Wedding Soiree in South Africa's Stellenbosch Wine Region

A couple dressed in formal attire stands arm in arm on a lawn, facing a vineyard and distant mountains at sunset.

Wedding Soiree in South Africa’s Stellenbosch Wine Region

June 10, 2026
Words by Lauren Ertl
Photos courtesy of Kim Raaf

From meeting in the dorms at UC Berkeley in 2012 to saying “I do” under the cover of a 300-year-old camphor tree in South Africa, Kayla and Steve’s love story is anything but basic.

Stephen (Steve), a Broadway actor in the cast of “Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” originally hailing from South Africa, the country seemed the best fit for the couple’s destination wedding. Plus, ever since Kayla got to know Steve, her family and friends have been hearing about the wonders of the landscape there and just how stunning it is. A wedding there would give everyone the perfect excuse to (finally) experience its majesty all for themselves.

A bride and groom stand outdoors under a tree. Left side shows close-ups of wedding rings, a hammock, a statue, and a veil with leaf shadows. A small outdoor wedding ceremony under a large tree; guests seated on benches, the bride walks with two people, and the couple stands together at the altar.

“Paying for the wedding ourselves was important to us,” Kayla adds, “and a destination wedding actually made it possible to do a multi-day celebration within our budget.”

Stellenbosch, a wine region with close proximity to Cape Town, appealed to the couple immediately for a multitude of factors, chief among them being the ease of transportation for guests. Before taking their first pre-wedding scouting trip out to South Africa, Kayla and Steve identified their top five desired venues.

A bride and groom stand under a large tree with hanging fabric, exchanging vows in an outdoor wedding ceremony. Sunlight filters through the branches.

“Going into the onsite visits, our mentality was honestly that we’d be ecstatic with any of the five,” the bride explains. “In the end, Muratie had everything we were looking for.”

With a picturesque spot for an outdoor ceremony, varied scenery, gorgeous views of Table Mountain, plenty of nearby accommodations at a range of price points, and (of course) great wine, the couple’s venue would play a huge part in the success of their wedding abroad.

Two photos of an outdoor wedding ceremony: couples seated under large trees, and a bride and groom walking down the aisle, smiling and holding hands.

Trusting in the process and their excellent team of vendors, Kayla and Steve could focus on adding personalizations like an audio guestbook and welcome gifts stamped with custom stamps of the couple’s faces. Perhaps the most important of the personalizations was the couple’s commitment to sustainability.

“Our invites were printed on seed paper,” Kayla says. “We tried our best to avoid plastic, skipped balloons entirely, and while we did use a few bud vases of flowers, we leaned into reusable greenery by renting 40 trees!”

A collage shows a bride and groom walking outside, sharing an intimate moment, and a close-up of a wedding table set with flowers and candles.

Yep, you read that right. Renting trees. And you know what? It ended up being one of the couple’s favorite touches because once the celebration moved inside, with all the trees traveling inside with the party-goers, it still felt like being in the great outdoors.

Overall, remaining measured with their approach to wedding planning paid off in a relatively stress-free experience. In fact, in the year leading up to the wedding, Kayla went off-the-grid for about five months to hike from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail, so there wasn’t really time to overthink anything anyway!

A newlywed couple embraces and smiles joyfully outdoors, with the bride holding a bouquet and wearing a white dress and veil. Sunlight filters through trees in the background.

When Steve and Kayla’s wedding week finally arrived, they were able to show off Steve’s homeland to their loved ones and invite everyone to participate in unique ways. Kayla’s older brother officiated the ceremony; they invited everyone to the dance floor at the reception in lieu of a first dance, skipped the cake cutting (opting for a cake-shaped piñata instead), and opted out of the father-daughter and mother-son dances.

A wedding scene with floral decorations, a printed dinner menu, white candles, and a couple embracing at sunset. A bride and groom walk arm in arm down a dirt path through a vineyard, dressed in formal wedding attire and holding a bouquet.

After achieving their dream South Africa destination wedding, the couple is sharing what they learned firsthand through the process of wedding planning from afar:

“Weddings are for both people getting married,” Kayla says, “so it’s important to ask for each side’s preferences. For example, I wanted wooden benches for the ceremony, and Steve was firmly anti-tall-skinny-candles on the reception tables. Random, but everyone has their thing!”

Steve adds, “It’s your party; don’t let traditions or other people affect how your day needs to go. Let the party reflect the two of you, and don’t be swayed by anyone else!”

A bride and groom kiss on a dirt road with mountains in the background; below are a close-up of the bride’s bouquet and a large tiered wedding cake in a decorated venue. A modern glass-walled venue at night, a person playing saxophone indoors, someone wearing white boots dancing, and a close-up of a vintage rotary phone.