Leah and Gerard

I am in love with today’s wedding- it captures everything I love about Australian weddings! The beautiful landscape, the laid back friendly nature, the faces of a ‘cracking up’ bride and groom and the flowers- oh there are beautiful Australian natives!

Leah and Gerard kept their wedding eco-friendly and intimate to keep in line with how they think about the world.  Leah says” We loved being true to our values of protecting the environment where possible, this element was extremely important to us. We wanted to show our guests that you can have a wonderful wedding while being sensitive to the environment.

One of the greatest decisions we made was to have a small, intimate wedding. By having only 35 guests it meant we could easily spend quality time with all our guests and truly relax and enjoy every moment of the day…which we did!”

Leah and Gerard met “At The Troubadour, Fortitude Valley. We met on one of the third anniversary’s of September 11 (2004)”

Photos today are by Todd Hunter McGaw- who I can really only describe as rad! Each photos has such a radtastic relaxed feel to it- the feeling of the wedding shines beautifully through their captures.

Leah wore a strapless gown from the Wendy Makin Bella Donna collection. Her bouquet and hairpiece of Australian natives was created by Mondo Floral Designs.

Leah and Gerard were married at Halfmoon Hideaway. Leah says “Halfmoon Hideaway is set on an organic beef farm with stunning views of the Glasshouse Mountains. We were married under an amazing old Moreton Bay fig tree located on the property set beside a lake.”

Leah walked down the “aisle” with her father to “Be Mine” by David Gray.

The couple were married by Val Downes. The groom’s (Gerard) younger brother (Lachlan) read a passage from the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Gerard gave this book to Leah a few weeks after they first met- a sentimental touch!

Having those closest to them present is one of Leah’s favourite memories. “The most special thing of all was having a very select group of people that truly mean a lot to us together in one place and to see the enjoyment on their faces throughout the day – we have some amazing memories from that day…there was a lot of love in the room!!”

Leah and Gerard loved the location of their wedding. Leah says ” It was beautiful location that speaks for itself. Not only was the location magic but Gillian from Halfmoon Hideaway could not have been more helpful and flexible to ensure the day was exactly how we had hoped. We did nothing to the setting other than place chairs at the reception and a few hay bales around the place, other than that nature did the work! We were so fortunate to have a crystal clear day where you could see as far south as Brisbane.”

A small cottage on the Halfmoon Hideaway grounds was the perfect place for Leah and Gerard’s reception. Leah says “There is a small self-contained cottage on the farm which is where we held the reception – this space was perfect for our small wedding size of 35 guests.” In lieu of wedding presents, the couple asked guests to carbon offset their travel to the wedding.

Leah and Gerard worked hard to ensure the food and wine at their wedding fit with their own personal culture. Leah recalls “We personally researched (ie tasted!) all the wine and beer ourselves to ensure it was the best organic/ bio-dynamic wine and beer on offer. In fact, many of our guests claimed they did not have sore heads the next day, proclaiming ‘it’s the organic!’” Little Cakes made a chocolate wedding cake covered in fresh raspberries.

Leah explains how they carried the eco-friendly nature through the rest of their wedding “The majority of the food at the wedding was sourced from local farmers through an organisation called Food Connect. We get our weekly fruit and veg box from them too and their produce is always super fresh and very tasty!

All the wine and one of the beers were either organic or biodynamic. So apart from them being great tasting, that means the farmers use natural farming techniques to improve soil fertility and to keep their crops healthy instead of introducing synthetic herbicides, pesticides and fertilisers into the environment.

Our caterers (Swish Catering) used recyclable bamboo plates for the cocktail reception and sourced organic meat and local seafood where possible (in addition to using organic fruit and vegetables). They also sourced the ice cream for the wedding cake from the local Maleny Colin James ice creamery.”

For their first dance, Leah & Gerard danced to “Sail Away” by David Gray on the balcony of the cottage.

A big thank you to Leah and Gerard for sharing their wedding day with us on Polka Dot Bride! Congratulations! Thank you also to Todd Hunter McGaw (and Alyda!) for sharing today’s photographs!

Photos by Todd Hunter McGaw

Want More? Check Out These Posts:

1. Leah and Ben
2. Leah and Rana’s Intimate At Home Wedding
3. Stephanie and Joseph – The Celebration

Thu and Mark

A beautifully sweet Perth wedding for you today with lots of heartfelt touches and golden glowy light- the perfect mix!

Thu and Mark have known each other almost all their lives! I love their story as told by Thu. “Its a bit of a soppy story – Mark and I went to the same school and hence have known each other since year 5. Naturally in class we were always seated in alphabetical order so that the teachers could learn students name easily and being a S (Mark) and T (me) he always sat behind me in class. Mark probably spent too much time staring at my hair than the blackboard. We did become the best of friends (and yes dated for a bit during high school too!) but after graduating we went to discover what life outside the 4 walls (or school fence boundary line in our case) had to offer and inspire. We met up again and being inseparable from then on and as they say the rest is history.

