We end the first week of 2013 with this cheerful winter celebration. Pierre-Benn and Nanette chose a happy colour scheme for their late-winter wedding in August.

The couple’s intimate celebration was held next  to the beautiful Breede River. It was a light-hearted but stylish affair with a few quirky elements, mixed with some romantic patterns to tie it all together.

Juné Joubert worked her magic behind the lens.

Tell us your love story?

We met on a stormy night in Cape Town at the end of Winter. I was sitting at home in Durbanville watching “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and drinking a glass of red wine when my dad phoned. He and my mother were at a braai in Paarl with some friends. My dad then said that there’s a nice guy there that he thinks I would like. And seeing as my dad has always been right about all the wrong guys, I figured he might just be right about Mr Right. So I took a gamble, got in the car, and drove out to Paarl. Pierre-Benn and I instantly clicked and we could not stop talking and staring in each other’s eyes for the rest of the night!

We got engaged in Struisbaai in January 2011.

What were the highlights of your wedding day?

Walking into the church and feeling completely calm when I saw my husband to be. For Pierre-Benn it was seeing me walking into the church to meet him. Dancing with my grandfather. Great heart-felt speeches. Awesome food and wine. Thunderstruck on the dance floor and everyone going crazy playing air guitar and jumping around (even the bride). Seeing how our friends enjoyed themselves.

Any advice for brides-to-be?

Plan everything out to the last detail, especially the plan for the day. Then make sure you have someone else who can manage your day for you, so that you can enjoy the day. Don’t stress about the small things. If you forget something, it won’t matter anyway, because nobody but you knew it had to be there in the first place!

Where did you get most of your ideas and inspiration from?

The internet. I spent a lot of time Googling and probably got some ideas from The Pretty Blog too! I ended up with just a folder on my computer full of blue and yellow photos for inspiration.

Any time saving or organising tips?

I had a very long time to prepare. 18 months, in fact. And that helped a lot with keeping the pressure off. I ensured that I booked or completed something every month for a year. At one point I took 3 days off and got almost everything booked. The last 6 months was just the small things.

Any hints for other brides on how to keep your wedding budget friendly?

If you can, try to do as many things yourself. Shop around, and most importantly, go local. I got many of my service providers in the area, which literally saved me thousands of Rands!
When setting up a budget, go in low, because you will probably end up overspending by at least 20%.

What song did you choose for your opening dance and why?

“Nothing’s real but love” by Rebecca Ferguson. Of all the things, this was the hardest to decide, because we’ve never had a song that was ours. We both love music, but every time there was a song that sounded like “this could be it”, it turned out to be a song about a breakup! So a week before the wedding I was at home watching TV and inbetween shows came this beautiful raspy voice with the perfect message that gave me goosebumps. And once I played it to Pierre-Benn, he agreed and that was that! Opening dance song: CHECK!

Did your wedding preparations include any DIY projects?

Yes, quite a few, actually. My sister was kind enough to do our wedding invitations and design as her DIY contribution to the wedding. She is a great graphic designer, so she had some good connections for buying paper and printing! We did 70-odd mustaches on a stick, pasting custom labels on the party poppers,  table names and blue and yellow fans.