Edward and Emma

Our journey began when we first met in 2006 while working together in a restaurant in Melbourne. We had an instant connection and things blossomed pretty quickly from there! We were engaged in New Zealand in 2010 and held our wedding on the 4th of May 2013 at Spicers Clovelly Estate in Montville with the ceremony and reception both on site.

My grandfather allowed me to borrow by deceased grandmother’s wedding ring to wear on my wedding day as my ‘something old’. I bound this around my bouquet for me to hold throughout the ceremony and reception.

My bridal gown was a mix of everything I liked. I wanted to design something myself so it would be unique and personal. The bridal gown was custom-made by a local seamstress, with inspiration mostly drawn from Collette Dinnigan’s wedding dresses. I wore a silk organza dress with a high neckline and capped sleeves. The dress featured a French lace, hand beaded, sheer bodice with a high-waisted full organza skirt.

As for the bridesmaids, we chose rosewater infinity dresses (sourced through Babushka Ballerina and designed by Two Birds) so they could create their own style and still wear them after the wedding.

Our theme for our hinterland Queensland wedding was ‘vintage chic’ and the colour palette had tones of peach, cream earthy green and grey. Our florist of Green Willow Floral Designs was just phenomenal. I absolutely loved the florals used on the day and shed a very happy tear when I first saw our bouquets.  She managed to bring my complete vision to life through her attention to detail, floral arrangements and perfect styling with a very personal touch.

We were blessed that Ed’s entire family were able to fly over from New Zealand and the UK for our wedding.  It was very special for Ed to be able to spend the morning of the wedding day relaxing with his father to help ease some of those pre-wedding nerves!

Spicers Clovelly Estate was the absolute perfect location for our wedding.  Ed and I can not speak highly enough of this venue or recommended it more. The day ran so smoothly, the staff were so professional and organised, and the food was amazing. We held our ceremony on the lawn under a beautiful old Jacaranda tree and our reception in the main dining area. Ed and I wanted to offer our guests the sense of ‘an experience’ rather than just an afternoon and evening at our wedding. A hinterland escape where many of our guests were able to stay on site across the weekend, share each other’s company in the lead up to our big day without needing to travel, was just perfect for everyone.  It meant that we could completely relax and just enjoy the stunning surroundings and the company of our closest family and friends.

We had a string trio for our ceremony and post ceremony drinks.  The Offenbach Strings played a selection of modern songs that Ed and I chose as we loved the sound of strings but we weren’t wanting the more formal feel that can come along with classics played on the strings.  I walked down the aisle with my father to “Your Song” by Elton John, which was also the song that my parents classed as ‘their’ song early in their relationship over 40 years ago.

Our Celebrant, Kristy Ellis, was truly fantastic and we were so thankful to her for her involvement in our wedding.   The ceremony was presented beautifully and was so perfectly personalized and meaningful to us. Everything flowed so effortlessly and we felt completely comfortable in her hands on the day.

Our wedding completely exceeded our expectations. We were blessed with absolutely perfect weather on a clear Autumn day with a slightly crisp feel in the air. The entire day was filled with love and laughter and we both just cherished every single moment.  It was hard to keep our eyes off one another from the ceremony onwards!

Our photographer, Todd Hunter McGaw, captured our wedding day perfectly. I had been tracking his work for a while as his photography was always inspiring and interesting to me, as a budding (novice) photographer.  We were extremely fortunate to claim him as our photographer for our wedding day after a series of events that eventually brought us together (it was fate). We absolutely loved his positive energy. He was assisted on the day by Emma Holcroft of Giddy Up Camera Club and between the two of them, Ed and I were graciously impressed with their ‘skillz’ and blown away by the resulting product.

Our bridal party was made up of our absolute nearest and dearest and they made our day incredibly fun and full of love and memorable moments.

All of the theming was designed by myself and arranged by Green Willow Floral Design.  Ed and I made sure there were lots of special details throughout the day like the ‘lets do this thing’ wooden sign, hand-made paper love hearts lining the aisle, lavender confetti cones in vintage paper, wine bottles for guests to sign for our 1st and 5th wedding anniversaries, a hand drawn fingerprint tree hand drawn by a dear friend of mine, and a dictionary for guests to circle words describing our wedding day.

We also created a DIY photo booth and made a colourful pom-pom garland for our backdrop. We purchased props and blackboards for messages to the bride and groom. It was also international Star Wars day (May The Fourth Be With You…) and although we are both not huge Star Wars fans, it made for a nice point of difference to have some very fun Star Wars paraphernalia available to use as photo booth props.

Ed and I also made our own bonbonnieres and decided to make a raspberry jam using a family recipe from Ed’s mother’s family. Ed’s mother was able to help us with making the jam for the wedding which was a sincere touch. The reception was entertaining and fun. We had a total of 70 guests and had one of our closest friends act as the host for the night.

We wanted our day to reflect who we are as a couple and the value of family and friends in our lives. We wanted guests to feel as though they were part of the process and really wanted everyone to feel as special as we both did on the day.

Ms Gingham says: I am in love with this wedding. I’m sure the addition of the Star Wars paraphernalia helped (geek alert!) but mainly it’s the images captured so beautifully by Todd Hunter McGaw. Thankyou so much for sharing your day with us Emma!

Emma says: “I’m a 32 year old Speech Pathologist. My now husband, Edward (age 35) is a Hospitality Management Consultant. We were engaged in New Zealand during a very romantic helicopter flight over the Remarkables and picnic lunch on the side of a mountain in December 2010.”