We still talk about it to this day, the day when I got asked if I wanted to go and work in the London office and the first person that I called was Mark. He was having a bad day at work and immediately his answer was yes lets do it! We had only been living in our house for 4 months, not even enough time to have created a dent in our new sofa but we sold everything and started the adventure – from driving around Ireland, meeting Lenin (embalmed) in Moscow, Christmas markets through Germany, tulips in Amsterdam, hiking through Cinque Terra in Italy, weekend trips to Paris, visiting the home of IKEA in Sweden and everywhere else in between…oh and also working of course! We lived in tiny apartment in West Kensington and although life was simple we had each other to laugh with. We learnt a lot about each other these two years.

We were living in London when Mark proposed. It was Valentines day and both being not big celebrators of the day it was just another day for me so certainly it was a huge surprise. It was a freezing Saturday night and Mark proposed to me in Trafalgar Square – the heart of London which has seen many historical moments staged here so in some way we were creating our own bit of history to add to it!

My response to Mark was: If I say yes, can we go home and will you make me a cup of tea!”

Photos today’s are by White Tulip Photography who again presented me with a beautiful wedding to showcase. Mandy works hard at capturing the real moments between couples and the real people in each wedding with a lot of thought, a lot of passion and her own talent.

I love a bride with coloured shoes and Thu searched long and hard for hers! She says “I had talked about having red shoes for as long as I have been engaged. Culturally red is a lucky colour. I searched high and low for shoes for months and months, on the Internet and going to every store waiting patiently for each change of season to find the shoes. I found the shoes when I least expected and where I least expected. I certainly believe in good things come to those who wait. I added my own personal touch by sticking on the buckles. They were more photographed on the day than my dress by the guests.”

Thu and Mark married at The Quarry Ampitheatre .”We love the outdoors so naturally it had to be an outdoor venue, something different, with a relaxed atmosphere and the Quarry Amphitheatre just ticked those boxes for us when we saw  photos of a wedding we were invited to while living in London that was held there. It love at first sight or at least over the Internet.”

Thu and Mark kept their wedding as eco friendly as possible. “Our wedding was very much planned about being environmentally conscious and hence a lot of DIY came into play an important role. We used recycled paper and envelopes for our invitations, our save the dates were made from seeded paper encouraging guests to plant and grow a eucalyptus tree. We had collected and washed what felt like a million glass jars which we subtly decorated with twine with tea light candles inside and placed these. Glass jars lined the isle down the steps with Australian native banksia and wattle flowers which filled some of the jars too. Our table decorations were more glass jars with twine around them and tea light candles which were surrounded by gum tree wreaths. We gave away native Australian tubestock to guests as wedding favours. Where ever possible our wedding was super green in more ways just a colour!”

Thu didn’t carry a traditional floral bouquet, instead she made one herself! “I made my own wedding bouquet as wanted to keep it on my bedside table after the wedding as a reminder of the day. What’s more beautiful is that in the morning as the sun shines through it reflects off the beads making the room sparkle which is always nice to wake up to added to that waking up next to hubby.”

Just before I walked down the aisle, brother Glen turned to him and pointed out some words that were inscribed on the limestone rock up high. They read “The point of no return” and Mark’s response was “Yes please, bring it on!”

Friends and family traveled a great distance to show their support for Thu and Mark. “We had five of our guests make the big trip from London including Mark’s older brother Glen (Best man), my older sister, my bridesmaid Kasia who went the long way around and did the US, Canada, New Zealand, Brisbane then Perth and Mark’s other brother (Groomsman) Ryan came from Beijing, China. Guests also came from Queensland, and family came up from Denmark…not where Queen Mary lives but from down south in Perth, I thought I would give them a mention as I know it is a very long drive!”

The cake, like the rest of the wedding, was a family affair! Thu says “Mark’s mum made our wedding cake. A labour of love in religiously pouring brandy on it over many months and decorated with paper bark and an assortment of native nuts and flower. Mark’s dad made our cake stand from some old wood tree trunks from a black boy and also the cake serving trays.”

I love when a first dance song choice holds a special meaning to the couple. Thu says “Our first dance was to a song that was actually from a movie that we watched on our first date…the first time round in high school! We danced to Frank Sinatra – The Way You Look Tonight and practised in the dining room the week before.”

Congratulations Thu and Mark! Thank you for sharing your wedding day on Polka Dot Bride! Thank you also to White Tulip Photography for today’s images!

