Since I have been to quite a few weddings I thought it was high time I started telling you a bit more about these great Gauteng wedding venues.

Let’s start with Thaba Ya Batswana.  Thaba Ya Batswana is situated in the South of Johannesburg and is great if your looking for an African/Bush feel for your wedding. Theyre
on top of a brilliant koppie which makes for the most beautiful view.  Their Chapel has big windows running along either side so there is more than enough natural for great
wedding photos of the bridal couple at the altar.  The scenery is brilliant right through the year as there is lots of veld with long grass which always work well in wedding
photos.  Thaba Ya Batswana has 2 function halls, so it doesn’t matter if your wedding is small and intimate or if you have the whole Greek family at your wedding they have the
ideal space.  PS- Their food is also never a disappointment

The moon and sixpence:
I can still remember with the first wedding I photographed here at the Moon and Sixpence I was so awe inspired by the layout and beauty of this perfect wedding venue that I felt
like skipping and jumping for joy.  They’re situated in the North of Johannesburg in Muldersdrift and let me tell you it’s well worth the drive.  This unique wedding venue
offers two totally different chapels and reception halls. They have a great garden with a variety of flowers ranging from agapanthus’s right through to fuschias.  This venue
has been specifically designed with great architectural features like stairs, square tiles with flowers in between, fountains and loads more. Their food is well presented and
really appetising!I can’t even describe to you how good their food was   This venue is any photographer’s dream! I’d love to have my wedding there!

For beautiful wedding photographs, contact us and we will design a package to suit your requirements.

In my experience as a professional wedding photographer, I would say that the people who are usually forgotten about when it comes to wedding photos are the individual shots of the parents of the bride and/or groom.

Lots of photographers will definitely include the parents in the photos with the bridal couple, but most won’t think to inquire about capturing group shots of the parents with all their brothers and sisters who are atttending the wedding.

While you’re getting these photos taken, remember to capture the entire core family in the photos and be sure to include any parents/grand-parents of those brothers and sisters that are there.

Weddings are the most perfect place to take these kind of family photos, it is a special day which brings family and friends together to share a common interest. Everyone in the families has gathered for the big event, many times from far flung regions of the country.

Your wedding may well be the first time all the siblings have gotten together in years. And it may be many years in the future before this such a gathering happens again.
If the opportunity to take these group photos is passed over because nobody thought much about the importance of this fleeting opportunity, then those photos may end up never being captured. These photos often turn out to be the most important and most appreciated of all the photos I take regularily at the wedding.

Other important people that most photographers will probably overlook photographing for you at the wedding, unless you give them your written photo request list, are the bride and/or groom’s god parents, high school friends, youth camp friends and groups of the bridal couple’s co-workers.

With these special family photos you have to specifically ask for them to be taken, or they just won’t be done!I’d be willing to take a bet that less than 5 percent of professional wedding photographers today know to get these photos for you.
 
The one thing no professional wedding photographer can do is look at a room full of total strangers and figure out how they interlock with each other just by looking! We send each bride a list before the wedding requesting exactly this kind of information, so that we don’t end up missing anyone of importance.

Remember, wedding photographer’s arent psychic’s. We can’t read your mind when it comes to who among those present on your wedding are of importance to you and need to be in a group photo with you.Make sure that your wedding photographer is thoroughly armed with this often information, so that they will get these photos for you.

You might also help make getting these photos easier for your photographer by asking someone(like your best man) to make sure that the people who are going to be photographed in the special group photos are told to stick around for the photos being taken when the other groups are done…either before or immediately after the wedding ceremony.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can pull these groups together at the reception, because getting them all together at the same time at the reception is one of the most difficult things someone will have to do on your wedding day. Rather avoid doing these photos at the reception altogether, if possible and get them done early in the day.

Lastly, make sure the best man informs all the people to be included in your photos to stay in the room the photos will be taken until all the groups are done. If one person slips off because they think they are done being photographed and it turns out that they are needed for an additional last-minute group request, everything grinds to a halt photo-wise, until someone tracks them down and brings the back.

Hope this helps in making your big day unforgettable!!

Riani

It’s our wedding anniversary today – 8 years!!! It’s hard to believe… We were talking last night and it seems crazy that 8 years ago, our children didn’t even exist (well maybe they did but that’s a whole other discussion…)

Thought I would put up some pics from our wedding day! We got married at Glenburn Lodge in Muldersdrift – it is an absolutely beautiful venue! It rained the entire day and I had to get photographs under an umbrella (which actually looked beautiful) But as luck would have it, the rains stopped just as I arrived at Glencove and I was able to walk down the stairs (which are not covered) without getting wet! We had the bagpipes playing the wedding march and my niece Brittney was our flower girl. She is nine now! How time flies…..

