The best inspiration when planning a wedding is starting with the things you love and the special moments you've shared as a couple and for Kristy and John, a self-described pair of beach babies, what they needed to do was clear: celebrate with a gorgeous beautiful beach ceremony of course and written by themselves. Follow that with a vineyard reception looking out over the sea - talk about romantic! This isn't even to mention Kristy's stunning pink wedding dress. Seriously this beautiful wedding is going to bowl you over. All captured by the talented photographers of Love Made Visible, it's a joy to share...

Here is how this lovely couple first met...It was Kristy's grandparents 50th wedding anniversary and her family were marking the occasion with a trip to the beautiful Arathusa Safari Lodge in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve. On settling into her room, Kristy noticed a dashing young man wearing khaki trousers outside her balcony, who as it turned out was to be their ranger for the weekend. She knew the perfect person to set this ranger up with, she explains,"how perfect this Man of the Wild was for my nature-loving flatmate at the time"! It turns out that this friend never even got a look in...

The weekend was spent exchanging sneaky smiles and glances, though the pair barely said a word to one another...but, in the end, managed to exchange numbers...from then on the future bride had what she described as "Khaki fever"!

The two kept in contact for a while but the distance from Cape Town to Hoedspruit, where John was living, was proving difficult for moving on from just friends to officially dating. A year later John and Kristy decided to make it official and started dating long distance!

Another year on and the dashing ranger moved to Cape Town to end the tiresome long distance element of their relationship.

Kristy told us how magical these first years of living together were, she says, "Early morning surfs in summer, herb shopping trips to the local nurseries, artisanal coffee and baked breads, walks on the beach, new friends, weekend markets, terrible winters, 2 bunny kids and both a few kilos lighter, brought us to Wednesday the 5th of March 2014".

On this day the loved up couple went for a walk and a swim on their favourite beach. As Kristy was walking ahead collecting shells she heard John call to her to turn around. She turned around and saw that John was on one knee and holding out the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. He asked her to marry him on the beach and she said yes!

Kristy explained to us her ideas for their wedding day:"We went for a rustic, soft, and country-style wedding. We wanted the theme to flow from the beach to the reception. John and I are so in love with Cape Town, that we wanted this to come through in our choices. We chose to have Fynbos flowers and very unstructured design to help create the romantic, farm-style we love". The couple opted to stay away from the more traditional wedding style and go for something a bit more fresh and exciting, a theme that represents how they are as a couple. The loved up couple also made sure to have some time to themselves on the day, such a great idea!

Kristy told us how there was no question as to where they would hold their ceremony..."John and I are real “beach babies” so we knew we wanted to have our ceremony on the beach. Kommetjie is special for so many reasons, my gran’s ashes are scattered there, making it very sentimental, but it is also one of Cape Town’s most beautiful beaches, in our opinion".

The reception was held at the beautiful Cape Point Vineyards, this venue worked beautifully for the couple's theme. The view from the fabulous deck looks out over the beach....how perfectly romantic for watching the sun setting on your wedding day!

The beautiful beach ceremony was written by the couple themselves with readings from "The Little Prince" and "The Velveteen Rabbit' (If you need help choosing your ceremony readings check out our Essential Guide to Ceremony Readings!). Kristy told us..."This made the ceremony so personal to us, and one that we will be able to keep with us for when things get tough".

As Kristy walked down the aisle an acoustic version of The Lumineers song "Ho Hey" was sung and the couple said their vows with the sand between their toes and the waves lapping the shore.

Their ceremony looks the picture of relaxed fun, and we love Kristy's rustic one flower bouquet surrounded by foliage (A single bloom bouquet is also a great way to cut down on flower costs!).

Kristy's Elbeth Gillis wedding dress is so beautiful with its full lace skirt and scoop-backed detail, not to mention the gorgeous shade of pink. How different and fun! The relaxed beach style is topped off by her delicate floral head piece and lovely plaited hair.

The wedding favours were very cute too, they were bulbs of the native South African flower, the Fynbos, which was also the bride's bouquet flower, each in a box for the guests to take home and plant.

For their first dance the couple surprised everyone by doing a fun, country style dance to a Mumford and Sons song, wowing the guests with their moves and laughing together the whole way through. What a fun way to start the off a night of dancing, the couple told us... "This was such a highlight for us, a moment to connect and have fun together". Kirsty and John told us that they had even secretly done dance lessons coming up to the wedding, now that's dedication!

Here's some advice from the beautiful couple if you're planning your wedding day..."Our advice would be to simply be yourselves. Do not get caught up in the wedding traditions if they are not important to you, and if they are, then try and personalize them. Don't sweat the stuff that isn't important to you, it is not worth it and you will not even notice the small things on your day. Make the wedding represent you as a couple, and there is no way that you and your guests won't love every second."

The honeymoon took place where this love story all began, the Arathusa Safari Lodge where "khaki fever" first happened, the beautiful bride told us..."I could not have thought of a more perfect place, to have done a full circle and to be starting off the next stage of our journey at the place where we commenced the very first few steps together. Sun, game drives and Gin and Tonics!"

We wish this lovely couple the very best and give a huge thank you for sharing your wedding day with us! To see more from Love Made Visible visit www.lovemadevisible.co.za.

The Wedding Details

• Ceremony: Kommetjie Beach, Cape Town
• Reception: Cape Point Vineyards
• Wedding Dress: Elbeth Gillis Couture
• Bridesmaid dresses: Natalia Trisolino
• Shoes: ShaniBar
• Flowers: Supernatural Floral Design
• Groomsmen’s outfits: Urban Degrees
• Accessories: A Bird Named Frank
• Cake: Get Stuffed Enterprises

• Car: Classic Kombis
• Favours: Blooming Wonderful
• Make up and Hair: Tiffany Taylor
• Wedding Bands: Dear Rae
• Ceremony Music:Nick Marucchi Band
• Reception music: Cape DJ’s
• Wedding coordinators: BonTon Event Specialists
• Photography: Love Made Visible
• Stationery: Done by the Bride