Val de Vie wedding and polo party! Well, I know that it is going to be an adventure. After their wedding in Florence, I am itching with excitement to be going to South Africa to photograph their polo party bash for their other friends and family who weren’t able to make it to Italy.

Unfortunately, the journey is relatively grueling as I am sitting on the plane with the flu! I arrive in South Africa, feeling like a warmed up dead person… but as soon as I see Cape Town, I feel reborn and full of energy to explore and have a wonderful trip. It’s such a beautiful place that I soon overcome the achy bones and cold.

Val de Vie Estate – Beautiful wedding venue

The Val de Vie Estate lies in a stunning area of outstanding beauty. We are in the wine country of South Africa, so besides beautiful scenery and vineyards, we have the old colonial-style architecture too.

Val de Vie is a fantastic wedding venue offering plenty of stylish options for a vineyard wedding not far from Cape Town.

The bride prepares for her wedding party at a guest house not far from the Val de Vie Estate. The couple chooses to see each other first and then jump in one of the Val de Vie estates, private Rolls Royces.

On the way to the venue, a couple of times, we stop to take some photos. The countryside in this area is jaw-dropping. I wish I had time to explore further and visit more of Stellenbosch and the surrounding territories, however, I can’t as I have a polo party match and wedding celebration to get to at the Val de Vie estate!

At the entrance to Val de Vie, some beautiful orange wildflowers sprinkle the ground, I can’t resist taking some photos of the couple with the orange flowers, Rolls Royce, and the mountains in the background…. epic!

Polo Party at Val de Vie Wedding

Tradition is that the bride launches the polo ball to start the match. So, a Rolls Royce drives onto the side of the playing field and out she gets. The players then line up in front of her on their horses. Once they are all in position, she throws the ball among them to start the match.

Polo is a super exciting sport to watch and a great social occasion. Combining a wedding reception with polo is a great idea and the whole day is very relaxing, festive and entertaining. The groom joins the polo match for a short while so as not to leave the bride alone for long, but everyone enjoys seeing him participate in the action.

Just before sunset, we have another little photo session in a more rural area of the estate grounds. Then as the temperatures start to drop, we head inside for warmth and dinner.