Hints for Organising a Beach Wedding

Hints and Tips for Planning your Beach Wedding

A beach wedding is a unique way of celebrating your marriage. In South Africa we are very fortunate to be blessed with one of the best climates in the world, so there are many wedding venues either on the beach, or offering your ceremony on the beach and your reception in doors. So if you are a relaxed, laid back type of couple opt for the ultimate in stress free weddings!

Cape weddings are very popular in the summer months. Because of the climate in Cape Town, sunny hot days can almost be guaranteed during the summer especially from December onwards to April. So this enables the wedding season five months where the bride can be sure that there is not much chance of rain. Windy days, especially in December and January, have to be planned for. A marquee or free form tent can take care of this problem.

Beach wedding venues Cape offer the prospective bride a wide choice. Very popular with brides is to organize a wedding out of the city of Cape Town up the West Coast. Venues such as Strandkombuis and Blue Bay Lodge offer accommodation as well as your ceremony on the beach. These option are very popular with the many South Africans living abroad who come back during our summer (their winter) to combine their wedding with a family holiday. The weak rand makes these weddings very popular as they cost a fraction of what a wedding in the United Kingdom or Europe would cost.

These wedding venues include the beach restaurants like Strandkombuis, Muisbosskerm, Bosduifklip and others that maximize not only the beauty of the beaches, but the bounty of the sea. They offer the freshest sea foods and shell fish, barbequed, and served with salads, warm breads and local speciality preserves. Outstanding wines are produced in the area thus ensuring your carbon footprint is kept as small as possible by buying and using local produce.

Cape weddings along the Garden Route combine beach with gorgeous scenery. Wedding venues in Knysna like Villa Castollini are very popular in combining a beach wedding with a holiday. Kennedy’s in Hermanus is a wonderful venue that is right on the lagoon and offers the most romantic weddings under milkwood trees in an enchanting setting.

Grootbos is a unique wedding venue situated in a nature reserve that stretches down to an idyllic beach which is perfect for beach ceremonies. The lodge itself is an exclusive venue situated in an ancient milkwood forest where the trees are over 1000 years old. The glass fronted suites offer a sanctuary with a private deck overlooking the bay where you will probably spot whales. The 2 honeymoon suites each have their private splash pool for the ultimate in romantic luxury. They offer horse riding at the lodge, so you may wish to ride to your wedding on a horse!

The cuisine at Grootbos is outstanding and they also make use of local produce, including delicious fresh fish from the harbour at next door Gansbaai. Have your reception al-fresco in the forest, or in their cosy intimate wine cellar. The wines on offer are superb and from the surrounding vineyards.

Further up the coast, Crawfords in Chintsa near East London offers so much to the bride who wants a beach wedding. They also offer accommodation for your guests. Situated on the warm Indian Ocean, their endless golden beaches make this one of the wedding venues that would ensure a memorable day.

Kwazulu Natal, with the warm Indian Ocean has a wonderful, semi tropical climate making for ideal beach wedding venues throughout the year. The Bell and Anchor on the South Coast is a popular choice for your beach wedding. Up the North Coast, Collisheen is a wedding venue that is situated amongst the sugar cane fields with views over the ocean.

A beach wedding is a very good theme to work with as far as your décor is concerned. Fairy lights, shells, shades of blue and green, candles, hurricane lamps and white drapes all contribute to the general “feel” you are trying to achieve. Guest favours can include rubber slip-slops, beach wraps and packs with small suntan lotions included. The bride can ditch her high heels in favour of bare feet (as can the guests).

A beach wedding combines laid-back style with that summer feeling making all guests feel that they are on holiday! What a perfect wedding it could be.

Wedding venues

Wedding venues

Getting married in the South African bush is a dream come true for a lot of people. There is something truly special about the South African bush that is difficult to explain and it is a magical place for a South African wedding venue. Brides should note however that most venues require the wedding parties to take exclusive use of the lodge. So bush weddings can become expensive but are truly worth it as a once in a life time experience.

South African Wedding venues are among the best in the world. With the fantastic scenery it is not hard to believe this. Finding the perfect wedding venue on the other hand can be a bit trickier and the best place to look for a wedding venue in South Africa is on the website www.saweddingvenues.com. We showcase the best wedding venues so it makes it easier for you to find your wedding venue. Our venues are divided into 5 categories making the decision of what kind of wedding you are looking for easier. We feature beach wedding venues, wineland wedding venues, country wedding venues, city wedding venues and bush wedding venues on the site.

Our beach wedding venues are primarily situated in the Cape. The Cape boasts pristine coastlines with powder white beaches and clear waters. It is of no surprise that Cape Town weddings are becoming more and more popular with couples throughout South Africa and foreigners alike. A beach wedding in Cape Town is guaranteed to be a spectacular experience. The Garden Route also offers amazing beach weddings and offers a great destination for a truly special wedding. Finally KwaZulu Natal offers beach wedding venues that are unparallel in beauty and favorable climate. Whether it is a sultry summer wedding or a warm winter wedding you cannot go wrong with a beach wedding in KwaZulu Natal. For those more intimate weddings and for those with an adventurous spirit we also feature great wedding venues in Mozambique, Zanzibar and Mauritius.

