South African sweethearts Leanca and Henry had their wildest dreams come true as they got married at a private game reserve, Tshikwalo Game Lodge. Located in Gauteng’s Dinokeng Game Reserve, the bushveld-themed venue is simply an extraordinary place to tie the knot as this real wedding proves in spades. Joined by 92 of their nearest and dearest, their celebration had a neutral and earthy palette that paid tribute to the beauty of the natural landscape while the styling was minimalistic, fresh, clean, and timeless. From wedding newspapers to fabric signage, contemporary florals and fabulous entertainment, there are so many swoon-and-steal-worthy ideas awaiting you. We know you will fall in love with their sun-drenched October fete with authentic and heartfelt imagery by Tales of Light.

Leanca and Henry are from Pretoria in South Africa and their parents have known each other for many years. Even though their parents were good friends, the pair only met after their parents attended Henry’s sister’s wedding in 2020. Leanca says, “Arranged marriages are not part of our South African tradition, but our moms thought Henry and I would be a prefect fit for each other and hatched a plan for us to meet and fall in love ‘naturally’. My mom ‘accidentally’ forgot to give Henry’s sister her wedding gift at her wedding, so she organised with Henry to come drop it off at our house and stay for dinner. That night after everyone left, we ended up lying on the grass watching stars and talking the night away till the sun came up. It was the beginning of our love story together.”

They got engaged while on an annual ski trip in Turkey in January 2024 with their two closest friends. After hitting the slopes for a week in Erciyes, they travelled to magical region of Cappadocia for three days. “On our last day, after sightseeing, we all got into the taxi and Henry asked him to take us to the best spot to see the sunset. We made our way to the top of Rose Valley, ordered hot chocolate at a small quaint restaurant overlooking the valley where we enjoyed the most beautiful sunset together. That is when Henry got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. It could not have been more perfect than that!”

“Our top priority was to have the absolute best fun on our wedding day and for each of our guests to have fun and celebrate with us while making life-long memories,” she explains. They opted for a weekend wedding with most of their guests arriving on the Friday where they held a sunset game drive followed by an open bar with scrumptious food. “By the time of the wedding on Saturday all of our guests became great friends and this is what made our wedding day so special.”

Henry’s deep green suit by Goat of Bespoke was a perfect choice for their nature-inspired celebration.

Their ceremony took place in the bush chapel which marries elegant architecture and the raw beauty of nature and they exchanged vows in front of a breathtaking deconstrusted floral ceremony arch.

Glowing bride Leanca dazzled wearing floral embroidered lace wedding dress by Enzoani and she accessorised with crystal and pearl drop earrings and mesh heels with sparkling embellishments.

Their ceremony was officiated by a member of their family, Peter Kotze, and Leanca’s processional song was a classical rendition of the Jurassic Park theme song.

Tshikwalo Game Lodge was the first and only venue they viewed, it stole their hearts instantly. “The design spoke true to our style (big beautiful open spaces, lots of glass windows and steel frames) and the biggest bonus was that the venue is outdoors in nature, it could accommodate all of our guests and vendors on the property for the weekend.”

The bride shed more light on what inspired their wedding aesthetic, “Henry and I love the bushveld and we love minimalism and the industrial look and feel so we decided to work with that and instead of planning something extravagant, we were inspired to use the nature and design of the venue around us and just enhance that.”

They wanted their vows to be immensely intimate so after they finished the ceremony they asked their guests to exit the chapel so that they share their vows at the altar just the two of them. “This was truly a personal and beautiful moment that only we share together.”

From the lush bouquets to the sleek wedding cake, crisp white orchids were a firm floral fixture with beautiful blooms such as peonies, roses and anthurium also amongst the arrangements.

Two weeks before their wedding disaster struck as the restaurant at the venue sadly burnt down but the team pulled out all the stops to ensure their dream day played out without a hitch. “Tshikwalo was so resilient in making a new plan to serve the food, they set up tables under the trees outside which just made the whole weekend experience even better.”

Live wedding painting is an entertainment idea we absolutely adore. These personalised keepsakes make for such fabulous favours that can be a cherished reminder of your special day.

There’s something undeniably Gatsby about the champagne tower, in fact its one of the hottest wedding photography trends at the moment and understandably so. It’s a celebratory and playful moment that radiates joy, luxury, and that undeniable party vibe.

Their fabric table signage exuded effortless elegance.

They lent into the bright and airy atmosphere of the reception space by keeping the decor refined with light and thin cloth runners in a neutral hue, glass underplates and silver cutlery. They added plenty of candles in different shapes, sizes, textures and colours, and small clusters of flowers.

They got creative when it came to their wedding cake toppers. “Henry loves Lego, so before the wedding we bought a Lego set of a bride and groom and had a date night at home with some wine while we built our Lego bride and groom which we then used as our wedding cake toppers.” Such a sweet idea!

Wedding newspapers are such a fun, practical and truly memorable wedding keepsake. They’re great for getting creative with your wedding day info and to tell your love story in the most unique way possible.

Leanca’s bridesmaids stunned in deep champagne satin gowns with mix and match necklines.

The groomsmen perfectly complemented the theme and colour palette in their elegant cream suits.

Leanca and Henry’s sunset photoshoot took our breath away.

Popping a bottle of bubbly in the bush, what a moment!

Seeming as we can’t stop swooning over their dream day, we wanted to hear all their wedding planning tips. “Always remember the reason why you’re doing it. To celebrate your love for each other. So don’t stress the small stuff and remember to have fun in the process of planning. On your wedding day take in the sights and enjoy each moment spent with your spouse, family and friends.”

From an epic entrance from the newlyweds to elegant neon signage and fun wedding games, their reception had it all.

Leanca and Henry are travel lovers and they’ve shared many adventures together so for honeymoon they went on a road trip of South Africa of which there were many places they hadn’t explored yet.

Their first dance song was West Coast by Imagine Dragons which happens to be their favourite tune. “It is an upbeat beautiful song that really means so much to us. We went for dance lessons before the wedding but some how managed to forget the 30 seconds of the dance so we ended up winging it and laughing and signing along while dancing.”

We want to say a huge congratulations and thank you to our lovely couple Leanca and Henry for sharing their breathtaking bushveld wedding with One Fab Day! A very special thank you also to Tales of Light for the wonderful photos, you can see even more in the gallery below.

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