Tess and Greg's Nantes Estate Wedding

A Cape Winelands Wedding Day in White and Green

There are some weddings that stay with us long after the last petal has been swept off the dance floor. Tess and Greg's January day at Nantes Estate in Paarl is one of those. A summer afternoon in the Cape Winelands, mountains on every horizon, white orchids, soft sage greens, and a couple who knew exactly the kind of big day they wanted to step into. Our florists drove up from our Claremont studio the day before with three vans full of buckets and ribbon, and the story below is what came of it. The kind of wedding flowers and decor brief we live for: a clear vision, a personal touch, and the patience to let creativity do its work. The kind of bride who knew her own taste, the kind of groom who knew his own person, and the kind of journey we feel blessed to walk alongside.

The brief: white, green, and the Cape Winelands at the height of summer

Tess came to us with a clear vision. White flowers, soft green foliage, a sculptural bridal moment, and nothing overworked anywhere else. The kind of look that lets the venue do the talking. Nantes Estate sits on a working wine farm in Noorder-Paarl, and like most of our favourite wedding venues in Cape Town and the Winelands, the building does half the work before a single stem has been placed. The Drakenstein and Simonsberg mountains frame every view from the lawn. Tess wanted the florals to feel like they had grown out of the landscape itself rather than been imposed on it, with one bold, modern exception for her own bouquet. We took the brief and built the day around a single repeating palette: white phalaenopsis orchids for the bride, ivory roses and white hydrangea through the rest of the day, white lisianthus, the occasional white delphinium, and quiet clouds of locally grown South African eucalyptus that smelled like the Boland the moment guests stepped out of the car. Eucalyptus and ferns are the two pieces of greenery we reach for again and again to create that natural atmosphere a Cape Winelands wedding deserves. The full palette sits inside our white flowers range if you want to see how it carries across other arrangements. For the meaning behind each of these blooms, our guide to wedding flower symbolism is a slow read worth the time.

Arriving at Nantes Estate

The ceremony lawn at Nantes faces north across the vineyards, with a low stone wall, a white archway, and a long grass aisle leading from the manor house to the altar (it doubles as a chapel-style ceremony space when the weather closes in). Willem laid a white carpet down the centre and lined the aisle with simple white folding chairs. We tied small posies of two ivory/white roses, soft green hydrangea and trailing eucalyptus to every second chair with white satin ribbon. Each bunch caught the wind a little. The ribbons floated. It was the kind of stunning detail you do not photograph easily, but you feel it the moment you walk in. These are the special touches that turn a venue into a wedding.

The pedestal urns: the focal point of the ceremony

Two large pedestal urns flanked the top of the aisle. These were the focal point of the ceremony space, and our biggest pieces of the day. Floral arches and backdrops like this one serve as the focal point for both the ceremony itself and every photo that follows. White classical urns on white plinths, filled with armfuls of garden eucalyptus, white roses, white hydrangea, white delphinium spires, and Queen Anne's lace for that wild, just-picked feel. Built loose, deliberately not symmetrical, designed to read as garden first and arrangement second. Mixed textures and greenery were the whole point of the brief, and the urns were where we leaned hardest into that. Mixed textures and greenery are also the easiest way we know to enhance any organic, romantic floral arrangement, no matter the scale. For the same scale and energy in our retail range, see our luxury flower arrangements. The eucalyptus alone took our team an hour to condition the night before. The mountains behind them did the rest.

Tess's bridal bouquet

Tess's bridal bouquet was the boldest single piece we made for the day. A cascading waterfall of pure white phalaenopsis orchids, no fillers, no greenery, no softening. Just orchid after orchid, draped down the front of her gown in a long sculptural teardrop. The kind of bouquet that does not need anything else in the frame to hold a photograph. We hand-tied it at the binding point, weighted the base, and finished it discreetly so the cascade did all the talking. Orchids and calla lilies symbolise luxury and beauty, and a cascading orchid bouquet brings a sophisticated, modern touch that pairs beautifully with a clean strapless gown like Tess's. It is the boldest version of the all-white wedding bouquet we offer, and the one most often chosen by brides who want their flowers to feel quietly extravagant rather than soft. Browse our wider orchids range and our luxury flower bouquets for the same statement at smaller scale.

The bridesmaids

Tess's three bridesmaids wore soft sage satin in slightly different cuts, each one carrying a slightly different bouquet. Coordinating floral colours with the bridesmaids' wedding attire enhances the overall aesthetic of any event, and ours was deliberate: the sage dresses, the eucalyptus in their bouquets, the green of the vineyards behind them, all reading as one continuous tone. They held mixed garden bouquets of ivory white roses, white lisianthus and eucalyptus, looser and a touch wilder, in the spirit of our lily bouquets. For the cloud-of-white look at a smaller scale, see our baby's breath bouquets.

The ceremony

When Tess walked down the aisle with her two brothers, holding that cascade of orchids, the white arch behind the couple was dressed asymmetrically with roses, white hydrangea, other white blooms and eucalyptus. A floral arch this clean reads as both ceremony backdrop and photo opportunity, and Tess and Greg's photographer used it for both. Greg waited under the arch in a soft olive linen suit. Tess’s brother Scott officiated the ceremony. He kept it short and warm. The mountains behind the arch held the moment for them. There was no music swell that we noticed. Just a quiet hush across the lawn, a few parasols going up against the sun, and the kind of grin from Greg that gives away every wedding photograph that lasts. The aisle, the arch, the bride, the vows. The one thing every wedding day comes back to.

