Welcome to Who What Wear Weddings, the destination for style-minded weddings. Expect insightful tips straight from the newlyweds, shoppable elements and plenty of must-save imagery as we share the nuptials of our favourite fashion people getting married. For upcoming features, share your submissions here.
“Our love story is definitely different in that I actually used to be a fan of Caspar,” explains Ambar Driscoll-Lee, a content creator from London. “He used to be a YouTuber, and I was a little teenage fangirl, and the first time I met him was at a meet-and-greet when I was 13. He doesn’t remember this and actually started following me on Instagram years later. (Obviously, I had grown up and moved on with my life at that point.) He messaged me, and here we are, seven years later, married. It’s funny thinking that all those times I would think, I wonder what my future husband is doing now. Little did I know we’d already met (and had a photo taken together at the meet-and-greet!). I agreed to go on a date with him (we played Monopoly) to indulge teenage me, not realising we’d actually hit it off and be joined at the hip ever since.”
The proposal, she says, was unexpected. Although, she had noticed Caspar acting a little unusually in the weeks leading up to it. He took me to our favourite hotel in South Africa (where he grew up) and handed me a present that was shaped like a book at sunset. It was a personalised Harry Potter book (I loved the books growing up) and had ‘Ambar and Caspar & the Chamber of No Secrets’ on the cover with an illustration of us and my cat, Joey, in the Weasley flying car. The book contained the story of our relationship, complete with illustrations, leading up to Caspar proposing. The ring was hidden inside the book. It was very sweet.”
Once engaged, the couple started to discuss ideas for their wedding and settled on South Africa with their closest family members and friends. They celebrated their love against a dramatic mountain backdrop with a bespoke Savannah Miller Bridal wedding dress, a South African family-style feast and a glass marquee filled with drapery and candles. Scroll on to see the images of the big day, and read all about the planning from the bride herself.
“I had the most special morning with my mum and bridesmaids. We started with a walk. Then my sister led us through a meditation where we set an intention for the day. It felt important to have that time in nature and feel grounded in the significance of the day. I wore a beautiful lilac robe set from Bocan Couture and went for a very natural makeup look. “
“I hate wearing foundation in my everyday life and didn’t want to feel like a different version of myself on my wedding day. My makeup artist nailed it, and I felt completely myself. For hair, my hairstylist did a beautiful, soft half-up, half-down, which was also super functional in the veryyy windy day!”
“Caspar wore a classic navy tux from Reiss since he prefers himself in blue over black.”
“My wedding dress was bespoke by Savannah Miller Bridal, and the process of creating a bespoke dress was so incredibly fun (although nerve-racking). I wanted a big dress that was also lightweight in the heat. It felt like so many of the big dresses I tried on prior were so heavy. And I wanted to be able to run! The team found the perfect silk dupioni fabric, which was so lightweight. They designed the perfect strapless bodice that fit me better than anything ever has in my life. It was a beautiful moment seeing my dress in its final stage and trying it on at my fitting at the Four Seasons.”
“For shoes, since our venue is primarily uneven grass, I didn’t even consider heels! I really wanted ballet flats with ribbons and found the perfect pair in the perfect colour at the Repetto store in Paris. The Savannah Miller Bridal team embroidered the wedding date and our initials in my handwriting onto each shoe.”
“The invitations were so lovely. They were done by an incredible UK designer called Sarah Coombes. She painted our venue and the incredible view over the lagoon into a gatefold invitation. They were blue themed, which you’ll see was pretty much the theme for our wedding. Our planners called it the blue wedding.”
Think of your venue when choosing your dress. My dress was designed completely with our location in mind, and it was perfect. When I was trying on dresses prior to designing my own, there was one that made both me and my mum cry but wouldn’t have worked at all on the day, as I would’ve been so constricted.
“We added hip pads for volume, and the fabric created such beautiful shapes in the wind. It also bustles in the front as well as the back, so it evolved throughout the day. For the ceremony, I wore it down; for cocktail hour, only bustled the front and left the back down; and then bustled the back for the reception.”
If you are getting a planner, make sure it’s someone you trust completely! A bunch that I spoke to I felt like I would be micromanaging the whole time. Find someone who has the same taste/vision as you so you can trust them to make decisions without you.
