Bo & Luca Bride – Juante & Sam

June 20, 2019

Real Brides

Bo & Luca Bride – Juante & Sam

COUPLE’S NAMES

Juante & Sam di Trapani

DATE

1 December 2018

LOCATION

The Conservatory, Franschhoek. We met in a nearby town (Stellenbosch) so we always knew we wanted to get married in the Winelands. The Conservatory was the first and last venue we viewed for our wedding. We were drawn to it because of the beautiful mountain backdrop and green surroundings. The simple beauty of the venue allowed us to keep our decor minimal, which is the way we love it. The ceremony took place right next to the reception venue – we loved this as it was convenient for our guests and allowed for a relaxed setting. The reception venue (the conservatory itself) is a modern and minimalistic space that didn’t need much to make it beautiful. We added touches of green and white to tie the inside to the green surrounds.

GUEST TOTAL

100

PHOTOGRAPHER

Hayley Nixon (Hayley Takes Photos). I had first seen Hayley’s work at a bridal expo that I was working at many years before I got engaged. Her relaxed and natural style and the way she captured candid moments made her stand out from the rest and I knew that I needed her when I got married. Needless to say, she was the first person I booked when I started planning. She is an absolute dream to work with and such an incredible talent. Stefano and I felt so relaxed with her and never felt as though we had to pose unnaturally.

BRIDES DRESS

Isra gown. Bo & Luca

I have been following Bo & Luca on social media for years and have always loved the dresses, particularly the Isra. As the label was based in Australia I had written off the idea of ever being able to wear one. Finding out that Shannon had moved her operations to Cape Town soon after I had gotten engaged was the best news. All the dresses I tried were gorgeous but the Isra was the most me. It was so comfortable and simple but also incredibly beautiful. Wearing it was a dream come true and I am looking for all the excuses to wear it again!

BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES

Bo & Luca. Neutral Wrap Dress

Finding bridesmaids dresses proved to be more challenging than I expected. I had spoken to Shannon and her team about this and she ended up offering to make them for me. Not only a Bo & Luca wedding dress but also bridesmaids dresses – what a dream! This was an absolute saving grace and the dresses came out beautifully.

ENGAGEMENT STORY

Stefano proposed to me on our 7th anniversary at a game farm in the Cederberg, just outside of Cape Town. One of the game rangers stopped us on our way to dinner to say they had spotted a leopard and could take us to see it if we would like to. As this is such a rare sighting I was keen to go. This was actually a ploy to get me to a beautiful abandoned shepherds cottage in the middle of nowhere, where he proposed and we spend the rest of the evening. It was perfect!

WEDDING THEME

Our wedding aesthetic was very simple and minimalist but beautiful. We wanted everything to seem as though it belonged and matched the surroundings rather than making a statement.

WEDDING RINGS

I wanted a simple rose gold band as I didn’t want to take away from my engagement ring, which is a four claw solitaire on a rose gold band. Stefano’s ring is a brushed gold band. Both were made by my favourite jeweller, Dear Rae.

WEDDING FAVOURS

I gave my bridesmaids bangles from Dear Rae and earrings from another local jeweller, Famke. The groomsmen were given their shoes, belts, and socks for the day. We didn’t have any favours for all the wedding guests.

FLOWERS & BOUQUETS

I knew I wanted something very simple for the flowers. Mostly greenery with touches of white. I passed this message onto my wonderful florist Janine from Foraged and she ran with it. She understood my vision perfectly and created such a beautiful space with her arrangements.

CAKE

Our cake was made by the extremely talented ladies at LionHeart. It was a two-tier cake – the bottom tier was a vanilla sponge with a whipped lemon curd filling and the top tier was a chocolate sponge with a chocolate ganache and salted caramel filling. It was all (beautifully) covered in white chocolate buttercream.

WEDDING SONGS

First dance song: I will always remember us this way – Lady Gaga.

We had a band, Oh Jack, that played during canapes and then a DJ, Dario Leite, for the dancing portion of the evening. We chose our service providers very carefully so we didn’t feel like we needed to give them much guidance. Overall, the music was great and led to lots of dancing and singing (I LOVE good a sing-a-long).

FOOD & BEVERAGES

Food was one of the most important elements for us. Both Stefano and I come from an Italian background and this means people can not be left hungry (ever). We had a harvest table and canapés after the ceremony and then a family-style meal for mains. We loved the idea of everyone sharing food on the table rather than getting one plated meal.

HONEYMOON

We went to Thailand on Honeymoon and it was just wonderful. We planned the trip together and made sure we had lots of time to relax in the sun with cocktails in hand.

GIFTS REGISTRY

We had a gift registry with a local online store, YuppieChef. It was so easy to set up and the gifts were all delivered to us, wrapped with a personal message, when we arrived back from honeymoon.