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Shane and Nat

You could say we are high school sweet hearts but technically we aren’t. Whilst we went to high school together it wasn’t until the year after we graduated that we really took notice of each other. After spending time together we wondered why we hadn’t got to know each other sooner! I then moved away from our country town of Mount Gambier to Adelaide to go to university and then began our 7 year long distance relationship. After many long phone calls, endless text messages and weekend visits Shane surprised me with a beautiful ring he designed, over looking the Sydney Harbour on a weekend away, there was only one word to say….yes!

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We decided to get married in Penola and the surrounding Coonawarra wine region. It was an area that was close to where we grew up and allowed us to have a traditional church wedding and a rustic style reception in a woolshed amongst the vineyards.

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Bouquets and buttonholes were made by a family friend.

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The day was amazing. The favourite moments for Shane and I was our first kiss as husband and wife and the time we spent together having our photos taken between the ceremony and reception. Having that time together, just the two of us (our amazing photographer was great at letting us enjoy the moment) to take it all in and spend quiet moments together is such a special memory.

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I have always loved the coziness of an old shed with wine barrels and autumn colours in vineyards and Katnook Estate gave us a beautiful location for photos as well as a rustic wool-shed, win-win! Having grown up on a farm, that rustic feel also reflected my upbringing and the farmers enjoyed admiring the old wool press at the reception, reminiscing on the old days!

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I’ve always been crafty and was excited at the opportunity to get stuck into some wedding projects. I really wanted the wedding to have lots of personal touches that told our story. My mum baked Shane’s favourite chocolate chip biscuits (that won him over with my mum), and each guest got a small jar with biscuits in it with a hand made tag that I kept to the style and colour theme.

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I bought photo frames for our table numbers. Instead of using numbers we decided to have table ‘years’ with a different year of our relationship and a memory specific to that year to make it more personal. Mum and I went op shopping to find green glass vases of all different shapes and sizes for table centrepieces. My lovely mum then grew baby’s breath and dried it, which we put in the vases for that rustic feel, so cheap and effective!

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For our save the dates and engagement party I made invites using a thumb print heart theme to make it personal and incorporated our own fingerprints. We decided to keep that theme throughout our wedding stationery and used hearts as a general theme throughout the reception.

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Nat made the cake topper herself.

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Amy Agnew Photography2

Amy Agnew Photography1

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Having our gorgeous grandmas take the stage on the dance floor was a very fun moment that had everyone laughing and joining in.

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 Images by Amy Agnew Photography

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Ms Stripey says: I just love how this wedding suited the woolshed in the vineyards with its rustic touches and Nat’s inspirational DIY projects. Congratulations Shane and Nat on a beautiful day!

Natalie says: I’m a 26 year old country girl turned city chick (well still country at heart really) who made the move to the Adelaide to go to University. I’m a speech pathologist who married my much smarter than average tradie and am the wife of a FIFO worker. You could say we are high school sweet hearts but technically we aren’t. Whilst we went to high school together it wasn’t until the year after we finished that we really took notice of each other! I then moved away from our country town of Mount Gambier to Adelaide and then began our 7 year long distance relationship! Coming up to our first wedding anniversary in May made me think that I would love to show brides that whilst it might be hard work at times being in a long distance relationship, it can be done. It’s so worth it and I hope my post may help a few brides who may be finding it hard organising their weddings with their partners far way 🙂