Our Wedding {flowers}

Here are the flowers that I/we chose for our wedding in September last year. I didn't want anything over the top, but opted for simple and pretty, with a little bit of a farm feel thrown in.

I had two wonderful local Creighton ladies help me with the flowers (as well as all the 

 and arranging), Gail & Rene, you ladies are just the bees knees!

The flowers all came from Midlands Flower Hub (at Southgate Mall in Pietermaritzburg). Cathy was wonderful to work with and really helped make the rose choices easy peasy!

I had begged, borrowed and scavenged loads and loads of glass bottles for the flowers (anything and everything from All gold bottles, to salt and pepper grinders, to vases and wine bottles!) and I was so very happy with how it all worked out.

{photographer: Jacki Bruniquel}

Our Wedding (bouquets)

For my wedding bouquets I spent hours on sites like Pinterest, 100 Layer Cake & The Pretty Blog trying to find the perfect photograph that contained all my idea's. But as so often happens when you have too many idea's, I was left overwhelmed and no closer to finding the perfect combination of flowers. Eventually Gail (half of my wonderful flower team) suggested meeting at the florist and playing around with different flower combinations and seeing what made my heart flutter...what a fantastic idea that was!

However, 2 weeks before our wedding (click here for more of our wedding photo's!), the flowers I had ordered weren't available and, to cut a long story short, I just told Gail to do her best with what we had.

And...I couldn't have been more delighted with what I ended up with.

It was pretty, soft, elegant and pastel!

I had always wanted my bridesmaids to have paper flowers, and had planned to make them myself. That was until I saw Denise's paper roses at the I Heart Market in Durban 2 months before the wedding. Denise, owner of Freshly Found in Durban was so wonderful and I ended up ordering 20 of her finest roses! And I was thrilled at how they came out...thank you Denise, they were everything I had hoped for and more!

{Photographer: Jacki Bruniquel}

{Flowers: Midlands Flower Hub Pietermaritzburg}

{Paper Roses: Freshly Found}

Our Wedding {table decor}

Just over two months ago, I married the man of my dreams...a Farmboy from a tiny little town called Creighton. We got married on his family dairy farm after 6 months of planning, cutting, pasting, sticking, and making tables. 

I will be doing a series of short posts of the different elements of our wedding, click here to see more of our wedding. 

Thanks for reading and following along, I appreciate each and every comment/view from all of you :)

Here are some of the photographs (taken by the wonderfully talented Jacki Bruniquel) of our table decor...

{Photographer: Jacki Bruniquel}

{Mahogany Tiffany chairs: Exclusive Hire Durban}

{Vintage plates & crockery: A Vintage Affair Joburg}

{Straws: In Good Company}

{Glass bottles/jars for flowers etc, books & crochet doilies: various Hospice & SPCA charity shops}

{Wooden Tables: handmade by my father-in-law & hubby!}

{Our Wedding} Official Photographs

Finally, I am able to pop these photo's up! All of these incredible photo's were taken by the talented Jacki Bruniquel, thanks so much Jax, Farmboy and I are so glad that we picked you to capture our special day.

 Here are a few highlights...

{I will be posting lots more in time and under particular headings with lots of tips for other bides-to-be!}

A little context for new readers...Farmboy and I chose to get married on his family dairy farm in the small town of Creighton, just outside Ixopo, KZN. He proposed in March this year and so began 6 months of prepping and planning and convincing my Dad that yes, I really did want to get married amoungst the cows! 

Words can't even begin to explain the hard work that was done by family and friends to get the barn and the shed ready for our big day. You see, the farm is a real life working farm. The Shed (where we had our reception) is the home to the calves after they have been removed from their mums. The Barn (where our ceremony took place) was used for storage and the shearing of sheep, as well as the home to a very special little owl.

So, with that in mind, Farmboy and his Dad set about hand crafting all 18 tables, I set about sourcing vintage plates, knives and forks, champagne glasses and mahogany tiffany chairs (who would have ever thought this things would be so hard to get hold of!) and so began the wedding prep!

To everyone that lent a hand, an afternoon or even an entire month to help make our dreams come true, we love you all so much, and it would never have been possible without you!

Our Wedding Venue...{The Set Up}

Here are a few gorgeous photo's from our special friend Sophie of Sophie Smith Photography

(if you can remember, Soph did our engagement shoot a few months back and we were thrilled with the photographs...these are no exception!). 

Sophs, thank you for capturing these special moments, and for being on hand to help out with all of the preparations!! 

These photo's will give you a little bit of an idea of all the hard work that went on behind the scenes to make our dream venue a reality. These are just photo's from The Shed. The Barn, where our ceremony was held was a little dark to capture properly, so will post those as well as all the official piccies from our photographer Jacki Bruniquel soon!

These lovely ladies were incredible with my flowers! Thank you Gail & Ren!!!! Lots and lots of love to you two! x

serious face, arranging those bird cages was hard work you know ;)

My Farmboy, making his handmade tables just right

Crockery was hired from 

A Vintage Affair

 in Joburg! They were so delightfully perfect on the tables, I was thrilled!

