A Serene Cape Town Ceremony

“We met in Zambia, in 2011 when we were both volunteering in the local communities of Lusaka. We both stayed in the same volunteer house for almost 3 weeks. When we left, I returned to Australia and Jamey returned to the UK, but we kept in touch for the next 5 months and when I returned to the UK, despite living at other ends of the country we re-kindled our holiday romance. Jamey met me at the airport when I landed, and we went from there.”- Sophie and Jamey Bashford

Cape Town the oldest city in South Africa, colloquially called the Mother City. Surrounded by beautiful beaches, magical mountains and vast vineyards, it is a locale that boasts of diverse cultures and breathtaking landscapes, no wonder it has become one of the world’s most popular cities for international weddings! It comes as no surprise that Cape Town is where Sophie and Jamey chose to host their destination wedding.

“We chose Cape Town because we love it, and we wanted all our guests to fall in love with the city as we had back in 2017. We wanted a small intimate wedding, outdoors and the wineries seemed just perfect. We chose Molenvliet Vineyards mainly because of the view and because we loved the privacy, intimacy and the particular fact that we could accommodate all our guests in one place. But everything was about that view, it never gets old and it just blows you away every time you see the majestic mountains and vineyards in the valley. We also had guests traveling from both the UK and Australia, so it felt fair ‘being in the middle’ and meaning everyone had to travel! Overall, the destination of Cape Town is just tremendous for culture, people, food, experiences, adventure and absolutely everything, you can hardly fault the city! The Molenvliet Vineyards was an unforgettable estate that was completely serene with captivating views. It just seemed perfect without even trying!”- Sophie and Jamey Bashford

Ace Destination Weddings and Events Planner, Jadee Fernandes McGowan tells us all about bringing Sophie and Jamey’s vision to life and gives us a behind the scenes update on what went into creating an incredible intimate wedding ceremony in Cape Town.

The couple had three very special requests. Firstly, to incorporate their three cultures: English (Sophie and Jamey’s citizenship), Australian (Sophie’s dual citizenship) and South African (the place of marriage) through the food, the flowers (roses, eucalyptus and proteas) along with the music. Secondly to support the local community in their wedding plans and thirdly, the inclusion of their family and friends.

There was no particular theme or colour palette, but both Sophie and Jamey enjoy neutral, simple, organic and understated elegance and this showed throughout the wedding experience. The décor of the wedding very much included their special requests being the upliftment of the community in and around the wedding venue and then incorporating their cultures. With this in mind we focused on using white as our base colour with chic, gold detailing, and then incorporated additional design layers such as soft florals representing Sophie’s Australian and British roots. We knew that the stationary designed at the local art project would be bright and bold and that each guest would be receiving a specially designed handmade paper place setting from children at the school, so we kept the table settings simple and sophisticated. The wedding was truly about the guests and the breathtaking venue.

When Sophie and Jamey initially asked for different outreach programmes in their wedding venue area, there were none currently established that would offer us what we needed. I spent weeks visiting different projects and assessing the needs of each individual school, discovering a forgotten element in wedding planning – upliftment. I learned about a forgotten school called Nondzame Primary on the doorstep of two of our most expensive and biggest wedding venues. Many of these children come from the community around these venues and often the parents work at the venues not earning enough to sustain their families. So, we set out to assist them through Sophie and Jamey’s guidance and perseverance and patience.

Sophie and Jamey were the first couple to ever truly show compassion, not just towards each other but towards everyone around them. They ensured their carbon footprint was minimal and simplicity was key and most importantly that they made an impact on the underprivileged communities where they could. What they did as a couple still leaves me speechless, I will never forget the moment all the little children arrived to sing at the wedding, it would have been the first non-traditional African wedding that they would have attended and the excitement was tangible. They were so immensely proud and I look forward to continue Sophie and Jamey’s legacy with future clients!

Vendor List:

Wedding planner: Jadee Fernandes McGowan of Jadee McGowan

Photographer: Dearheart Photos

Ceremony & Reception Venue: MolenVliet Vineyards

Cinematography: Salt Productions

Catering & Dessert: Slippery Spoon Kitchen

Officiant: Matt Mills

Floral Design & Bouquet: Okasie Blomme

Cake: The Birdcage

Invitations: The design was painted by a local Kylemore resident child who originally hails from Zambia and attends the Imbali Art Project in Kylemore

Place Names & Escort Cards: An upliftment project hand made by the Nondzame Primary School in Pniel and Kylemore Imbali Art Project

Stationery: Secret Diary

Bride’s Dress: Karen Willis Holmes Bridal

Bridal Shoes: Dune and Superga

Bridal Jewellery/Accessories: Tiffany & Co.

Makeup & Hair: Cecilia Fourie

Groom’s Attire & Shoes: Hugo Boss

Wedding Rings: Eric Ross

DJ: Event Music Solutions

Band: Acoustic Element

Entertainment: XDC Entertainment

Rentals: The Drinks Cartel & Lounging Co