Camilla and Phil

There is something about a wedding a home that really makes me gooey – so today I found two amazing ones to share with you! Both are the most divine country weddings – ones where you just know everyone celebrated all night long under the wide open country skies.

Camilla explains how she met Phil on the other side of the world. “I was living in Dublin, working retail and living with 4 crazy Kiwi flatmates. We all lived in a tiny flat in the heart of Dublin on Bachelors Walk. We loved where we lived, it was so central and most of us could walk to work. In November 2007 Corky (Paul) had a friend coming from London to visit, another Kiwi (I’m totally outnumbered)! As you do, when living in Dublin, we went out on a work night, with Corky’s friend Phil, he wanted to enjoy Dublin so we all went out to show him what it was made of! He was cute, funny and intelligent; I never thought in a million years that I would meet someone as special as him all the way over the other side of the world. From that night we kept in touch, Phil came back again to Dublin not to see his friend but to visit me. I went to visit him in London and in March 2008 I came home to have my UK visa processed so I could live in London. From then, we have never been separated; he is my best friend, my love and my soul mate.

In 2009 we moved to Silton, Dorset to live in an old Mill. Phil being a carpenter renovated the Mill for his clients while we lived there. The scenery and people we met in Dorset we will never forget, from our first winter were the Mill Pond iced over, to the crop circles that happened just down the road, to our engagement at Stone Henge 40mins from our home. Life with Phil was romantic, hilarious, fun filled and grounding.”

Photos today are by Sam McGrath of Kellie Blinco Photography Such lovely captures of the beauty that Camilla and Phil created on their wedding day. They tie in with the feel that Camilla and Phil wanted to achieve but also capture the moments in a fresh way.

Camilla wore a gown by Justin Alexander. She remarks, ” I found this style dress online while living in the UK, for some reason I fell in love with the style and the sophistication of the high neck-lace. It strangely was the only style I ever wanted to wear.

When we came home to Australia, moving back to Thangool in Central Queensland I thought my chances of tracking down ‘the’ dress were slim, so I searched online for stores that stocked the brand ‘Justin Alexander’. The only stockist in Queensland was in Brisbane, I relayed this back to my Mum who suggested ‘maybe you should try Gladstone Bridal, you never know.’ I rang Gladstone Bridal knowing that they were only 1 hour and 15 mins away and they said ‘how about you have a look on our website, we also stock the brand!!’. They had a very detailed and concise website, and lo and behold, Justin Alexander was there, not only was he on their website but they had ‘the’ dress!!!. I rang back Gladstone Bridal and the beautiful ladies said they’d have a sample to us in 3 days!! 3 days later I received a phone call saying my dress had arrived!!”

Camilla carried a bouquet of soft dusty pink and cream roses, surround by dusty miller foliage. Camilla’s makeup was styled by Beauty Onyx.

Camilla’s bridesmaid wore a soft pink Lipsy gown. “When living in Dublin in 2007-2008 I worked for a store who sold the brand Lipsy, i fell in love with the brand whilst working there. I only had one bridesmaid to fit as my brother was my man of honour.”

The couple chose a vintage mode of transport, though it does come with a story attached! Camilla recalls “Lets not talk about it!! Ha ha….My Dad loves to have a laugh, he loves to play practical jokes, all in good meaning. My dad borrowed a 1950s style Black Singer from some family friends, old gracious, it had personality. The week of the wedding Dad drove the vehicle from home (where the reception would be) to the farm (where the ceremony would be) and put it in the shed so that no one would get a sneak peak of the vehicle, and so we knew we would make it up to the ceremony on the day.

The day came; we all elegantly drove up to the farm where the Singer was waiting for dad and I to depart. We drove following my family – Tim (man of honour), Marie (sister In-law) my mum, Dom my bridesmaid, my two nieces and my Nan, who mind you looked sensational for an 85 year old!!

With the roof on Dad and I drove through the cattle gate, drove over the erosion mounds, joked about how funny it would be if the car broke down, passed through the gates to the olive grove and came to the row in which we were to drive down. We waited at the end of the row about 50 metres away, for my bridal party to enter. The plan was as they finished entering we would drive in the Singer closer, so my shoes wouldn’t sink into the ground. As my brother and mum started to enter, the car stopped!!! I looked at dad ‘You’re joking??’…. I laughed!!??? ‘Dad are you being serious???’’, asking again ‘are you really being serious??’’ He was serious the car had broken down, Dad quickly made a mad dash to where my family had left their car 50m away and thankfully the keys were still in it!! A guest later said to me ‘I thought you paused for effect!!’ So in the end we sadly missed out on our pictures with the car, but it makes for a great story!”

