Kimberley and John

A beautiful wedding from Lawrence (near Grafton) in New South Wales today.  Unpretentious, full of lovable, heartfelt details and poignant moments. The thing I love most about this wedding? The expressions, the joy, the love & laughter!

Our newlyweds met on the other side of the world and chose Australia to celebrate their wedding. Kimberley recounts “John and I met through mutual friends in London after the London Marathon in a pub with a questionable reputation.”

Photographs today are by Jonas Peterson who has such a raw talent for capturing those moments like you’re there, like you’ve glanced and caught something unexpected. Magic.

Kimberley carried a bouquet of roses and leaves in shades of pinks and creams, tied with blue and white ribbon, styled by Skye Pullen of Pullen Flowers.

Kimberley and John married at All Saints Anglican Church. “When we were looking for a wedding venue, we knew we wanted to be near Grafton and on the mighty Clarence River. Lawrence holds many fond childhood memories for me and it took John only a second to agree that the quaint church and the rustic hall would be perfect of our wedding.”

The music was by family and friends. “Before the ceremony, John’s parents who are both professional musicians, played beautiful classical music while the guests were seated.

This was where the music ended though! Due to a technical difficulty, I ended up walking down the aisle with no music. It was a very intense and beautiful moment to walk into a church filled with your family and friends on your brother’s arm and see your husband-to-be standing in front of you. ”

Unexpected moments caused much joy for Kimberley. “During the ceremony, John was completely oblivious to the crowd and after the vows, picked a bug out of my hair. He got quite a shock when everyone started to laugh.” The song, “The Time is Now” was performed by the couple’s friends, Jaime and Luke during the ceremony.

All the beer in the world couldn’t distract Kimberley from feeling the love, one of her favourite memories. She says “The love – the sincerity of our family and friends when they told us what a great time they were having and how they had not been to a wedding like it before.”

Kimberley wore a gown from Bridal On James and shoes from Peeptoe Shoes, her bridesmaids wore gowns in various shades of pink with hairpieces made by Kimberley. John wore a suit from Elio Moda and along with his groomsmen wore ties made by Kimberley’s mother (who also made the flower girl’s skirts) and shirts from Hawes & Curtis & TM Lewin.

After days of rain, Lawrence provided the most beautiful sunset for Kimberley and John’s wedding and provided the backdrop for the most magical photographs.

Kimberley and John held their reception at Lawrence Town Hall.  The blank slate meant Kimberley and John had free reign with their decorating! They decorated the hall themselves using paper flowers, home made table runners, wreaths and centrepieces (made from wooden boxes).

Flower brooches were made by the couple for each guest to wear. Home made cocktails were concocted by the couple’s friend Dave.

Kimberley loved the atmosphere of the wedding. “Although it’s said time and time again, we really did want the wedding to a big party with love at the heart of it. All the effort my Mum and our friends contributed was amazing!”

Kimberley’s mother sewed each guest a napkin and made their napkin ring.

A customised guestbook was made by Etsy seller Grimm and filled with Polaroids and special messages from guests.

The food was served family style. Kimberley says “We wanted a family style feast for the dinner and were lucky to have Erin Brown ( (02) 6642 6644) to cater the wedding. She did large platters placed in the middle of the table for everyone to share. It was just lovely when we took a second to watch everyone passing plates around and asking if they had tried this sauce with the lamb…”

The groom and his groomsmen wore handmade ties by Kimberley’s mother embroidered with their initials.

The groomsmen were given cuff links made from vintage maps (by Etsy seller tomatoe-made) of destinations special to them. The speeches have to be some of my favourite photos from today’s wedding and I think they might be Kimberley’s too ! “The speeches – oh the speeches, funny but poignant.”


Kimberley loved her guests getting into the spirit of the day.  “I loved the fashion – everyone looked so dapper and wore their little flower brooches all day.”

The first dance was a memorable moment for the newlyweds.”We ended up dancing to the song that was to be the church entrance song – an acoustic version of “Hysteric” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It turned out to be the most perfect song. We were encouraged to get up on stage for the dance and even though everyone was watching, we honestly were completely lost in that moment.”

The wedding cake was made by the couple’s friend Kate,  topped with figurines made by the newlyweds. Kimberley changed into a shorter gown for the dancing, which turned out to be one of Kimberley’s favourite memories. “The dancing! Our guests really turned it on when the lights went down.”

A big thank you to Kimberley and John for sharing their wedding with us today on Polka Dot Bride! Thank you to Jonas Peterson too for sharing today’s gorgeous photographs!