Wedding venues in the Cape winelands are world famous as offering the very best that South Africa has. The great views in the region can be seen from most of the wine farms in the winelands. We have beautiful Paarl wedding venues, Somerset West wedding venues, Cape Town wedding venues, Stellenbosch wedding venues, Franschhoek wedding venues, Darling wedding venues, Riebeek Kasteel wedding venues and Breede River valley wedding venues. Small and intimate wineland weddings can get lost in the winelands as most wedding venues cater for larger weddings, but we really have them all, so have a look!

City weddings are great for those who don’t want to travel too far out of their comfort zone and want to take advantage of the beautiful cities in South Africa. It is for this reason there is not much point in looking any further. A Cape Town wedding guide to the best venues is available as well as wedding venues around the major cities in Southern Africa such as Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban wedding venues.

Or perhaps you want to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city and get married in some of the beautiful locations in the country. You would be surprised to know how many beautiful wedding venues there are around Johannesburg. They are in fact so secluded that you would never guess that you are so close to the city. The countryside around Cape Town is beautiful. We also feature country wedding venues around the Garden Route, the Free State, North West province and Mpumalanga.

Tips For the Bride: How to Plan a Bush or Safari Wedding

Tips for Planning a Bush or Safari Wedding

We have the privilege of living in a country with such a wide variety of bush camps and lodges in which to get married in. Because it is such a popular theme, many bush-themed wedding venues that give a feeling of being in the African bush have been custom built. These are generally situated closer to the city and are thus more accessible. So if you want a bush themed wedding, there is definitely one that will fit into your budget.

The Bush Lodge Venue
These Lodges are normally situated in a big 5 game reserve in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West Province or in Kwazulu Natal. These lodges are often luxury, 5 star venues. They offer luxury accommodation, 3 meals daily, game drives and game related activities. Some of them include beers, wines and local spirits in their rates, and others charge extra for these. The number of guests they can accommodate is dictated by how large their traversing rights are, how many other lodges there are in the area, etc.

These are the type of venues that work really well for a smaller, more intimate wedding where all the guests stay over for at least 2 nights. The wedding party would take exclusive use of the Lodge. Madikwe Collection Lodges offer a free wedding package for the couple that take exclusive use of an entire Lodge for their wedding.

Maybe the bride and groom wish to elope and want a memorable wedding at one of these exclusive lodges. These Lodges would be able to organize a wedding for the couple only, and may have a wedding package specially designed for couples. These are popular with visitors from overseas as the package normally offers everything from the priest to the photographer, flowers, and cake. This makes it so much easier for the bride as all she has to do is arrive on the day with nothing to stress about.

These Lodges are unsuitable for those weddings where the couple wish to have many guests, as besides not being able to cater for large parties, these Lodges also do not allow day visitors.

For larger weddings where not all the guests need accommodation there are many options like Out of Africa Village in Hartebeespoort, Knotted Roots, Ubumanzi and many others found on http://www.saweddingvenues.com. Many of these have buck and other animals that you can use in your photographs, so you can still get the safari feel to your wedding.

There are lodges that can accommodate larger parties. Kapama and Moholoholo in Limpopo can both accommodate up to 100 guests, but Kapama would require all the guests stay over in luxury accommodation. Moholoholo is a wild life rehabilitation centre and is an option for the budget conscious bride.

In the Eastern Cape there is a very special place called Inkwenkwezi which not only has small game, but also access to the beach thus giving you many options.

The good news is that no matter what your budget is, there is an option for you if you want an African Bush theme wedding.

Shalwyn: Our Gorgeous Country Wedding Venue

Shalwyn Venue and Conference Centre beckons.

Located on Shalwyn Farm, Tala Valley, in the heart of the Kwa-Zulu Natal Midlands, it is a mere 20 minutes from Pietermaritzburg, 45 minutes from Durban and just a five hour trip from Johannesburg. A short distance to travel to enjoy pure country bliss.

Our family-run sugar cane farm and wholesale nursery, we invite you to celebrate your special day in our piece of paradise.

Our venue is an old shed transformed and restored to an elegantly rustic taste. Handmade driftwood chandeliers lower the high ceilings and cast romantic hues against the block walls. Large wooden doors opened wide afford breathtaking views of the valley.


The reception room oozes with its own unique character. Features a large thatch pub which serves guests inside as well as those outside on the sprawling wooden deck. Enjoy a drink out here with good friends while the African sun sinks behind darkening hills, perfect for post ceremony gatherings. During the colder months you and your guests can gather round roaring log fires and admire the endless starry skies.


Neighbouring the reception room is our charming chapel with glass windows overlooking dams, hills of sugarcane and natural beauty. Choose to have your ceremony here, on our deck or on our perfectly manicured lawns.

The main attraction to Shalwyn is our vast open space and sweeping views, engulfed in quietude, you quickly forget you are not far from the city.