African Safari Wedding Theme
A wedding with an African vibe is all you need for a lovely and bright day! Pretty pinks paired with golden yellow and minty green hues create a wondrous balance of hot and cool for any summer wedding. This collection brings gorgeous graphics, playful patterns, and florals of all types to life effortlessly across wedding day décor and apparel… making it easy to set a pretty, yet ethereal atmosphere.
A wedding is just like a safari. But unlike a safari, the wedding journey lasts a lifetime. Inspired by the exotic beauty of its famous savanna, transform your wedding to a safari adventure.
Include Proteas: These big and beautiful flowers are distinctly South African, and can be included in your wedding in a number of ways, such as making it the feature flower in your wedding bouquet, or using a few smaller ones as part of your bouquet. They also look absolutely amazing as the decor on the reception tables, individually in clear glass vases or as bigger bunches. The light blush pinks, or more striking bright red proteas complement white decor and bare wood surfaces.
Traditional South African Food: Give your wedding some South African flavour by serving your guests some traditional South African food! You can get really creative and have some fun with your canapés and serve miniature versions of South African food like bobotie spring rolls, samoosas, mini potjie pots, fish and chips, and biltong soup. Or why not have a peppermint pudding wedding cake, or sweet table with mini melktertjies, koeksisters and malva puddings. And don’t forget to serve those truly excellent South African wines.
For wedding favors, hand out something edible that’s bound to be appreciated: safari animal cookies in cellophane, or safari animal chocolates.
Add some subtle South African influence to your wedding table decor by including some items that instantly recognisable as uniquely South African, such as tin cups for your guests to drink from, some Steri Stumpies on a dessert table, doily lace on vases on the tables, or how about arriving at your wedding in a farm jeep!
As for table names, choose African animals (Cheetah, Elephant, Leopard, Lion, Zebra, Rhinoceros, Addax, Mountain Gorilla, Gazelle, Lemur, Chimpanzee, Monk Seal) or African destinations (Swaziland, Mozambique, Comoros, Seychelles, Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Angola, Malawi).
Jumping the Broom. This custom is a very Western one. It began because African American slaves were forbidden the ritual of marriage. The broom itself held a spiritual significance for many people of African descent because the new bride had usually helped other women in her new family sweep the courtyard clean. This symbolized her willingness to help out with her future family. During slavery, the couple would actually jump over a broom to begin the marriage. Today, this is becoming a traditional part of Afrocentric wedding ceremony as a way of honoring the trials of the couple's ancestors. In nearly all African tribes, the wedding is rich with symbolism representing the bringing together of two families. Anything that would center on this blending of families (such as the bride's family and the groom's family forming lines and then exchanging places) would be in keeping with this tradition. Have fun planning your African style wedding. You are not only creating a vibrant and visually appealing event; you are honoring your people who came before you.
From African flowers to full blown African decorations… Transform an otherwise “routine wedding” into a tropical African paradise and have a wedding ceremony that you, your new spouse, and all your guests will remember for many years to come.