Rachelle & Stephan are no strangers to this blog as I’ve been documenting their story throughout this year. We started off with a very fun engagement shoot on the beach with pizza (!), then I documented their super special wedding ceremony held in Rachelle’s parents’ back garden and now finally they celebrated with all their friends and family at the spectacular Opstal Estate in Rawsonville!

The Slanghoek Valley has a very special place in my heart. When I had just started out doing photography, second shooting almost every weekend, I shot a wedding at this exact place with another photographer. These mountains, the sunset, it was absolutely magical — I was sold. I can still remember the buzz I was on as we drive home that night. And this wedding was no exception.

I checked the weather throughout the week leading up to the wedding day — 80% chance of rain for pretty much the entire afternoon… well you can see how that turned out! We had the most incredibly soft and beautiful lighting the whole day and except for the icy breeze blowing through the valley, the weather would have been perfect!

Because Rachelle & Stephan had been married already for about 6 months on their “wedding day” they decided to skip the ceremony altogether and just hang out and have fun with their friends and family. Their actual wedding ceremony back in April was so beautiful, you have to go check it out here.

So instead of having a ceremony, they opted to ready letters to each other before joining their guests at Opstal Estate. It was such a special moment.

Their goal with this day was just celebrating and it was just that! It felt so strange leaving their wedding that night as it really felt like we’d become close friends over this entire process. That is what I love about this job! I get to have a peek inside people’s lives and leave them with incredible memories for the years to come.

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