Today, we introduce you to South African wedding photographer {Christine Meintjes}.  Kirstin, our SW Art Director, found Chrisitine's website one day and fell in love.  She requested Leanie + Neil's wedding to be featured on the SW Blog and was all smiles when Christine wrote back in interest. The lovely Leanie and handsome Neil met on a New Years Eve river boat ride on the Thames Rives in London in 2006.  They have been together ever since.  Both from South Africa, there was no other choice then to be married at {Haute Cabiere} outside of Cape Town. Leanie's sister is a former event planner and helped Leanie make some great decisions like hiring {Mint & Magnolia} to create the beautiful arrangements. Leanie's stunning dress was designed by {Elbeth Gillis}. To see more shots from this fantastic wedding, click over to Christine's photo {Blog}.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story...Neil and I are both South African and living in England. I met him through friends in London and it was love at first sight for me! It's not a very romantic story but we got together on the January 1, 2006. On New Year's Eve, we were on the Queen Mary boat on the Thames River in London. I ignored Neil the whole night through all the romantic fireworks and all...I thought he was way too attractive to ever be interested in me and he probably wouldn’t be a nice guy! We got together the next day and haven't been apart since. He turned out to be a very nice guy.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? We wanted something simple, intimate and romantic. The town where my parents live in South Africa and where we had our wedding is called 'Franschhoek' (Afrikaans for 'French Corner'). Neil and I also had a lot of holidays in France during our relationship and we decided to have a French theme.
Favorite design element of your big day: The venue itself created the best element of the day, Haute Cabriere is a restaurant and wine estate with an underground wine cellar where we had the ceremony. It created a very Medieval Effect that made the atmosphere wonderful. The setting was also the best feature. We were surrounded by mountains, vineyards and a perfect African sunset!
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I have never been one of those girls who know exactly what type of wedding dress to wear. It took me a while to find out what I wanted. Luckily my sister got married in March 2008 and she had a stunning dress and a brilliant designer that I booked immediately when we got engaged. I looked in a zillion magazines and tried on a few dresses. I decided on something simple, but romantic. I chose an ivory colour and I loved the Chinese satin that the designer showed me. I had a picture that I saw when I got engaged and my ideas haven't really changed much, we changed a few things, but the designer was brilliant and she created my dream dress!
Describe your wedding flowers: My sister used to be a wedding planner (bonus!) and she introduced me to the florist who did her wedding. I just described the theme of the wedding and it all went from there. I never had set ideas for the flowers, but I was very pleased with the outcome. The bridal and bridesmaid bouquet's were cream roses. The venue was covered with beautiful burnt orange roses to create a warm atmosphere.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: The setting of the wedding with beautiful views and the intimate venue. We had a great band that played Jazz and French accordion music while the guests were having pre-drinks and enjoyed the sunset.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Romantic, Intimate, and French/Medieval.
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? It helps to have a sister who was a wedding planner! It also helps to be in the country where you plan your wedding. I was in England while
my wedding was being planned in South Africa. My mother and sister did absolutely everything and they were fantastic wedding coordinators! Try not to worry too much about every detail...I couldn't really care less what the flowers, tables etc looked like, I just wanted to marry the guy of my dreams. It was nice to have a few surprises on the wedding day, it is good to let the suppliers use their creative ideas to contribute towards the special day.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? We have just moved from the countryside to London and we are adapting to city living! We are planning a few trips in Europe, while we live close by and going home to South Africa often to visit our family and friends. We are enjoying married life and we are still as happy as the day we met!
Favorite inspirational blogs or sites: Christine Meintjes (Photographer's website)! I loved the Pronovias
website, I used it alot for ideas for wedding dresses.

Congratulations to Leanie + Neil.  We wish you the best in life!