← The Journal
PlanningMarch 2026 · 8 min read

Planning a Cape wedding from London

Nearly half our enquiries land from another time zone. Deposits, video walk-throughs and the one trip home that matters.

TM
Thandi Mokoena
Editor, The Journal
P03 · glasshouse ceremony

The rand does a lot of the work: a hundred-guest winelands wedding still costs less than a fifty-guest marquee in Surrey. What the exchange rate doesn't solve is trust — you're wiring deposits to a farm you've only seen on a screen.

One trip, used properly

Couples who do this well fly home once, about nine months out, with a brutal itinerary: three venues in two days, a menu tasting, a hair-and-makeup trial and an hour with the photographer. Everything else — flowers, cake, stationery — books fine over video with vendors whose reviews you can verify.

“We booked the venue from a video walk-through. The visit was for the food.”

Married in Stellenbosch, January 2026

Watch the paperwork: Home Affairs wants both of you in the country before the ceremony for the marriage officer's interview, and unabridged certificates take weeks. Join that queue early.