Central Drakensberg Wedding • Niki M Photography

Two lovebirds who reside in the US chose Champagne Sports Resort, in the heart of the Champagne Valley, for their Central Drakensberg wedding destination. Brad and Kacey… wow what a wedding! It was jam packed with smiles and pure elation… from the very start to the end of the evening.

There is nothing that can beat the view looking out towards Cathkin Peak and the surrounding mountains. As the ceremony got closer the rain clouds moved in and everyone crossed fingers and toes that the rain would stay away. You can just imagine how happy we all were when the rain held off for their ceremony!

No one was quite prepared for what happened next though! Brad slid Kacey’s ring on towards the end of their ceremony, and the lightning siren rang out on the golf course. We all saw the storm coming but one is never quite prepared for the moment it hits hahaha! So they kissed under the gentle patter of raindrops and made a swift exit just as the heavens completely opened up!

As the final act of divine timing, the clouds lifted post-ceremony, a rainbow appeared, and the softest sun rays popped out just in time for their couple photos. Neil and I decided to hang back with Brad and Kacey, and not follow all the guests back to the main venue, because we just had this feeling that magic was about to happen… AND IT DID! This is why I love stormy days so much!!!

This wedding was an absolute joy to photograph, and to have my very favourite second shooter (and fiancé) there was the icing on top. A huge thanks to everyone involved for putting together this exceptional day!

If you are thinking about having a Central Drakensberg Wedding then we absolutely have to chat 🙂 Please get in touch so we can create some magical images together!

A few words from Brad:

Although we live in the US, I (Brad) was born and raised in Ladysmith, South Africa. I spent many summers and vacations at Champagne Sports Resort, our chosen Central Drakensberg wedding venue, with my family. There are so many great childhood memories from there. My Aunt & Uncle manage the resort, so we’ve had very close ties to this amazing spot. Because we spend most of our time in the US, Kacey and I both felt it was important to host our wedding in SA where we could spend more time with my side of the family.

The most important thing to us on the day were our people! (Besides becoming husband and wife, of course 🙂 Having such a happy reason to gather all our loved ones was truly special. We loved seeing everyone mix and get to know each other! And we were so grateful for all the love, fun and support they shared with us.

We are incredibly lucky to have few complaints or regrets regarding the planning of our wedding weekend. If anything, it probably would have helped if we had an event planner (not just for the wedding but for all our guests traveling from the US). Having an international, 5-day wedding “weekend” deep in the Central Drakensberg mountains made planning tricky! We probably could have used some extra expertise regarding the 30 Americans who came over.

Our top tips for hosting a destination wedding in South Africa are:

Have a personal event planner or assistant who will help you with everything from start to finish, not just the wedding day itself, and give yourself plenty of time to plan! Also, ask your tentative guest list WELL in advance to see when they are available and if they would consider traveling to your destination. You’d hate to plan a destination wedding only to find some of your most important loved ones can’t make it!

Lastly, remember to pause and take in the special moments. Everyone talks about how fast the day goes by, so we were really good about taking time to ourselves to let it sink in. We both vividly remember those moments when we stopped and looked at each other, our loved ones, and the beautiful wedding we created!