‘Tis the season to celebrate and make merry—and perhaps sneak a kiss below the mistletoe. As we festoon our homes, gather wine from Stellenbosch’s top farms, and prepare family feasts to welcome the season, who better to be our otherworldly muse than Hestia, goddess of the hearth, family, and home? 

Come along with us as we journey through the seasonal traditions that underpin celebrations modern, mythical and medieval and discover just why our wedding venue in Stellenbosch is ideally situated to stage celebrations for the ages.

A panoramic view of Devon Valley from The Salene events deck

Many of the modern-day traditions we associate with the festive December season have their roots in Saturnalia, a week-long Roman tradition that honoured the agricultural god Saturn. This merriest of all Roman holidays involved gift-giving between friends and family, playing games, and feasting until the early hours of the morning. Sounds a lot like Christmas, doesn’t it? 

A new tradition was born during the Anglo-Saxon medieval period. Wreaths and garlands fashioned from foliage and greenery adorned houses while a giant double hoop of mistletoe took pride of place in the living room. Lovers began sneaking kisses beneath the mistletoe, hoping for continued love, fertility, or simply the thrill of a new romance.

In England and beyond, festive cheer continued to bring much-needed joy into the last month of the year as lavish feasts, donning one’s best (and shiniest) finery, and travelling through the town and area became fixed details of the December period. Fast-forward to 2022 and we’re just as eager to rifle through our closets for a sparkly number and head out on the town for some merrymaking and feasts beneath the stars.

Details from decadent weddings held at The Salene’s Cape Winelands venue

At The Salene, we’re no strangers to grand feasts and guests sneaking a kiss amongst the lush greenery of the Devon Valley. In fact, we’ve designed our wedding and events venue in Stellenbosch to be ideal for just those kinds of moments of celebration under the moonlight. 

Our events venue amidst the Cape Winelands’ best wine farms features an outdoor Moët fountain, high ceilings, a specialty bar, and floor-to-ceiling glass stacking doors that open onto an expansive wooden terrace. A stone’s throw from Stellenbosch, you’ll find just the place to transform your modern-day celebrations into the stuff of myths.

As we head into the merriest of months, our Salene family wishes you and yours the happiest of holidays. May your days—and nights—be otherworldly.