’re likely to have a successful wedding. The one thing you don’t want is your guests leaving early because they’re still hungry.

“Secondly, that personal touch. Every wedding is special, but what makes the occasion even more special is having a personal touch to everything – a special message for each guest on their seat, a photo booth, a personalised cocktail or having grandma’s famous cake for dessert.

“Thirdly, admin and organisation are key. As a planner, being organised takes the stress of organising the big day away from the couple so that they can enjoy their wedding day.”

Finally, Barnardt reveals what she is most looking forward post-lockdown.

“I’m most definitely going to take a long walk on the beach, visit a few local wine farms to indulge in some wine tasting, and of course I will be back at work doing what I love which is creating lasting memories.”

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One of the most fun parts about a wedding is getting to customise it to suit your every desire. Every aspect of your celebration can be a reflection of you and or your partner. Some people opt for monogrammed napkins, while others go for signage to celebrate their union.

If you want to do more to personalise your nuptials, why not add a signature wedding drink into the mix? You don’t have to be a professional mixologist to throw a good drink together. There are a few simple tips to follow, and you should be good to go.

Here’s how to do it:

– Start with your preferences 

Think about your go-to drink or your partner’s go-to. What flavours do the two of you like, what flavours do you not like? This is a great place to start, because the last thing you’d want is to have a signature wedding drink you don’t even want to have a sip of yourself.

– Opt for two 

Everyone has different preferences, so its best that you provide more than one option.

– Trendy flavours 

Leanne Strickler, head mixologist at an establishment in Chicago, told Brides that it is always a good idea to add trendy flavours. Use something like a vodka soda as your base, then add fun and popular flavours to it. “Tea is very popular, and there are lots of different flavours,” Strickler says. “It’s a great way to add flavour to a drink really inexpensively.”

– Keep your theme in mind 

A cocktail in a mason jar is a bit inappropriate for a more formal wedding, the same way a cocktail in a martini glass is odd to serve at a barn wedding. Particularly for presentation, the theme is very important to take into consideration.

– Try for universality 

It’s best to opt for drinks that most people enjoy like vodka and rum, rather than ones that often polarise people such as gin and whiskey flavours.

– Punch up presentation 

Add fun tags, a decorative stirrer, and anything else you’d like to make it look personal. These decorative additions also help to have the drink fit in with your wedding colours. It’s best not to fiddle with the colour of the drink, or else your guests may all be walking around the purple lips due to the food dye.

– Name it 

Once your drink has come together, decorations and all, you get to add the final touch by naming it whatever you’d like! Get creative, make it funny, you can serve it at all the dinner parties you throw together as a newly married couple and even years on into your marriage – so make it memorable.

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While at first you may think that choosing a wedding venue is as simple as finding the one that you consider the most beautiful, unfortunately, that is not the case. There are quite a few other things you need to take into account before you pay the deposit.

Wedding venues are quite expensive as it stands. The last thing you’d want is to run into extra, unexpected costs because you didn’t take the time to think of all the little things that you would need out of a venue.

Here are some things you should consider before committing to a venue:

– The basics 

Of course, things like availability for your preferred date should be top of mind when venue hunting. Find out about all the dates available around the time you’d like to get married.

Other things you should look into are seating capacity, the exclusive use of the property given to you on the day (so that strangers are not lurking during your wedding reception), and the availability of accommodation on the property.

Additionally, find out how many hours are included in a basic rental of the venue and whether they charge extra for after-hours use.

– Saving your bank balance 

Find out about the deposit, cancellation policy, and final payment due dates. This will help you to budget better.

Further, you should ask the venue owner what is included in the total, so that you don’t get hit with an unexpected service charge or cleaning fees after the fact.

– For your guests 

If you have guests with special needs, for example, some who may require the venue to be wheelchair friendly, you should take all of those things into account.

Make sure to also find out about the availability of a generator, on-site parking, noise restrictions, bathrooms, and other things that may affect your guests.

– More about the venue

It’s important to take into account what the venue provides so that you know if there are extra items you need to cater for.

For example, if you want an outdoor ceremony, will there be facilities for sound equipment? Consider whether chairs provided for the ceremony and reception, if cutlery and crockery is provided, if the venue comes with waiters and staff, and so forth.

Furthermore, many venues charge extra if you outsource a caterer or bring your own wine. If you’re planning on any of these, find out about kitchen charges and corkage fees. In the same breath, find out about catering options such as halal, kosher, vegan, or vegetarian.

Venues may also not allow certain decor or items, such as candles. If you want to make use of these types of decorations, ask them about it specifically.

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Wedding favours are the perfect way for newlyweds to thank their guests for attending their special day. They’re often tailored to the couple, and range from edible treats to easily DIY-ed wonders.

Hangover kits are cute and tongue-in-cheek, but not so appropriate for little ones. If you plan on inviting chidren to your wedding, make sure they feel special with a wedding favour designed specifically for them.

Here are some adorable ideas:

Sweet as candy

Colour me impressed

Roast ’em up

Story time

A dough-lightful day

Tic-tac-toe, away we go

Fishing for compliments

Hot chocolate thunder

Also read: How to entertain kids at your wedding

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