Your dress. Your day. Your way.
If you’ve been following the Merwe Wed story, you’ll know that this is the motto underpinning our approach to wedding attire design. For us, it’s not about trends, it’s about the person who will be wearing the garment on their big day. It’s about creating something that reflects and enhances their unique style, beauty and spirit.
So, with this in mind, we’re excited to introduce our very first Merwe Wed Bride Journey.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing blog posts and social media stories taking you behind the scenes of a real wedding in the making. While we’ll touch on various aspects of planning, the main focus will be on the design process and how we bring the bride and her wedding party’s dresses to life.
And now… over to our bride!
The bride
Hi everyone! And welcome to my Merwe Wed Bride Journey!
My name is Nadia and – full disclosure – I’m actually part of the Merwe Wed team. Since early 2019, I’ve been running the Instagram and Facebook profiles – helping Deeva spread the word about her unique approach to wedding garment design.
Fast forward one year, and I’m counting down the days to my own wedding (only 78 to go she says hyperventilating into a brown paper bag) and busy working with Deeva on my own dress design, as well as those of my bridesmaids.
Of course, when I started out with Merwe Wed, I had no idea that this would be the case…
The proposal
But then, on 20 June 2019, Guillaume, my partner of almost five years, asked me to marry him under a velvety night sky sprinkled with a thousand twinkling stars.
It was the end of our second day of hiking the 5-day Fish River Canyon trail and we were camped out on the banks of the barely-flowing river.
Somewhere in between cooking, washing up and getting our water bottles ready for the next day’s 10+km trek, Guillaume managed to lure me away from the serious tasks of hiking trail prep and the bustle of the campsite. Somehow, among the jagged rocks we were sitting on, he found a spot to drop down on one knee and popped the question, presenting me with the beautifully delicate Dear Rae Rhythm Ring I’d been eyeing.
I was completely bowled over by the thought he had put into it all and how absolutely perfect it was for us.
I love the fact that we were wearing tracksuit pants and hoodies, that our faces were sun-kissed from a long day of hiking and that we were in the middle of nowhere. I couldn’t have asked for a more romantic proposal!
A bit more about the ring
Unfortunately, the ring was a little too big for me, so I had to carry it in my backpack the rest of the way. This, however, did not stop me from sneaking it out of its box and slipping onto my finger to admire at our various campsites every evening.
Upon our return to Cape Town, we headed to Dear Rae’s gorgeous Bree Street store to have it resized. While I had originally liked the idea of having a ring without a diamond, I suddenly felt that a little sparkle might be nice. So, we decided to take the Three Claw Mini Diamond as my engagement ring and keep the Rhythm for my wedding band. Can’t wait to wear them in a little stack!
The wedding idea
Growing up, I had never spent much time thinking, let alone dreaming, about my someday-wedding. So, when we returned home after our hike and started sharing our good news with everyone, I suddenly realised I had NO idea what I wanted or where to start planning.
Soon enough, however, Guillaume and I established that a relatively informal outdoors affair would be best suited to our story and decided to go for a relaxed picnic-style wedding.
Since I love Autumn and all its rich beauty, we set our date for April.
The venue search
Once we had these basics in place, it was time to find our perfect venue.
We spent an entire day driving around with my parents and while we saw many pretty places, not one of them really ignited any kind of spark in our souls.
The very last place we visited was Harold Porter National Botanical Garden in Betty’s Bay and everything seemed to fall into place.
Having grown up spending December holidays in Betty’s Bay from the age of one and finally moving here at the age of 10, this botanical garden has been witness to every phase of my life. It’s as familiar as my own backyard, yet ever mysterious in the way it seems to wear seasons differently every year and houses such a bounty of magnificent life.
For Guillaume – a landscaper by trade and a lover of all things green – it holds as much charm, magic and endless opportunities to explore.
Save the date
With the date, venue and the picnic theme in place, it was time to get people excited for the big day.
My brother, Imar, is a super talented graphic designer, so we asked him to create our save-the-dates, which we sent out via email.
How cute?
Dreaming up a dress with Deeva
While I’ve enjoyed every part of the wedding planning process so far, my absolute favourite has been dreaming up my dress!
I started where most modern brides do - on Pinterest. And soon a pattern emerged – it was clear that I wanted something simple and elegant and somewhat bohemian. In fact, a similar silhouette to the dress my mother had worn when she got married 40 years ago.
While my pinned images don’t reflect this, I secretly also wanted to add a touch of glamour, but felt that maybe it would be too out of character.
However, when Deeva and I started chatting about my dress, she seemed to intuit this wish and came up with the most perfect suggestion that would also incorporate something of my mom’s dress into the design.
Once we’d refined the idea together, I invited my mom and dad to join Deeva and I on a little fabric-hunting spree in Cape Town at the end of last year, which I’m happy to report, was a great success!
While I can’t reveal too much more about my own dress just yet, stay tuned for some updates about bridesmaid dress planning and bringing gorgeous garments to life that the girls would love to wear again.