Our Wedding #1: The Gardens

The Pal and I got married in October 2010, and I'm finally getting around to posting some photos. We were lucky enough to tie the knot in the gardens of my grandparents' holiday home in the Blue Mountains, which is about 1.5 hours west of Sydney. We were able to have the ceremony in the front garden, photos in the larger garden, and the reception in the back garden on the tennis court. It worked so beautifully, I am still agog when I look through all these photos.

You might recognise the tile above from our wonderful engagement story last May - I love this shot, as you can see the ceremony just about to happen. Sigh.

Despite the beauty of the gardens, I wanted to make sure that the ceremony site was clearly delineated and felt extra magical. So the Pal and I made over 100 tissue paper poms, which some close friends helped fluff out the night before, and a whole team of friends with ladders helped hang on the morning of the wedding. (To the key fluffers - thank you!).

They managed to both provide a clear space in the garden, and the bright white highlighted the dark greens and delicate blossoms in ways I couldn't have imagined. The fishing line really helped to give the impression that the poms were floating, improbably metres off the ground.

A small little bridge connects the front garden to the main house. This is where we made the 'aisle' (you can see the flower petals on the ground), and hung pom poms there, too, to connect the two spaces.

This bird bath is near the back of the house, and reminds me of the house - we put some camellias from the garden in the middle, and I love this shot.

This is a favourite of mine. The marquee sat on the old clay tennis court in the back of the house, and this is one of the old clay rollers.This chair sits near the entrance to the tennis court. Two days after the wedding, the azalea bush dropped all its flowers: we couldn't believe our luck that it was in full bloom for the wedding!

This is a post in a series chronicling our wedding, which took place on the 23rd October, 2010. Over the next days, I'll be posting a whole lot more details, including actual photos of people, too!

50 Centaur

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Internet, a confession. Sometimes wedding planning makes you a little bit crazy.

I can't wait to be married, but I also can't wait for the admin to be over! Run sheets, late rsvps, additional rsvps (Oh! My partner and I would love to come! Hmm, didn't invite partner...), additional invite requests, menu changes, general complaints/suggests for changes all contributed to me having hilarious wedding dreams. Like the one where I was walking down the aisle with my laptop, because I hadn't had time to edit our vows. Quelle romance. Or the one where every woman at the wedding was wearing a wedding dress. That was a doozy.

So this was the best image to describe my mental state for the day. Oh yeah. And I admit I giggled at it for quite a while. Enjoy!

(Normal transmission to resume soon! Promise!)

(Note to all friends who are reading this: I am actually fine, but looking forward to being excited once all the boring leg work has been done.)

Our Wedding #2: Before the Ceremony - Girls

I had expected to be nervous on the morning of the wedding. Except, I really wasn't. I spent the morning hanging pom poms, laughing with friends, getting make up and hair done with my bridesmaids (sisters and now sister in law!), and getting really excited.

These photos were taken in the afternoon, just before the ceremony, inside the main house. It was sprinkling with rain at this stage, which was a bit concerning (especially with paper decorations in a garden!), but it managed to stop miraculously the second we stepped outside.

I looked at lots of bridesmaid dresses online, and found them to be far too traditional. Initially, I told the girls to wear whatever they'd like to, but they really wanted to be matching, so when I saw these floral ones, I thought they'd be so perfect for the garden.

I had the bouquets made, as I thought it might be a DIY bridge too far to go to the flower markets before the wedding. I met with Pam, a florist, who understood I exactly what I wanted

Details:

My dress: Lisa Ho.

Bridesmaid dresses: Forever New.

My headband: Forever 21, with some of my own adjustments.

Flowers: Fine Flowers.

This is a post in a series chronicling our wedding, which took place on the 23rd October, 2010. Stay tuned: tomorrow we see the boys!

Our Wedding #7: Dancing and Party Times

Well it's one thing to have a good time at your own wedding, but we were so delighted that everyone else seemed to have an amazing time, too!

We borrowed this frame from some friends - it was sitting unused in their basement! - and it became such a great prop. Instead of shying away from the camera, guests were lining up to have their photos taken!

We also had a few chalkboards about for guests to write us messages - they were amazing!

