Marina & Milan | Centre for the book

Centre for the Book | Cape Town Wedding

This wedding is just unique and spectacular in every way!

Style of the wedding

“I’m really not into minimalism. My aesthetic moto is “more is more”. When I pictured our wedding I was hoping for something opulent, something where our guests would feel really special. We both come from families who serve the Lord and who God has been faithful to. We wanted to celebrate that. I was very mindful of the fact that it wasn’t just us getting married, it was also a joining of two communities.” – Marina

Reception

“We chose the Centre for the Book after seeing this wedding online. I still think theirs was the most beautiful, timeless wedding ever. I’m a playwright and big reader. Milan is also into comics and even wrote his honours thesis on Batman in film. The “centre for the book” was thus a natural choice for us. The building is amazingly intimate yet still has the grandeur suited to a banquet. I wanted a medieval-esque banquet and even chose the food to hint at this- lamb shanks etc. I would’ve liked a pig with an apple in its mouth but apparently they don’t do those anymore- anyway that’s the vibe we were going for.” – Marina

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Ceremony

We got married at the NG Kerk Tafelberg. It’s such a beautiful building with the most amazing organ. Neither of us are members of the NG Church but they graciously allowed us to get married there. It was really special getting married in a church with such a rich history. They were very accommodating and lovely to work with.

Pre-drinks

We decided to have our pre drinks at Truth Steampunk cafe across the church as Truth for us is synonymous with modern Cape Town. They were fantastic and the guests loved the informal experience of grabbing a coffee and snacks before the really formal reception.

We adore Cape Town and wanted to get married in the heart of the city. We regularly roam the city streets and wanted our guests to experience something of our love affair with the city by going on a mini adventure to the different venues.

Reception Decor

All our crockery was sourced by my amazing mom. I showed her a picture of what I wanted and she ran with it. A lot of it was pieces my gran collected, she adores antiques, as I do. When I was a little girl she always took me to antique shops and taught me about the cups, what made them valuable, checking the rims to see if the edges still have all their gold on them. She couldn’t make it to the wedding, she has Dementia, but I know she would’ve loved all the colourful plates and cups.

We wanted the guests to feel welcome and special. We thus tried to choose a book which had some significant meaning to them as a gift. Me and my mom roamed many a second hand bookstore to find one for each of the guests. Their name cards were written on old library tags which go inside books which I bought on Ebay from England. On these we wrote each guest a note.

We had minimal stationary as this was cost effective and greener. We basically just had one booklet which was handed out in church with all the info guests needed. The seating chart, menu, hymns, program, map, parking info etc was all in one place.

Coordination | Nu Experiences

Floral Design | Okasie

Bar | Urban Tonic

The Dress | Carina Le Roux

Pre-Drinks Venue | Truth Coffee Roasting

Makeup | Ryan Neves Make up

Hair | SCAR

Band | Sylvia Mdunyelva (band)

Rings | Freerange Jewels

Groom & Groomsmen Suits | Moi Styling

Groom’s Bowtie | My Bro Tie

Venue | Centre for the Book