The kiss in the field

After the vows, Tess and Greg stole twenty minutes with their bridesmaids in the dry summer field beside the manor house. Sage green satin against gold-bleached grass, three bouquets thrown into the air, one long kiss between bride and groom, the Drakenstein in the background. This is the photograph that ended up framed on their kitchen wall. We did not arrange those flowers for that shot. We just made sure they would last another four hours. It is the kind of magic you cannot script, and it is the reason real weddings still take our breath away. Wow. Honestly, wow.

The reception: a quiet kind of opulence

The reception inside the Nantes glass conservatory was where we leaned into restraint. The space had been transformed by the venue with white drapery and fairy lights swagged across the high ceiling, soft fabric pooling toward the centre under the dome of arched windows. We worked with the architecture rather than against it. Long communal tables, white linen, wooden cross-back chairs, and a quietly relentless rhythm of single ivory white roses in tall slim glass vases marching down the centre of every table, alternated with simple white pillar candles and slim taper candles in glass holders. No big centrepieces. No tall florals blocking sight lines across the table. Just one bloom, repeated, with light catching the candles around it. A minimalist arrangement made bold by sheer abundance. Minimalist arrangements with bold colour or bold repetition are the contemporary alternative to the more extravagant, opulent reception look, and Tess and Greg sat squarely in the minimalist camp.

We loved this brief. Wedding decor like this is the equivalent of a quiet tailored suit. Easy to underestimate from a distance, impossible to forget when you are sitting at the table. Granite table numbers (a beautiful Nantes detail) anchored the look. The two large urn arrangements from the ceremony were carried indoors and placed at the entrance to the venue, working perfectly with the other 6 large arrangements in huge urns around the perimeter of the venue. Reuse like this is one of our favourite things to plan with couples. The flowers do twice the work, the budget goes further, and the ceremony décor gets a second life inside the reception.

Wedding flower ideas, themes and trends, through Tess and Greg's day

Every couple walks into our studio with a different dream. Some want extravagant and opulent: suspended installations of hanging flowers above the dance floor, dramatic ceiling florals, the kind of wedding decorations that make guests audibly gasp. Some want rustic or bohemian: loose bouquets with wildflowers and eucalyptus, mismatched glass bottles down the table, a flower crown on the bride. Some want minimalist and modern: structured stems, bold colour, clean lines, the contemporary look. Tess and Greg sat at the elegant intersection of classic and minimalist, with one bold orchid moment threaded through it, and that taste defined every choice we made for them. A clear theme is always one of the most useful things a couple can bring us. The theme decides the flowers. The flowers decide everything else.

Personal touches matter more than budget

The most amazing flowers in the world will not save a wedding day that does not feel like the couple. Choosing wedding flowers that reflect your personality creates a far more meaningful and memorable experience for you and your guests than chasing the latest trend. Personal touches, like favourite colours, specific flower types, a flower from the bride's grandmother's garden, a flower the groom wore on his first date, are what we ask about first. Tess told us that her late grandmother had grown white delphinium spires in her Pretoria garden, and so white delphinium spires went into the urns. That was the personal touch nobody else at the wedding knew about. It is also the touch Tess remembers most.

How we work with couples on wedding flowers and decor

Our wedding service is built around three things: consultation, design, and execution. We start with a conversation about the couple's vision, the venue, the colour palette, the dress, the season, the budget. We turn that into a design proposal that names the specific flowers, the scale of each piece, and where each piece will sit through the day. Then we execute, hand-tying every piece at our Claremont studio and delivering it directly to the venue. Many wedding florists promise stress-free planning. We aim to deliver it through expert advice, honest budget conversations, and full support from first email to final pack-down. Tess and Greg's brief was to keep it stress-free for them, and we worked to make sure the only thing they had to think about on the day was each other. That is the standard we strive for with every couple. A magical day, a personal touch, and as little stress as possible. It is also the standard our clients keep coming back for.

What this wedding taught us, again

A wedding day does not need a dozen flower types to feel generous. It needs a clear palette, the right scale at the right moment, and trust between the couple and the florist. Tess told us early on that she did not want anything that felt forced. We took that as permission to build everything loose, garden-style, and to let the eucalyptus run wild where it wanted to, with one bold orchid statement at the centre of it all. The result was a wedding that looked like Cape Winelands summer in floral form. White, green, sun, mountains, fields, candles, one waterfall of orchids. Nothing more. Real wedding flowers should always feel like the couple. When they do, the photos remember the day for the rest of your married life.

Planning your own Cape Winelands wedding

If you are planning your own Cape Winelands wedding, this is the conversation we love most. Send us your venue, your dress, your colour palette, and a photograph of how you want to feel walking down the aisle. We will build the rest with you. Read more about our wedding flower service, browse the best wedding venues in Cape Town for inspiration, our white flowers range for palette ideas, our romantic flowers for date-night colour, or contact our Claremont studio directly if your date is coming up. Cape Town brides can also see our local delivery zones via Claremont, Sea Point and Newlands. It is our pleasure to be part of your special day.

Tess and Greg, thank you for trusting us with the day. Yours is the kind of magical love story we feel lucky to have played a small part in. May the rest of the chapters be exactly as good. For the language, the messages, the words a husband finds for his wife on the years that follow, take a slow read through our anniversary messages for wife guide. And when the first anniversary rolls around, our anniversary flowers and anniversary gift boxes are ready for you.

Real wedding days like Tess and Greg's are never one team's work alone. Willem Christiaan Events held the planning together end to end. Hewitt & Wright and Kovacevic|Bosch captured the day in stills and film, and the food on the long tables came from Concept Food Catering in Paarl. Every one of them earned their place in this story.

The credits

Venue: Nantes Estate, R45, Noorder-Paarl, Cape Town Wedding Planning: Willem Christiaan Events Florals: Fabulous Flowers and Gifts, Claremont Photography: Hewitt & Wright Videography: Kovacevic|Bosch Catering: Concept Food Catering Date: January 2026