Nothing says I'm having a good time like a sweat-soaked shirt on the dance floor. These last six photos were taken by my most excellent cousin Sarah (she of the purple flower hat below). Thank you muchly, my dear - they are perfect!

Details:

Our brilliant photographers are Jen and Justin Roberts - they are not only wonderful people, but as you can see, phenomenal photographers.

This is the last post in a series chronicling our wedding, which took place on the 23rd October, 2010. Thank you so much for reading and commenting xx

Our Wedding #5: Post-ceremony shots

The exhilaration of the ceremony continued afterwards, hugging friends and family and having lots of photos taken.

Towards the back of the garden, there are some beautiful trees, that happened to provide a beautiful background, and protected us from the raindrops that were beginning to fall.

We found my favourite tree - a big, old Chestnut, and managed to scramble up the mossy branches for some amazing shots.

These are some of my favourite shots - and allowed us some really special time with close friends just before the reception began. It was surreal to be sitting in the tree with the Pal, looking at each other and thinking, 'We're married'!

After the tree, we ran out the gravel driveway to take some more shots. Ironically, it was here I thought we'd get the best shots, and I think it shows that you should try to be really flexible on the day and trust your photographers: they really know what they're talking about!

We chose to have lots of photos in front of the garage doors, and the one below is one of my favourites of the wedding. It's a shot of a whole group of our friends, many of whom the Pal has known for almost 20 years. Hilariously (or so I think), I am the only one smiling. We were trying to do a Victorian-style 'no smiling' photo, but I am biologically unable not to smile.

This is a post in a series chronicling our wedding, which took place on the 23rd October, 2010. Next up will be inside the reception tent!

Our Wedding #3: Before the Ceremony - Boys

The Pal got ready at one of the houses nearby that his mates were staying at, which happened to have a phenomenal view. His Dad popped in for a few photos, too, many of which were 'band photos', which make me laugh. The dress for the wedding was 'nostalgic garden party', which most guests loved (it flummoxed our parents' friends a bit!). So the boys wore old-fashioned vests and hats - they looked amazing.
The Pal gave his extended group of groomsmen pocket watches, which he had engraved with their initials.
Besties. Friends (and the Pal's brother) for many, many years.

Details:
The Pal's suit was tailor-made at The Cloak Room in Surry Hills.

This is a post in a series chronicling our wedding, which took place on the 23rd October, 2010. Next up will be the ceremony!

Also - a big welcome to readers from Polka Dot Bride! So lovely to be featured by such a delightful blog. Thanks Ms Polka Dot!

First Wedding Present

My lovely sister came over on the weekend to give the Pal and I our first wedding present. We had no idea what this might be, but the thought of taking a short break from doing seating arrangements (!!!) was so delightful that we welcomed her with open arms. Em has also been an incredible support in the lead up: she knows I'm working a lot and just manages to be helpful in a very seamless and non-pressure way.

And we were blown away. Em knows how much I love these old railway posters, and made one for us which chronicles some of our adventures from our first date to our wedding day. It's not only a stunning piece of art, but I catch myself looking at it with dreamy, faraway eyes, remembering how far we've come, and all the adventures to come.

Thank you Em - we couldn't love it, more.

Our Wedding #6: Reception

The reception tent was just so beautiful. Big, turkish-harem style drapes, all in stark white. I put a bowl on each long table filled with green apples from a local orchard - I had hoped the green would echo the green garden outside, and be a sustainable form of decorating. People who came the next day to help clean up all took a bowl filled with apples with them - I love useful decorations!

I set up a table at the back of the room with photos of our grandparents and parents on their wedding days. Not only was it wonderful to have them all in the room with us, but it gave our guests an opportunity to get up and move around the reception tent, which is what we wanted.

That's why I also wanted to have a dessert bar. It not only looked wonderful, but gave everyone a chance to move around, meet new people and indulge in wonderful ways.

We also had small green and pink bags (you can see their edges in the shot above) for people to fill up - almost everyone took a bag to eat on the way home!

Details:
White lace paper bunting from Bauble

All glassware from Ikea and thrift shops.

Lollies ordered from here and here.

This is a post in a series chronicling our wedding, which took place on the 23rd October, 2010. Tomorrow? Dancing, dancing and more dancing!