We’re obsessed with the romantic boho vibe Batia and Darren created for their gorgeous South African Jewish wedding. The bride, a makeup and lash artist, and the groom, a musician and sound engineer working in sales, crafted the most gorgeous day, filled with soft colours, plenty of succulents, and rustic wooden elements galore.
We love their sweet, simple chuppah – and it just goes to show you don’t need to go all out for something mega-opulent to create a gorgeous floral chuppah. A simple wooden structure wrapped in just the right amount of delicate roses and soft green vines – done! The bride’slate grandfather’s tallis formed the canopy, which is such a beautiful touch. Photographers Splendid Productions and videographers White Motion Films captured everything so perfectly.
Batia’s wonderful dress from Vesselina Pentcheva carried on the boho fairy tale theme, with a soft, flowy cut and wonderful 3D rose lace and hand stitched pearls. We’ll let her fill you in on the rest of the details of her wonderful day…
How we met
Batia, the bride: We met at a mutual friends house 8 years ago and the rest is history!
Venue
We got married at the HOD Hall (Hebrew Order of David). The venue has a gorgeous garden and the hall itself is bright and light and has a gorgeous window and wooden deck (where I had my badeken).The HOD is a Jewish venue and has a caterer onsite so I just made perfect sense to have it there!
Theme
We have been together for 8 years and wanted to just celebrate our love in the best way possible! Our day was all about family and friends and just having a good time.
I had a very clear image in mind of what I wanted… boho with wooden elements, succulents (my favourite flower) and pale pink roses. I got all my stationery made by Lua Nova while Flowers by Kari did the rest.
I included a lot of special touches including a wooden heart guestbook and boho inspired stationery. We had a beautiful remembrance wall making sure all our loved ones were in our thoughts. My grandmother made the backdrop of my badeken with a gorgeous blush chiffon that was also used for our sweetheart table as well.
Invitation
We created our wedding invite on Paperless Post. It hinted toward a boho theme with a wooden background and succulent/roses.
Dress
My dress was made by the incredible Vesselina Pentcheva! I always knew I wanted to work with her as her aesthetic matched my design idea so perfectly! My dress was 100% me… boho fairy princess! It was so important for me to feel comfortable on the day… I opted for my dress as it was light, airy and flowed. I never wanted a white dress and didn’t want to go for the style popular at the time… I just wanted the dress to represent who I am and stay forever on trend. My dress was oyster in colour with a touch of white and blush. I didn’t have a train so I could move with such ease. The top was fitted while the rest flowed. What I loved about my dress was the gorgeous 3D rose lace and hand stitched pearls as well as the surprise cutout back.
Accessories
I had always dreamt of having some sort of hair accessory and found the most gorgeous hairpiece at Lovisa. It matched my dress perfectly with is floral/leafy theme and was rose gold to match my ring.my veil was plain and simple so that my dress was the feature .
Shoes
My shoes were just incredible! I got them from forever new and they had 3d flowers on them that matched my dress perfectly! They were an off white creamy colour with a stiletto heel. They were also super comfy but I did opt for some flat sandals for the hora (also from Forever New).
Hair + Makeup
For hair and makeup I was extremely picky as I am a makeup artist (but wanted to be spoilt on the day) so you can only imagine what my expectations were! For both hair and makeup I used girls I had worked with previously, Donique and Stacey. I think it is so important to have a relationship with your hair and makeup artist as these photos will truly last a lifetime and need to be timeless. I opted to have my hair down (as that is how I always were it) with loose brushed out curls. For makeup I went with a smokey rose gold eye and a nude lip as well as some cluster lashes.
The handsome groom
Darren loves to be comfy but he also likes to suite up! He wore a black suite from Khaliques with a white shirt.
Bridesmaids
I had 8 gorgeous bridesmaids. They are all my lifelong friends. They all wore different blush dresses that were floor length. Blush was on of my colours as I love how soft and beautiful it is.
Chuppah
We had the most incredible chuppah band at our wedding – Josh Alter Music. The chuppah was really the most special part of the day. Our chuppah was simple yet beautiful and to theme. It was a wooden structure that was wrapped with roses,greenery and little vines .We used my late grandfathers tallis which was so meaningful.
Ceremony
Darren walked out to the imperial march that transformed into the classic wedding tune (huge Star Wars fan) I walked out to a ‘Boi Kallah’ that was transformed into the song ‘A Million Dreams’ from The Greatest Showman (one of our favourite movies). Our Rabbi was amazing… not only did he make us laugh but he also read of vows that we had written for each other. This made the chuppah so much more meaningful.
Josh Alter then did the Sheva Brachot to ‘Iris’ from the Goo Goo Dolls (my favourite song). Josh then did a special Sheva Brachot of the ‘Earth Song’ by Michael Jackson which was a complete surprise to Darren. This was so special as my husband and his family were close family friends with Michael (yes, the Michael Jackson). Michael had always said to Darren that he would be at his wedding one day and although he couldn’t be there in person, he was there in spirit. Our chuppah ended off with the breaking of the glass and an English/Hebrew rendition of ‘Im Eshkachech Yerushalayim’ .
Ketubah
Our ketubah was huge! A1 laser cut into the flower of life symbol! It depicts how all life comes from one singular source – represented by the circle in the middle of the pattern. There is believed to be a secret symbol hidden within the Flower of Life symbol, which is said to hold the most significant and sacred patterns of the universe. It was created by Ineffable Creations.
Our music choice
We came running in to the hora to ‘Gad Elbaz Hashem Melech’ and played a ton of Israeli modern music during the hora .We played a lot of Michael Jackson songs and all the usual classics that make a wedding a wedding! Our first dance song was ‘Never Enough’ from the Greatest Showman that went into ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ from the Black Eyed Peas.
Flowers
I am obsessed with succulents so we had gorgeous succulents, blush and creme baby roses and a lot of greenery. We also made use of wooden boxes,crates and logs to finish off the look. Our flowers were done by Flowers by Kari.
Photographer and videographer
Our photographers were the incredible Splendid Productions… we wanted someone who could capture the fun of the day and have a good mix or formal and spontaneous shots. Our videographers were White Motion Films. We loved how they transformed the wedding day into a real life movie with their incredible cinematography.
Entertainment
For entertainment we had Josh Alter Music, a saxophonist during the canapes and then a DJ for the hora and dancing.
Honeymoon
We went to Mauritius on honeymoon and it was more than we could of dreamed of! We stayed at La Victoria which is a Beachcomber resort
and opted for the all inclusive package. We booked the package incl flights with Flight Centre.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Just take in every moment, don’t sweat the small stuff and look around… this is your wedding day! Go see the food, the decor, interact with your guests and don’t forget to eat! The happier you are and the more fun you have, the more people will feel at ease and have the best night of their lives!
Batia & Darren’s little white book
Photography – Splendid Productions
Videography – White Motion Films
Bride’s dress – Vesselina
Bride’s accessories – Lovisa
Bride’s shoes – Forever New
Groom’s attire – Khaliques
Hair + Makeup – Donique and Stacey
Flowers – Flowers by Kari
Band – Josh Alter Music
Ketubah – Ineffable Creations
Stationery – Lua Nova and Paperless Post
Honeymoon – La Victoria with Flight Centre
Just take in every moment, don’t sweat the small stuff and look around… this is your wedding day! Go see the food, the decor, interact with your guests and don’t forget to eat! The happier you are and the more fun you have, the more people will feel at ease and have the best night of their lives