“We had Caspar’s godfather lead the ceremony, and it was so special. Neither of us is religious, so we had a humanist ceremony. I walked myself down the aisle with my parents going arm in arm just before me.”
“We were so lucky to find Coot Club. One of my followers on Instagram actually suggested it when I put out a question box asking for suggestions. I need to find out who they are and send them some flowers! We loved how dramatic it was with the mountains and the lagoon.
“Most South African wedding venues are wine farms, but we didn’t really want to do that. Coot Club is a family holiday site with these beautiful cabins spread out, which meant it could sleep our immediate family and bridal party. We wanted to do everything outside, and there were so many spaces we could use.”
“My bridesmaids wore mismatched blue Jenny Yoo dresses, which looked so beautiful, with my little sisters in pink. Trevor told the story of how we met, and my friend Leah did a reading about the red string theory, which is basically about how two souls that are meant to be will find their way back together. It was surreal but lovely.”
“Like I said, the plan was blue! I told our planners I wanted blue hydrangeas and blue décor, and they created something beautiful. I essentially gave them free rein and trusted them, so the wedding was a bit of a surprise even to me as I had a vague idea of what it would be like but completely trusted them.”
“We wanted to make the most of the different areas of Coot Club, so had the ceremony on the lawns, the cocktail hour under the milkwood trees, and then saved the best till last with our guests walking out to the incredible sunset on the lagoon.”
“My favourite part of my outfit is the blue shawl I wore for the reception. Okay, no, I also loved my wedding dress, but I loved how the shawl completed the look and the story behind it. I really wanted an accessory to go with my dress for the reception, but I wasn’t sure what. Last summer, I went to the John Singer Sargent exhibit at the Tate Britain and fell in love with how he painted fabrics and texture. He painted portraits, but he styled his subjects so beautifully. One painting of Pauline Astor stopped me in my tracks. She was draped in this beautiful blue silk shawl, and my immediate reaction was I need this at my wedding. I sent a voice note to the team at Savannah Miller Bridal, and they replicated it perfectly.”
Trust your gut about all of your decisions, don’t look at trends or other people’s opinions, and really think about what you like and what’s important to you.
Don’t concern yourself with other people on the day (aka, stay unbothered). Weddings really do make people act WEIRD (friends and family!), so just stay focused on enjoying the day with your partner, and don’t let any drama get to you in the lead-up as well as on the day.
“The glass marquee was a plan B. I mean, we thought we would need this if it rained, but we actually needed it because of the gale-force wind. Luckily it was blue skies, but I was so nervous about this, as I desperately wanted it all to be outside. It ended up better than I could have hoped, and they created these beautiful custom-draped lampshades, and looking out of the tent to the sunset over the mountains was just beautiful.”
“We had six speeches: Caspar, myself, both of my parents, Caspar’s sister and the best man. Speeches are my favourite part of weddings, and it was so surreal to listen to your own speeches at your own wedding. People told me mine was their favourite, so I feel good about that.”
We really made an effort to stay together the whole day. It’s easy to get swept up in conversations with people, so we made the effort to stay together all day or find each other if we were separated so we could have shared memories of the day. Your wedding is about the two of you, after all.
“We wanted our wedding to be a feast so had the most incredible family-style dinner with a pasta course and meat course. The feast started at cocktail hour with an oyster bar, an incredible harvest table with local produce and live cooking stations grilling langoustines, cooking fresh mussels and biltong tasting. We wanted it to feel like an elevated braai (South African barbeque) and introduce our guests to South African food.”
Photographer: Zeven Media
Hairstylist: Jeanette Genis
Makeup Artist: Tasmin Howells
Bespoke Dress: @savannahmillerbridal
Wedding Venue: Coot Club
Reception Marquee: Elite Marquees
Florist: Fleur le Cordeur
Caterer: John Joseph
Wedding Cake: Kira Levy Bakery
Stationery: City Print
Bar & Barista: Salute
Structures & Décor: In and Out, My Pretty Vintage, Curated, XL Events
DJ: Jason Smith Music
Videographer: Vision on Fire
Content Creator: Santé Creative Studio
Production: Kraak