For Phil’s outfit “Phil chose the colours which he would like to wear, with a little help from me, we put together a collage of pictures and styles he liked. Phil loved a vertical stripe tie, which we couldn’t get from anywhere in Australia. We found an amazing tie website in the US (sorry for not shopping locally), R&C Tie Exchange, and their range was amazing at the time; the ties were 100% silk and only cost $25 for a set which included tie, hanky and matching cuffs. The boys pants and shirt came from a Gladstone store Cavaliers Mens Wear, Michelle and her team gave us the most outstanding service. We had a few groomsmen come from UK, NZ and Sydney so we had no way of performing a pre fitting. Michelle ordered us sizes either side of the Groomsmen’s actual sizes to ensure we had the perfect fits on the day, any we didn’t use we returned to her after the wedding.”

The couple were married on the farm owned by Camilla’s parents. Camilla explains, “I was born in Biloela, and when I was 6 we moved out of town 11 kms out to Thangool. My mum and dad’s garden had always been a special place for me, my mum is an amazing gardener. We always dreamed of having our wedding overseas but realistically home was the best option. My Nan who is also an amazing gardener put together 8 peace lilies into 8 beautiful large blue Moroccan/Greek blue pots. We used these as a walk way into the garden reception area. After all the rain and floods Thangool was looking as healthy as it has ever been. Sadly my Mum and Dad’s business was affected by the floods so seeing things look as fabulous as it did on the day put a smile back on many faces.

Phil and I had seen many amazing places in the world, so our olives were a perfect fit for our ceremony. Biella, the Olive farm came about many years ago. I remember as a teenager having to plant them with mum and dad, then having to hand water from a bucket, hundreds of the olives over the weekends.

When I took Phil up there for the first time to discuss if that’s where we would have our ceremony we both new straight away it was a perfect fit. It has an amazing European feel, lush green leaves and an unkempt tidy feel which we love!!”


The processional was moving. “A family friend on the guitar at the ceremony when guests arrived, as I walked down the aisle my uncle played Amazing Grace on the bagpipes – still gives me goosebumps.”

Camilla and Phil used some special trees from the original site during their ceremony. “The area in which we had the ceremony had two trees which didn’t survive, mum and dad allowed us to pull down the trees and Phil being his creative self decided to keep one dead trunk and turn it into our signing table. He purchased a beautiful round slab of tree trunk and put it on top of the tree forks.”

Camilla describes her wedding to Phil as “Completely us, not complicated, not over done, just us.”

Camilla loved “The beautiful sign my neighbours/oldest friends family put in their drive on route to the ceremony!”

The wedding was filled with personal touches, including something Camilla lovingly restored. Camilla explains “I used my Grandad’s table. Sadly both Grandparents passed away 5 months apart. I restored the table and put all of our family wedding photos on their including our parents, grandparents and siblings.”

The couple held their reception in a marquee hired from Ace Party Hire Rockhampton. Camila explains “All of our details were DIY, from place settings to the bamboo name holders, to the flags Phil put all his time into – (idea from Glastonbury festival), table menu’s, our engagement pictures which Phil framed himself on bamboo stands which as people walked in saw a sequence of photos. We traveled through Morocco on our way home in 2010 so our idea of a Moroccan style kid’s area came into it, lots of tea lights and paper lanterns. Instead of hiring bar staff we had volunteers from Thangool school and made a donation to the school.”

Camilla loved “Having it at home, having all the help from our family and friends, my dad walking me down the aisle – it was such a happy moment, having our friends from UK, Norway and NZ be there, knowing that I have found my soul mate.” The couple danced together for their first dance to “Traveling Wilburys – Handle with Care”.

The evening was topped off with a decadent dessert – otherwise known as a wedding cake! Camilla recalls “My mum’s best friend who we grew up with is the most amazing cook, she put together a magnificent profiterole stack (Phil’s Favourite- I made him a mini version for his first birthday we were together). We ordered 150 profiteroles from the cheesecake shop and a massive chocolate cake for them to be stacked onto- Thanks SUZIE!!”

Congratulations Camilla and Phil! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us on Polka Dot Bride! Thank you also to Kellie Blinco Photography for sharing today’s images!