We have grown older, wider too (yip I meant wider not wiser…) older definitely after having 3 children!!! and we have changed in so many ways! I often think back to the “good old days” and reminisce but when I think of how far we have come and how much we have grown both separately and together, the one thing I know for sure is that the love we have for each other hasn’t changed one bit! 18 years down the line and we are still best friends….

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not perfect but in an imperfect world, I guess it’s my fairytale and Ryan is my prince charming (of all the things I could call him, I have no clue where that just came from – he will probably shoot me just for typing this) but really, I am very grateful to have such a special man in my life and I am so grateful for the wonderful times we have shared together!

To my darling husband, I love you with all my heart and soul and I look forward to a lifetime of love and laughter together!! Thank You and I love you!!

Woman@Work is  a great initiative undertaken by two very dynamic ladies, Toni & Tanya who have been friends for over 20 years.  Woman@Work is a society for woman who run their own businesses or who just want to meet people.  They have a big get-together on the first Wednesday of every month.  It creates an opportunity for all these ladies to network and promote their companies.  The idea of this group is to form bonds and to use someone within the network whenever you need something done.

Let me tell you a little bit about these two dynamic ladies.  Toni is involved with the estate agency Firzt Realty in the South of Johannesburg.  She also manages The Rietvlei Zoo Farm. which has now become a lifestyle center: they have Sinzinani Day Spa (which Toni and Tanya own), a cute little Tea Garden called Tree
House, an after-care centre called Edu-Kids, a nursery called Keen-Gro, a children’s play and party venue area called Camp Candy and much more.  They also cater for weddings, conferences, year-end functions and team building events.  The farm now boasts loads of activities such as Bush-walks, Putt-Putt, Pony Rides and a farm yard for kids to pet and feed the animals.  It’s the perfect place for friends and families to spend a great day in the outdoors on a picnic…

The first Woman@Work function was therefore held at the Rietvlei Zoo Farm with their in-house catering company called Esgodlweni doing the decorations and catering. The hall looked fabulous in shocking pink (quite suitable for a ladies evening I would say) and the food was great.  The motivational speaker
was Tasha Smith from Papillon coaching.  She is a life coach who assists you in facing up to every decision in your life and helps you to succeed in your short- and long term goals.  I thought she was quite inspirational cos I’m one of those people who just procrastinates and does everything at the last minute.  Leilani from the brand new magazine “My Week” was also there and I’m sure it’s all going to be in the next issue…

We of course, photographed the event and had a few of our photographs and products on display. It was good exposure for our business and we made a lot of contacts! It was good to see that we are surrounded by a lot of dynamic businesswomen here in the south and an event like this unites us. We get to share ideas, support each other emotionally (after all we are women!) discuss how we all manage to balance families and work and social lives and have fun at the same time!

Every lady was given a goodie bag full of all sorts of goodies like a squeeza water bottle from Firzt, a sample of Montego dog food and flyers and goodies from the companies being represented at the event.  What would an evening like this be without a few sponsored prizes??  They even had the new editor of the GET-IT magazine, Sonia, sing a Frank Sinatra song for one of the prizes, and boy does she have a voice?!  It was great fun! Ahava skin care range sponsored a hamper worth Over R1000 and Sinzinani Day Spa sponsored a few free massages and treatments.

There were over 80 ladies at the first get-together and they’re hoping for more than double that at the next networking event next year in February. This is one initiative which is going to be really successful.  All the ladies really enjoyed the evening and I can’t wait to see what they have in store for next year!

Riani

Yip, it certainly was a successful event. But then who would expect anything less from these two wonderful ladies…. they really are dynamic, successful and driven women.

Networking and building long-lasting friendships is just second nature to them! Congratulations Toni and Tanya – I am honoured and grateful to call you my friends. Here’s to another twenty years of success and friendship…. Weez

I recently did a corporate photoshoot for a company called CFT Labels – a wonderful company that specialises in manufacturing high-quality self-adhesive labels. They were recently feautured in a prominent magazine for the manufacturing industry called ‘Packaging Review’. 

I love doing corporate photoshoots or professional business photoshoots as some people call them because you get to learn. In this case, my photos were published in a magazine which is always nice. What I really love about CFT Labels is the people that work there. They are a fun, dedicated team of professionals who aim to give the best possible service to their clients (okay, I must confess, I own CFT Labels so I am biased!!!) Anyway, here is the article that was published in the September issue of Packaging Review.

A photographic and design service for labels
CFT Labels, Turfontein-based supplier of self-adhesive labels, is currently in the process of expanding its premises to provide new office space and additional capacity to its factory, and is also offering a newly-launched, full photographic and design service, not only for labels but for all print and marketing requirements.

