{"id":40529,"date":"2013-02-17T07:54:42","date_gmt":"2013-02-17T05:54:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=40529"},"modified":"2013-02-17T12:45:18","modified_gmt":"2013-02-17T10:45:18","slug":"cape-of-love-wedding-tourism-booming-in-the-cape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/cape-of-love-wedding-tourism-booming-in-the-cape\/","title":{"rendered":"Cape of Love: Wedding Tourism booming in the Cape!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Valentine’s Day is excellent for business in the Cape in February, and this year is no different. \u00a0Falling on Thursday, it is being celebrated this weekend, with numerous couples taking a romantic break, and weddings galore are taking place, with couples from all over the world saying ‘I do’ in the world’s most beautiful city and winelands.<\/p>\n

Previously Franschhoek held the honours of the Wedding Capital of South Africa, and is still popular as a wedding destination. \u00a0Whilst we had seen a decline in weddings in the gourmet and wine valley in the past two years, we are surprised at the vast number of wedding guests we are accommodating at Whale Cottage Camps Bay currently, attending weddings in Cape Town and in Stellenbosch in particular.<\/p>\n

Berlin-based Benjamin Pochhammer and his fianc\u00e9e Johanna Henning chose to marry in the Cape because Benjamin had studied at UCT. Bringing Julia to Cape Town to show her the beautiful city, they decided to get married in sunny Cape Town instead of in wintry Berlin. More than 100 of their friends flew in from Germany and other countries for the wedding, for which a detailed wedding programme had been prepared for the wedding guests, all concentrated in Camps Bay. \u00a0So, for example, they played Beach Volleyball followed by drinks and snacks at Caf\u00e9\u00a0Caprice. \u00a0The next day a special party was held at The Grand Camps Bay exclusively for the wedding party guests. \u00a0The wedding was held last Wednesday at Webbersburg in Stellenbosch, to which the guests were bussed to and from Camps Bay. \u00a0The day after the wedding they guests were invited to an afternoon braai in Camps Bay. \u00a0 All wedding guests were sent a list of suggestions of Camps Bay and Cape Town restaurants and bars, and recommended tourist attractions and outings. \u00a0Roughly calculated, the wedding will have generated R1 million in income for Camps Bay in the five day wedding period, in addition to the R400000 costs of the wedding event.<\/p>\n

Yesterday we welcomed the close family from Austria, Australia, the UK, and Johannesburg of Niki Foreman,\"\"<\/a> originally from the UK, and Tom Dirnberger, originally from Johannesburg, who met in London and now live in Sydney. They have booked seven rooms at Whale Cottage Camps Bay for the next five days, before they move across to Stellenbosch, to the wedding venue at Marianne wine estate. \u00a0Their wedding party consists of about 60 guests, and their contribution to Camps Bay alone should be in the region of R 500000.<\/p>\n

We also accommodated a guest who attended the wedding of her step brother at the Twelve Apostles hotel on Valentine’s Day. \u00a0Yesterday four American guests arrived, for a wedding of a nephew, which will be held in Paarl. All pre-wedding festivities are being held in Camps Bay. \u00a0At Whale Cottage Camps Bay we are also hosting the Wolthaus couple from Germany for eight days, celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary with us on Monday.<\/p>\n

Yesterday the posh wedding of Nathi Mthethwa and Philiswe Buthelezi, with 500 guests, was held at All\u00e9e Bleue, the menu having been developed by Chef Reuben Riffel. \u00a0 It was attended by President Jacob Zuma, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, Cyril Ramaphosa, Tokyo Sexwale, and Mangosuthu Buthelezi, reports the Sunday Times.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cape Town and the Winelands deserve to be named the ‘Cape of Love’, and this romantic wedding tourism should be heavily promoted, as it benefits the accommodation, restaurant, tourism, wedding venue, wine, and related industries. \u00a0It is also a feel-good type of tourism, the guests being in a particularly good mood, loving every minute of their stay in Cape Town and the Winelands, and the wedding celebrations they have travelled to from far!<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a> Twitter: @WhaleCottage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Valentine’s Day is excellent for business in the Cape in February, and this year is no different. \u00a0Falling on Thursday, it is being celebrated this weekend, with numerous couples taking a romantic break, and weddings galore are taking place, with couples from all over the world saying ‘I do’ in the world’s most beautiful city […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[7,3,14,20,31,22,21,293],"tags":[18321,577,547,2472,18316,18314,1509,32370,2157,32366,32378,18324,32369,18315,1052,18325,16402,2637,18319,18323,5570,1347,32376,11792,945,18318,5,2495,3689,3592,18317,571,32381,163,32373,32382,18320],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t