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Bianca & Richard

We wanted a relaxed, casual Victorian country wedding and that’s exactly what we got!

Many of our wedding vendors were on our list before there was even talk of a wedding date. With my own business, miki.o, I had been in the wedding industry, designing stationery, for quite a while so I had met many amazing vendors that simply had to be part of the day. We knew exactly who our celebrant and photographers were going to be so our wedding date had to fit in with their schedule.

At first we had picked a different venue, but when Hazelden Homestead popped up in Richard’s Facebook news feed we instantly knew that we wanted to change it. The venue was close to home and set on a beautiful property with rolling hills in the background. Before we found Hazelden Homestead we had been scouting paddocks for the perfect ceremony backdrop because we wanted to get married under a gum tree.

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We opted to get ready in seperate rooms at home and have photos taken before our ceremony. My family had flow in from the Netherlands so it was really nice to get ready and spend time with them before the big moment. It was so special to have my mum and aunt there to help me get ready.

Our ‘reveal’ was outside on our driveway, with each of us standing on a side of the Volkswagen kombi van. Seeing each other for the first time was such a special moment.

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Grace, the kombi van was beautifully decorated by Francine from Fisch and Co. The way we found Grace was quite special too.

A few months prior we went to see Ralf, our jeweller, to choose our wedding bands and we somehow ended up talking about cars and Volkswagen in particular. Ralf mentioned that a love for Volkswagen runs in his veins and that he was doing some of them up, one being a kombi.

We asked a bit more and it turned out that the kombi he had just restored was the exact colour of our wedding theme! We had searched for kombis before but without much luck. We’re still amazed that she (Grace) found us!

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For our wedding photos we wanted a rustic location and opted for Plenty Gorge park lands in South Morang. There is a beautiful old homestead with a rustic barn that we used as a backdrop for our photos.

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My beautiful bouquet was made by Sugabuds, who were so excited about creating something different. I basically gave them free reign, the only pointer being that I wanted a king protea. They did such an amazing job. All the flowers for the event were simply stunning.

Our ceremony and reception were styled by Eliska from Ruffles & Bells who I had met in a business mastermind earlier in the year. As soon as we met I knew that I had to have Eliska style our wedding. She created a mood board for us and then I handed everything over to her. I trusted her completely and she absolutely exceeded my expectations. Everything was styled beautifully!

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We were so lucky to work with Marcel from Platform Eight and Stephanie from Total Capture as our photographers. We have been friends with both for years so it was a natural choice for us and since they both do amazing work, we were thrilled to know they wanted to work together to capture our wedding.

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After our photos we headed to the venue to take a few more photos and get ready to say I do. Our amazing stylist Eliska had created a beautiful sign for our ceremony and decorated the straw bales just as we had wanted for our wedding. Ralf, from Fisch & Co., drove us down the paddock in the kombi, which was such a great entrance. I walked down the isle to ‘Lullaby’ by the Dixie Chicks, bringing out the country girl in me.

We wrote our own vows, which made everything extra special. I couldn’t keep my eyes completely dry during the ceremony but I see that as a beautiful touch to our wedding.

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Richard’s niece and nephew were our ring bearer and flower girl. They made such a cute pair. Miss G, Richard’s niece, had been talking about wearing a princess crown for months. Her lace dress and gold glitter shoes made it even better. Mr H, our ring bearer, looked very sharp too. He was told that he had a very important task and to hold on to the rings until we asked him to bring them forward.

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Our reception was in the beautifully renovated barn at Hazelden Homestead and we had invited Soul Kitchen Woodfired Pizza Truck to cater our reception. The pizzas were absolutely amazing, so good even that there is not one photo to be found; they disappeared so quickly! The pizzas kept flowing and our salad bar was a hit too!

Ruffles and Bells had custom-made a bar which was beautifully decorated. In fact, all of the decorations were amazing and it was such a lovely surprise walking into the barn seeing it so beautifully decorated. I was told not to come into the barn before the reception so seeing it as we walked in was fantastic.

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Lemon is Richard’s favourite so what better than lemon meringue cupcakes and a small white chocolate cutting cake! We borrowed the cake stand from friends and Rachel from R&R Sweetie Treats did a fabulous job with the cakes.

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We danced their first dance to ‘Flame Trees’ by Jimmy Barnes. It might have been a very unconventional song choice but we both love Jimmy Barnes. Our wedding was exactly what we wanted – a relaxed, laid back country celebration.

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Ms Chinoiserie Says: Congratulations Bianca and Richard; arriving in a kombi to your rustic barn wedding looked like so much fun!

About Bianca: In my spare time I love to cook, read, walk, ski and travel. I’m also a little addicted to Facebook and I love milk chocolate with hazelnuts!

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