‘We had reached our full capacity – running permanent double shifts and at weekends,’ says Louise Diesel, the company’s director. ‘In order to meet customer demand, we are also investing in new technologies that will position us to provide a strong focus on high-quality labels.’
To this end, the company is considering the purchase of a new eight-colour ELS Servo Aquaflex printing press, with full UV flexo capabilities as well as complete multi-substrate versatility. The other alternative is a new Mark Andy 2200 press which offers similar printing capabilities. CFT Labels is celebrating its 10th anniversary in February next year, having originally been established by husband-and-wife team, Louise and Ryan, and remains a family-run business. Current equipment includes two Aquaflexes (one six and one seven colour) and three-colour flexo die cutters and a foiling machine.

A complete design solution
Louise Diesel recently launched her own photographic studio, following successful completion of several photography courses at the National College of Photography in Bedfordview. ‘I started taking pictures for family and friends, but it grew so phenomenally that it was a natural progression for me to explore ways of incorporating this skill into our business,’ she says.
‘Obviously, many clients need photographs to be taken for their labels or product shots, as well as corporate photos for financial reports. I have just employed a qualified photographer so that we are able to offer clients a complete design service for their labels, as well as for packaging and printed materials such as cartons, brochures and containers as well as online marketing material’

CFT Labels also supplies peel-and-read labels which list the ingredients of a given product on the reverse side. ‘We were originally approached by Revlon to find such a solution and we had to get approval from the Cosmetic, Toiletry & Fragrance Association (CTFA). The smallest peel-and-read label that we offer is only 36 x 13mm in size!’ This unique type of printing offers many other applications such as competitions, double-sided labels, etc.

On completion of every job, CFT Labels supplies the client with a barcode verification certificate to GSI specifications, and an overall rating. ‘This is becoming increasingly important as many retailers are now fining suppliers for barcodes that are not up to specification,’ says Louise Diesel. ‘It’s no longer sufficient that the barcode can simply scan. It also needs to be verified.’

Diesel owes the company’s success to several factors, not least of which include lead times of just a week and a no-minimum-quantity requirement for any label.
Its customers include huge multinationals, national listed companies as well as small privately-owned entities with primary markets being food and beverage and pharmaceutical and cosmetic; and secondary ones being agricultural and chemical.
CFT Labels: T +2711 683 1155 www.cft.co.za

I often get asked the question by young couples looking to get married, whether or not the wedding venue makes a difference to the wedding photographs. There is no simple answer to this question – it is actually yes and no.

I say ‘yes’ because obviously a beautiful wedding venue such as the many in Muldersdrift, have both beautiful landcsapes and gardens in which to take unique wedding photos. I got married at a wedding venue called Glenburn lodge which I absolutely loved (and still do – I am such a sentimental fool…) but the gardens and the chapel and the whole setting is just so intimate and romantic….. I just love it!! One of my favourite wedding photographs is one where ryan and I are standing on the bridge over the river looking into each others eyes and the lighting is beautiful.

Having said that, I think any photo where ryan & I are looking into each other’s eyes would be special to me, regardless of the background or the lighting or the setting. It is precisely for that reason, that I also say ‘no’ to the question about wedding venues making a difference to the photographs. Well that and also because a good photographer can usually work around most settings and find ways to make the photographs beautiful and unique.

All in all, I always recommend that you choose a venue that you feel comfortable with, that you resonate with and that you really love, for no rational or logical reason – but simply because it feels good to you. Trust me, when you feel good, the photographs will show it and you will be the most beautiful bride and groom in your own unique way.

I wish you the wedding of your dreams and photos that you will cherish forever!!

As a Johannesburg wedding photographer, I am so exited that spring is in the air. Not only is the weather better but so is the scenery and the amount of day light we have. On a recent wedding the service ran late (the best man forgot the wedding rings can you believe it….) and we actually ran out of day light. Such a pity because I much prefer natural light for wedding photography.

The scenery in spring is just so beautiful, the luscious green grass and the budding trees and flowers just add to the beauty of the bride and groom. When the spring rains come it also cleans the rivers, and running water is always great to photograph.

The wedding venues in Muldersdrift also just sprout to life after the first rains. And the rose gardens set the perfect stage for the bride and groom’s first wedding photos. As you can see I just love spring and all that it brings. New beginnings, fresh starts, and beautiful oppurtunities for photography….

Spring just makes being a wedding photographer more exciting.The brial couple are just so much more comfortable in spring as the bride is not shivering because she is cold. And there is nothinng like a summer highveld sunset…..