Photos by White Tulip Photography

Want More? Check Out These Posts:

1. Lisa and Mark – The Celebration
2. Lisa and Mark
3. Nat and Mark’s Vintage Brisbane Wedding

Along with a buffet of sweet treats, the wedding cake (a homemade four layered white chocolate cake with pistachio butter-cream filling) featured a nod to Stephanie and Joseph’s love of animals “Being animal lovers, we decided to have Joseph’s dog, Snoopy, as our ring bearer.  Her presence in the ceremony was very important to us.  We carried on the dog theme with the dog groom and dog bride as our cake toppers.  They were custom made to replicate Snoopy by an etsy seller.  My mum also made doggy bone-shaped shortbreads for the favours!” Stephanie handmade the tree branch chandelier from branches lying around the farm and had it strung with fairy lights. The couple reused an old cupboard and filled it with handmade tissue paper pom poms, photos of themselves and special memories while restored window frames held the guests seating arrangements.

Being eco-friendly didn’t stop with the ceremony, in fact Stephanie and Joseph’s mission to make their wedding as eco friendly as possible only got better! “Food was very important, given my addiction to cooking and eating.  We also believe in living sustainable lives and tried to incorporate sustainability into as many aspects of our wedding as possible.  So we had organic and 50% vegetarian food without any red meat (red meat consumes much more water and energy to produce than white meat).  We often eat at Mondo Organics and given their organic food philosophy, they were an obvious choice to be our caterer.

The sustainability theme also extended to using second hand items as much as possible for decorating the venue (90% of props were sourced from markets, op shops, people’s backyards, dump shops etc), using recyclable drink cups and napkins etc.  We chose to have favours that will last a lifetime (potted plants).  However we also supplied home-made cookies and tea (I love my tea!) for interstate and overseas guests who couldn’t take home the plants.”

The couple finished their wedding with a campfire- including marshmallow roasting!

A big thank you to Stephanie and Joseph for allowing us to share their wedding day on Polka Dot Bride! Congratulations on your marriage! Thank you also to Feather & Stone Photography for sharing today’s gorgeous photographs with us!

Photos by Feather & Stone Photography

Want More? Check Out These Posts:

1. Stephanie and Joseph
2. Stephanie and Anthony’s Traditional Melbourne Wedding
3. Cary and James – The Celebration

Stephanie & Joseph

A very special wedding for you today- remember Stephanie and Joseph’s engagement shoot?. They headed back to the farm to tie the knot! In a vegan, eco friendly barn wedding, Stephanie and Joseph thought through every detail and every facet matched the life they lead together. I love this wedding- not only does it take place in a barn (something we get so many requests for!), Stephanie wore a gorgeous short wedding gown (Brisbane brides you sure know how to style it up!), there are bikes, bunting and a whole lot of love! (As a side note- this wedding was planned in just four months!)

Stephanie and Joseph met four years ago.”February 2004. It was the first day of orientation and the first introduction class to our degree. I walked into the lecture room determined to sit next to someone and to make friends straight away. I quickly scanned the big lecture room and picked the guy sitting by himself that looks the most decent out of a bad bunch (hey, I did an engineering degree, so I didn’t have much choice there, and there wasn’t any girl around). So I plonked myself right next to him and cheerfully said “Hi!!!”  It wasn’t love at first sight.  He thought I was too loud and annoying; and I thought he was daggy.  Somehow after a couple of years of being around me involuntarily, Joseph started to adjust his hearing and made a room in his heart for me.  I still thought he was daggy.  So began the hardest year of his life: manipulating me one day at a time to win me over (in his own words).  We became very good friends but after a while I started to realise that he wasn’t genuinely trying to help me with my assignments.  When confronted with this, his reply was “I know that you’re going to be my wife one day”.  I told him to just be friends, but also asked him is it’s possible for us to still be very good friends when we’re old and have grandkids of our own.  To this he replied “Hmmm not really… when you’re that old you do things with your own family and can’t have daily chit chats with your male friend”.  I was so devastated, because I wanted to be friends with him until we’re old, so finally I decided to give him a chance because I enjoyed his company so much anyway, what do his looks matter compared to his personality?  (Joseph later told me that he responded that way to manipulate me to date him).  So I began dating my best friend, and after three months I realised that he had it right the whole time:  I too, was convinced, that I would be his wife one day.”

Feather & Stone are today’s photographers, and you will fall head over heels for these wedding photos just like I did! this awesome foursome are fresh, oh so happy and doing some brilliant, innovative things in photography! Another bunch of Aussies who are always around to make me laugh or provide an inspiring idea! As Stephanie says, “Finding the right photographer that suited our aesthetic and that we got along with was a nightmare.  We had a shortlist of a few photographers that we wanted to meet but the second we met Feather + Stone we knew they were the one(s) and stopped looking.”

