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A Garden Wedding with Personality

Modern Wedding Posted: June 12, 2013

R O B  &  L I Z

Rob and Liz’s garden wedding, on the outskirts of Canberra was every bit a reflection of this couple’s unique love. It was a day that celebrated their love for each other, but also their love for family and friends. We find this couple’s chilled approach to wedding planning refreshing, as they opted for details with personality and allowed the time and talents of their friends and family to shine through… Enjoy their party!

Button-holebridesmaidswedding-bouquetwedding-ceremony-setupgroombaby's-breath-bouquetswedding-ceremonybride-and-bridesmaidswedding-photographyweddingwedding-cakebride-and-groomjam-wedding-favourswedding-guestbookgelatowedding-kiss

F R O M  T H E  B R I D E …

The Meeting…

Rob and I met at a friend’s farewell, on a Sunday night in Sydney. Though we barely spoke that night, there was an instant connection between us, and we both went our separate ways with a feeling of a moment lost. The next day we both messaged mutual friends, enquiring about the other, and not long after, our first date was planned.

Our first date was like something from an old fashioned romance, beginning with an amusingly terrible Korean BBQ dinner, scotch and G and T’s while discussing our favourite books and a moonlit stroll by the harbour, ending in Rob lending me his jacket when it got cold and walking me home. We’ve been together about 4 and a half years now.

Love…

One of our favourite memories together was our trip to South East Asia. We travelled through Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand and our relationship was cemented in this trip. We were totally unprepared to fall so deeply in love with the people, the beauty, the food and the culture. Witnessing the beauty and hardships of these countries changed our outlook on life, and brought us closer together than we ever anticipated.

Our pride and joy is our beautiful cat Zephyr. Deciding to get a cat together was probably our first big commitment to each other, and what brought us from just dating to feeling like a family. As she’s quite stuck up and prudish, we’re not sure what kind of parents we’re going to make.

The Wedding…

Our wedding had a casual garden party theme, with some vintage and country elements. We wanted to keep the vibe relaxed, personal and intimate. It was more like a party or celebration of our love, than a formal, traditional wedding.

Ceremony & Reception Venue…

Redbrow Garden, Murrumbateman, NSW – a tiny bed and breakfast just on the outskirts of Canberra. It’s like a beautiful lush oasis in the dry farm land that surrounds it.

The Dress…

My gown was based on one I saw in a magazine only a month after we were engaged. I had it made by a family friend who also happens to be a wedding dress maker in Canberra. It was an ivory guipure lace gown with a silk underlay, deep v-neck, high back and capped sleeves, with a small train at the back. I loved that it had elegance and class, was unique and had elements that I would choose to wear in my everyday life, like the cap sleeves and v-neck, so it felt very ‘me’. I loved the nod to classic vintage wedding dresses that the lace inspired.

The Bridal Party…

Our bridal party was made up of our best friends and closest family members. We had four on each side, the majority of whom travelled to be with us on the day. We spent the night before the wedding together at the venue, which was a beautiful opportunity to catch up and get excited together.

I let the girls pick whatever dress they wanted, as they all are such different shapes and sizes and just gave them a colour palette to work from. The guys wore their own white shirts, Roger David vests and skinny leg pants and their favourite pair of black shoes.

We wanted to include as many of our favourite people in the day as possible, so I also walked down the aisle with my mum, dad and brother, and we had Rob’s cousin and my sister in law be our witnesses.

Styling…

Part of why we loved the venue was that it didn’t require a lot of extra decoration, being such a beautiful garden. The decoration that we did choose was simply to enhance what was already there. We bought bunches of mixed white and green flowers the day before the wedding, and arranged them in jam jars and bottles we had collected over the year. My favourite flowers are simple white daisies, so these were the main flowers used for decoration. The gardens themselves provided a lot of the decoration. Blue birds flitted amongst the lush greenery, with the backdrop of a beautiful pond that the kids could take a row boat out onto. My mum and I spent a whole day sewing the bunting in my bridesmaids colours, which marked the ‘alter’ where we were married.

Our guests sat on pretty wooden park benches (provided by the venue), the bar was set up in an old stable block, and we had some fairy lights and candles to add to the romance after dark.

The Flowers…

My bouquets were made by a friend of my mothers, and were baby’s breath with small white daisies for the bridesmaids, while mine had small green mini chrysanthemums as accents. I also surprised Rob with xbox 360 controller boutonnieres, which I made myself and had incorporated with some baby’s breath for the guys.

The Cake…

Our cake was made by Rob’s mum, and was a white and dark chocolate layered mud cake with raspberry coolie and chocolate ganache. We had roulette wafers around the edges, which were not what we had originally intended, but which turned out even better than our original idea. They were broken at different heights to give an uneven rustic look.

The ‘tree-log’ cake stands were made by a friend of my mum’s, who so kindly engraved one for us to have as a keepsake.

The dinosaur cake toppers were all Rob’s idea. They are simply children’s dinosaur toys that he found at the Dinosaur Museum. I then made a birdcage veil for the bride dinosaur (to match my veil) and a top hat and tie for the groom dinosaur. We loved the end effect.

Other sweet treats on the Menu…

As a welcome to our guests we served blood orange and mango gelato cups before the ceremony, which was lovely and cooling on a hot afternoon, and which kicked off the relaxed vibe of the day.

Our caterers served both passion fruit & vanilla mascarpone vacherin, and an amaretto & sour cherry Tiramisu with chocolate shavings. We were so caught up in the day we didn’t actually get to try either of them unfortunately, but the word is they were delicious.

Memories…

There were too many to count!Rob wearing a fake horse head in our photo shoot, dancing under the stars, the personal touches from our friends… my brother wrote and performed us the most amazing song, and our friend Emma wrote us a beautiful poem. Rob also performed a song for me, which was so emotional and beautiful.

The Honeymoon…

We’ve just booked a belated honeymoon to Queenstown, New Zealand for the winter time, and can’t wait to have some adventures in the snow, and spend some time drinking red wine and sitting by the fire.

The Future…

We’re currently living in Canberra and loving it, despite the guff we have to endure from our Sydney family and friends!

Suppliers…

Photographer Thorson Photography Ceremony Venue Redbrow Garden Reception Venue Redbrow Garden Bride’s Gown Chris Stott Designs Bridesmaids’ Dresses Modcloth, David Lawrence and Review Groom’s Attire Roger David Groomsmens’ Attire Roger David Cake Designer Sharon Goldie (Groom’s Mother)  Florist Ngaire Gamack(Canberra I Do) Stationery Magpie Paperworks (USA) Makeup Caroline Wallace (Bride’s Aunt) Hair Brooke Varova (Self-employed. Canberra)

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