The Hutton Brothers, enjoying some tea!

Weather proofing The Shed! The day before the wedding it poured with rain! We were so worried the same would happen on the day, but it was all sunny clear sky's on our Big day!

Tea break time!

Tired busy bee's!

Heart Bunting {wedding DIY}

In the search for the perfect bunting for our wedding {and the cheapest we could get our hands on!} my soon-to-be Aunty Marina had a wonderful idea while perusing down the aisles of Makro. Let's make our own! Ok, I thought not really that original. Let's make our own using paper plates! Um, I thought, now you're getting somewhere...

Here's what resulted from our trip to Makro:

Easy peasy lemon squeezey! I have done a post a while ago on making your own fabric bunting (click here) but I think that these make a nice change don't you think?! 

{Inspiration} Thank you gifts

At the August I Heart Market in Durban, I spotted these really pretty vinyl stickers on little jars at the Little Mud Hut Designs stall.  I was immediately struck with what a cute gift they would make. My mind ran wild with images of buttons, ribbon & lace. These little guys were a gift from Vanessa (who is just the sweetest lady, and the brains behind the Little Mud Hut Designs). I am planning on using these to say thank you to some special friends who have been invaluable to me during the wedding planning. 

I also filled them with some pretty pieces I found at Mr Price, but really, you could fill them with anything {even ingredients to make hot chocolate or chocolate chip cookies would look amazing in these jars}. Why not reuse & recycle by visiting your local thrift store (my favourite is the Hospice and SPCA shops right here in Pietermaritzburg) and get crafty with all the different sizes and shapes of glass bottles there.

{Before} The Shed & The Barn

Here are some photo's of the shed (which was to become our reception venue) and barn (our chapel/ceremony venue) before all the wedding prep began. The shed was where the calves were kept after being seperated from their mommy's (Farmboy's parents own a dairy farm, hence the cows) and the barn was being used as a place to shear the sheep and keep bits of junk. Still, even with all that 'natural' stuff (ahem cow & owl droppings) going on, the true beauty of the place is undeniable :)

The Shed...

The Barn...

Wedding Hair & Makeup Trial

A little while ago I posted a sneak peak of my wedding hair & make up (thanks to my very talented mommy for the photies!). While I wait for the professional photo's from our big day, here are photo's of my hair and makeup trial, which is exactly what I had done on the day. Also a few shots of my Bridesmaids hair do's and makeup on the day...all the photo's below were taken by my mom, thanks Sue P!

Thanks to the very talented Alana who did my trial at Makeup Your Mind in Durbs!

A few Instagram snaps...

It's our last few days of honeymoon, before reality kicks in on Monday. While we wait for the posh piccies from our photographer, here is a little Instagram sneak peek...

{Honeymoon in Greece!} see you in two weeks!

After an incredible 6 months of very hard work converting Calf shed into our dream wedding, the day finally arrived and sped by in lightening speed! Farmboy and I are at this moment waiting for our plane to Greece where we will spend the next 2 weeks enjoying married life! I will not be blogging during that time (hubby's orders!) so i will be seeing you all in a short while.

Look forward to loads of incredible Photo's of our special day, as well as piccies of Greece!

Love,

Mrs Hutton

aka CityGirl xxx

T minus 1 day!

This time tomorrow, all my bridesmaids will have had their hair and makeup done, and my makeup artists will be starting their work on me! Such excitement happening on this end of the world! Here is a little pic of me doing what I do best, drinking tea! It's always good to take a break every once in a while and appreciate the little things.

It poured with rain last night and I had a very sleepless night worrying about The Shed and whether Farmboy and his groomsmen had done a good enough job of weather proofing it. I'm off this morning to see for myself what damage was done!

 To my left is my very soon to be sister in law Natalie, and of course my very handsome fiance...

A Kitchen Tea {Surprise!}

A few week's ago, one of my bridesmaids organized yet {another} surprise Kitchen Tea for me! What a special day filled with great company, yummy food and lots and lots of laughs. It's times like these that make you realise what special people surround you. Thank you to all the ladies in the photo's below, as well as all those who couldn't make it.

I am currently writing this post in bed, after a very full day of wedding DIY'ing, from putting up chalkboards, to hanging shade clot and hessian to weather proof our farm venues, and of course lots and lots of ribbon and lace tying. The last few days before the wedding have been so special, a time for family, and a time to just take a deep breathe and realise the beauty of marriage.

Enjoy the photies below, lots more posts to come before the Big Day on Sunday!

*And a big thank you to Dear Chloe Photography for the piccies!*

Wedding Nails Inspiration & {Inglot Review}

My wedding is just under 10 days away {please excuse the rush of wedding related posts!} and I have been scouring the net for idea's of what to do for my nails. Here are a few pictures of pretty mani's, as well as the shade I will be wearing next Sunday...enjoy! xxx

{Source for all images}

I am loving all the soft pastel shades at the moment, and my wedding nails will be no exception. My nails are very long at the moment {I'm not complaining!} but too much colour is tending toward the 'garish' side of things, and I'm wanting to go more soft and romantic. So I've settled on a soft pearly pink colour from Inglot. 