Stephanie says “When Joseph and I decided to stop putting off our wedding and start getting our act together, we knew that we didn’t want to go down the cookie cutter path.  We had a clear vision of what the wedding would be like and neither of us were willing to compromise with whatever was available in the wedding market.

Our top 3 priorities to focus were the outfits, photography and food.”

“I first saw my dress four years ago (late 2006), and still loved it when my wedding finally came around!  It was a Marc Jacobs dress from his spring/ summer 2007 collection.  I managed to find a very similar fabric to the original dress so I decided to get it made with the addition of mint green chiffon placed randomly in the skirt.

The dress was beautifully made by Alter Ego. Joseph had his suit made from scratch at The Cloakroom, complete with his name being sewn to the inner lining of the suit and embroidery of his initials on the cuff!  My headband was handmade from an Etsy seller and shoes by Stella McCartney because they were non-leather and suitable for vegetarians.

We bought the flowers from the Rocklea wholesale fresh flower market and my super talented sister in law arranged them all into centre pieces, various decoration in old watering cans, milk cans, creaming cans, aisle seat decoration, even the boutonnières!”

Homemade sweet treats were made by family members and added to a refreshment table at the ceremony. Stephanie designed and printed the paper cards for each treat and the boxes were sourced at second hand stores.

The wedding colours were green and purple. Stephanie explains “The primary colour theme for the wedding was a no-brainer; everybody knows my favourite colour is green. I incorporated gingham into the equation to pay respect to my school in Jakarta (where I grew up), who are known for their green gingham uniform!  I chose purple as the secondary colour because it is the colour that suits Joseph’s complexion the most and I wanted him to wear an outfit that really suited him.”

A refreshment table was set with fruit punch, iced water and iced tea along with strawberry coconut slice (a nod to Stephanie’s Indonesian heritage) and traditional fruit cake (a nod to Joseph’s heritage). Photos of Stephanie and Joseph were pinned to a board as decoration.

Choosing to marry on the farm wasn’t an easy decision. “The biggest challenge though, was finding the right venue.  This turned out to be the biggest nightmare.  We spent several weeks, months, looking for the venue and nothing felt right to us.  All the commercial venues just felt, well…..commercial, and couldn’t be modified to do what we wanted.  Knowing our desperation, Joseph’s family friend, the Costantini family, offered their farm property as our venue.

At first I hesitated, but Joseph saw the potential and once he explained what we could do to it, I suddenly got very excited.  We planned to have the ceremony outdoors and the reception in one of the un-used chicken sheds.  Nobody really understood our vision and couldn’t picture what we wanted to do.  Fortunately they went along with our idea to help us anyway.  To say the least, everyone was blown away upon seeing the final result of the farm transformation!”

Stephanie says “We went budget for everything else outside of the top 3 priorities, and yes, that meant doing every single thing ourselves.  So the tasks were naturally split into two categories: farm tasks (manly) and other tasks (desk based and often girly).” The “manly” tasks included building a new entrance way to the shed, planting trees, spreading topsoil, put up lights, building paths, mowing the entire farm and setting up the furniture. The “girly” tasks included choosing music for the event (from the artists Stephanie & Joseph has seen in concert together), designing and creating all the stationery, building a wedding registry website, scouring op shops for props, made the bunting and ring pillow,  making a tree branch chandelier and even sourcing their favourite perfumes to wear on the day.

For their getaway, what else would Stephanie and Joseph use but an eco friendly option? They rode their bikes (both restored by the couple and their friends- Joseph rode a lilac bike while Stephanie rode mint green)!

So much more to share from today’s wedding! Check back this afternoon for more!

Photos by Feather & Stone Photography

Want More? Check Out These Posts:

1. Stephanie and Joseph – The Celebration
2. Stephanie and Anthony’s Traditional Melbourne Wedding
3. Belinda and Joseph’s Colourful Grafton Wedding

Cary and James served local food and drink to keep their wedding eco-friendly. Cary says “James and I made all of the wine that was served during our reception dinner. All of the wine available at the bar was produced at Sharpe Hill Vineyard, located just a few miles from the farm.”

The couple pinned photos of themselves growing up and through their relationship to lines of rope strung along the veranda. The wedding cake was decorated with farm fresh flowers and knitted cake toppers from Etsy seller Laika Handknits. Tables were decorated with fresh flowers grouped in vintage vases and jars.

Cary and James danced to “Everything” by Ben Harper. A guest book was hand carved and sat beside a platter on which guests signed their names.

Thank you Cary and James for sharing your wedding day with us today! Congratulations! Thank you also to Olivia Gird Photography for sending over today’s wedding!

Photos by Olivia Gird Photography.

Want More? Check Out These Posts:

1. Cary and James
2. Anna and James – The Reception
3. Anna and James – The Ceremony