Johanna and James

There is not enough Tasmanian goodness on Polka Dot Bride and we are working to change it, starting with this Tasmanian winery wedding that has the most stunning decor and the bride in a beautiful coloured pink gown. Check it off the list for Tasmanian wedding glamour.

They tell their story .”It was a cold March night in Hobart. Like many couples we met at the Republic Bar and Cafe, an iconic watering hole for Tasmania. The last seats in the bar were at the table James was at, Johanna and her friends sat down and the rest is history!”

Anthea Auld Photographer flew to Tasmania to capture today’s gorgeous wedding images.

Fig created antique toned bouquets.

Robyn Spicer made Johanna’s gown with her bridesmaids wearing soft pink gowns from Two Birds Bridesmaid.

Hobart Town Hall was chosen for the wedding ceremony, Johanna recounting, “Our wedding ceremony was at the beautiful Hobart Town Hall. This building is amazing and is barely ever used! It is an amazing sand stone building built in the 1800’s. You enter and head up a double grand staircase. Once you enter the actual hall, its beautiful! There are three crystal chandeliers, a huge antique pipe organ and the walls and ceiling are beautifully painted and detailed. We added a few details for decorating, two tall trees were brought in to mark the alter, strung between them was the word ‘love’ which hang above our heads. There was white petals to line the aisle and flower arrangements in the alcoves at the front of the hall.”

Johanna walked down the aisle to, “Canon in D which was played on the beautiful pipe organ.”

Event Avenue styled the wedding and acted as on the day wedding coordinators. Johanna remarking, “They were amazing, they decorated and operated as day-of-coordinators, they were brilliant and took care of everything.”

Of their photographer, Johanna says, “Anthea Auld Photographer’s calm presence was welcomed on the day. She had researched some special locations for us and we’d arranged for an antique style chair to take on the shoot. The beautiful coloured beach shacks made for the perfect backdrop and she’d suggested we take along white rose petals to shower each other with during the shoot. Anthea also arranged for us to ride on the gorgeous carousel which is the oldest in Australia, such a special touch.”

Meadowbank Estate hosted the reception. “Our reception was at Meadowbank Estate (now Frogmore Creek) near Richmond, 20 minutes out of Hobart. We transported our guests to there in a red double decker bus. This meant no one had to worry about driving, as it also transported them back to the city at the end of the night. Meadowbank was amazing to work with, my family has a long history with them and they went above and beyond to help us out.”

“We had chandeliers brought in to hang down the centre of the room and trees lined the sides of the room, this tied the two venues together. We had three long tables as many of our guests had travelled (like us) from interstate and we wanted to spend time with everyone, rather than being stuck on a bridal table.”

“The tables were decorated with vintage glass ware, clothes, milk glass, dusty miller, white flowers and lots of tealights. But the biggest highlight of our reception was the meals. We often go out for meals and food is always integral to our family celebrations so we really wanted the food to reflect our own lives. I chose every dish from scratch and the chef at Meadowbank was amazing and worked with me every step of the way. Entree and Main was served down the centres of the table so that people could interact, share and try a bit of everything! Dessert was served as petit four buffet and guests were given little boxes to fill so they could take it with them.”

“Our cake was awesome. There was three tiers of different flavours, each boxed in pink chocolate. Then macarons were stacked on it. This was served up with petit fours for dessert. It was a great highlight for the end of the night.”

Johanna made all the invitations, signage, menus and favours.  She remarks, “I planned everything and chose every little item down to the last candle and where it went. But I knew the last thing I wanted was to be stuck putting all together, so I entrusted Gabbi and her team from Event Avenue to bring my vision to life. And it was perfect.”

Johanna loved, “Seeing my maternal grandmother Marjorie, who is 89, dancing on the dance floor to Michael Jackson hits was awesome. She is such a good woman, she’s had a hard life and it was great to see her enjoying herself with all her family.”

For their first dance, the newlyweds remember, “Our first dance was to ‘If I Never Knew You’ and we had lessons to learn a traditional waltz for it. There was lifts and everything and when James lifted Johanna into the air, the cheer from the guests was great.”

Johanna’s dance with her father was very special. “Johanna had asked the band to learn the song ‘Father and Daughter’ by Paul Simon. This song was a special choice as Johanna’s father had given a copy of it to her on her 18th birthday. It was a very emotional moment as the week before Johanna’s Grandmother (her Father’s mother) had passed away.”

Congratulations on your marriage Johanna and James! Thank you for sharing your day with us! Thank you to Anthea Auld Photographer for sharing today’s images!