It goes on smoothly and evenly without too much fuss, and leaves no lingering aroma of chemicals. Two coats were enough to make my nails pop, without distracting too much from my ring. I am very keen to hit Inglot again soon, the colour range was what impressed me most. There were so many nail colours to pick, i cant believe i left with only one in my hand!

Get yours from most Woolworths stores, and designated Inglot counters nationwide for R99.

Wedding Hair & Makeup {sneak peek)

Yesterday I went for a full hair and makeup trial with Makeup Your Mind in Durban. I had spent hours on Pinterest and wedding blogs like100 layer cake, The Pretty Blog, Ruffled & a lovely South African wedding blog South Bound Bride trying to find the perfect style that suits both me and my dress, and then makeup to match.  I was feeling pretty frazzled about the whole thing. I took everything I had to my appointment, and my makeup artist asked me a few questions, had a squizz at my pic's and got busy! I am thrilled to say she has given me exactly what I was after from the beginning...something a little sexy, pretty, and different all rolled into one!

Here a few very sneak peek's, I can't risk Farmboy having a look and seeing me all done up before the big day (which is next weekend!!!!)

*all photo's taken by my super talented mom! Thank you mommy for spending 2 hours photographing every strand of hair and eye lash...I <3 you!*

#HuttonWedding...2 weeks to go!

Yesterday marked the two week countdown to our wedding...eek! Here are a few snaps of our time spent on the farm cutting, hammering, sticking, tying and general DIYing in preparation for our big day. A huge thank you to everyone involved, I hope I wasn't too 'Bridezilla' like in my demands :)

The story of {FarmBoy & CityGirl}

A little while ago, the lovely ladies behind Ruby and the Swallow featured our engagement shoot, along with some questions and answers about our relationship. {To read the full post, click here}

I thought I would post our love story here, seeing as we are getting married in 17 days :)

Dale and I met at Rhodes University. We were both heavily involved in the same community project, Galela Amanazi (which means ‘pour the water’. We helped set up water tanks in the surounding townships of Grahamstown). He had been brought on as an environmental consultant, and I was in charge of publicity and media. He was barefoot, shaggy bearded and non-conforming, and I wore earrings that matched the colour of my nails. Complete opposites.

Dale was brought up on a dairy farm, I have lived in concrete jungles my whole life. I remember us discussing this fact as we were paired together to go and find out the cost of sausages for a fundraiser. It turned out that that evening, we were the only two committee members who were able to get together to make T-shirts for the fundraiser the next day. And what followed can only be explained as a whirlwind romance.


You see, I had a boyfriend at the time, of nearly 5 years. We had been doing long distance for the 3 past 3. It was’t easy but we were happy. That is, until I met Dale. In this life you can’t choose who God puts in your life, and who He has destined for you to be with. And if it wasn’t for Dale, I would never have come to know God.


Fast track through 3 years (6 months at University together, a year teaching English to cute little kiddies in South Korea, 6 months living in Pietermaritzburg) and here we are…Engaged! 

Here's to spending the rest of my life with you Farmboy, and adventure I am beside myself with excitement to start with you by my side.

Wedding Prep continues!

A few snaps of more wedding DIY! And with just over 4 weeks to go, that clock sure is ticking!!

2 Months to the {Wedding}

In just under 2 months time, I will be walking down the aisle. My my, the time has just flown past! Farmboy proposed (click here for the full post on how he popped the question!) on the 11th March this year, and 6 months felt like a perfect time to get everything done. But with only a few weekends left to get everything done, I am definitely starting to feel the pressure.

So, I thought I'd write a quick little list (l just love writing lists! And when they are written on cute stationary like this, I could write them forever!) of things that we have got done so far, and then of course there's what still needs to be done...

Now that all that is ticked off, I feel so much better! That is, until I turn over and see the To Do list glaring back at me...things like rings, favours and flowers oh my!

Choosing Flowers for your Wedding...

The task of choosing the who, what, when and where for the flowers for our wedding in September has been one that I have been putting off for a while. But, it is one of the most important things to decide on, as the flowers add to the whole mood of the wedding. Luckily for me, I have a lovely local lady who is helping me to make those decisions, and who is going to be actually doing the flowers as well as my bouquet on the day!

She suggested starting with a trip to the local flower shop and to grab a bucket. Start by picking up every flower that catches your eye, and see what works for you. Don't forget to find out what flowers will be available on the day/during that season and make sure to plan ahead when arranging delivery of the flowers. If the weather looks like it's going to cool the week before the wedding, then you can collect your flowers up to a week before the day to make sure they stay fresh. If it looks like it's going to be a scorcher, best make sure there's a cold room in the area to keep those blooms looking good for your big day.