This wedding had me at hello. Well, actually, it had me at pretty pink peonies and glittery gold bridesmaid gowns, but why get caught up in the semantics? Put simply, it rocks. Maybe that’s because it happens to be the perfect mix of rustic and glam and the beautiful bride designed and planned the entire affair herself. Or maybe it’s because those bouquets from Hyde Park Flowers are all kinds of amazing, that Carolina Herrera gown has our tongues wagging and the images captured by Angelsmith Photography are seriously breathtaking. My guess? It’s a beautiful combo of all of the above. Join me in the full gallery for sooo much more.
From the Bride…When planning my wedding I had always dreamed of having a beach ceremony, really laid back and casual. However, once we were engaged (who am I kidding – BEFORE we were engaged) I stumbled across all these wedding blogs and Pinterest, and my vision for a seaside wedding eventually changed. Suddenly I found myself envisioning a wedding amongst the vineyards, with rustic touches but always a glam and modern take on it. I love lace and I love sequins so making this come together in a vineyard in a rustic barn was quite confusing for all my suppliers. My husband is from a farm and so I thought having it in a barn and rustic natural elements would be a nod to his home life and childhood on the farm.
The surroundings at Golding Winery is nothing short of breathtaking, so I knew I wouldn’t need a lot of decorations to style this beautiful setting. We chose an outdoor ceremony under the leafy trees and I made an aisle runner out of hessian/burlap and my beautiful mother and mother-in-law helped me sew on the lace and stamp the “be married” sign. A close family friend of mine brought my floristry dreams into reality by placing huge vases of white and blush peonies amongst the wine barrels which would become my “altar” in a way. I handmade our programs with paddle sticks which also featured fun facts about us as a couple, which also doubled as a hand fan as the weather was a scorching 37 degrees and very humid. The storms clouds were rolling in! One hiccup on the day was “someone” forgot my husband’s grandmother and so we all had to wait around for an hour before starting the ceremony! Thankfully the rain held off for the ceremony and the photos, which meant we were able to capture some stunning photos with dark skies that were forever changing colour.
Whilst we were having photos taken, our guests were served a range of hors d’ouvers and a roaming entree which meant guests were able to mingle outside and take photos of the changing sky. We then moved into the rustic barn which we had set up in a giant U shape of three long tables. This meant guests were able to share the platters of food that were served on the tables. The tables were decorated with a mixture of seven types of white flowers, long stemmed candle holders and lots of tea lights. I had hessian tables runners along the length of all the tables and cute Americana chairs which suited the theme perfectly. The gorgeous cake was made by mother in law who has never decorated a cake before and what an amazing job she did! We also had a lolly buffet made out of two wine barrels and an old door which I picked up from an old antique store. We painted an old suitcase which was decorated in photos of us as a couple since we were at our school formal together. We did have eight years apart whilst he went back to the family farm, but fate had us reunite and that spark from our school days was still burning bright.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing on the day, apart from Nanna being an hour late it meant our schedule to have photos taken was a bit limited but we still got some absolutely beautiful shots. We then had a power outage just after main course was served, so whilst we sat in darkness for a few moments, the lightning storm outside was too good to miss, so we all moved outside and watched mother nature at her best. I tried not to turn into a Bridezilla at this stage but I was wondering what happens if we don’t get the power back on? We then tried to do speeches back in the barn but the rain on the tin roof was so heavy that it drowned out even the loudest of voices. We decided to put the speeches on hold and get back to some mingling, but with no music the atmosphere was a bit subdue. In stepped my brother, he decides to back my mums car into the barn and crank the stereo – this got everyone up on the dance floor and the DJ did a great job with his lap top and decks up on the car dashboard!! Luckily my uncle who works for the power company was able to have the power back on within 2.5 hours and the party was back on!
Despite all these dramas on the day, I look back now and wouldn’t change a thing, the hiccups meant that everyone was talking about our wedding for weeks to come and even now when I talk to distant friends they all know the story of our wedding and it creates plenty of laughs!
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Photography: Angelsmith Photography | Floral Design: Hyde Park Flowers | Event Design + Planning: The Bride | Ceremony + Reception Location: Golding Winery | Invitations: Invitations For All Occasions | Cinematography: The One | Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Dress: Carolina Herrera | Bridesmaids Dresses: Sass & Bide | Bridesmaids Shoes: Tony Bianco