Cecily and Matthew
For the most important day in their relationship, Cecily and Matthew chose a venue they had visited many times before. A place where the groom in particular, had spent much of the past twenty years, now became part of his history with his beloved in a bright and fun Sydney wedding. The joy captured gloriously by Petal Photography.
Cecily recounts the tale of how they came to fall in love. “Fate brought us together as unsuspecting flatmates at university digs, although we were just friends. Of course his first advances were met with the actual words “in your dreams”…. little did we know, in predictable fairytale style, that would be the start of our serendipity!”
Kuring-Gai Motor Yacht Club was chosen as the backdrop for the wedding day. The newlyweds remember, “Nestled among the towering gums and sandstone foreshore of Kuring-Gai National Park, sits a humble little yacht club that has always been a very special place for the groom. Moving to Sydney from South Africa as a young boy he quickly developed a deep bond with the incredible beauty, isolation and endless opportunities for adventure of this special place that has been the launching pad for innumerable fishing, kayaking, boating and bushwalking expeditions over the last 20 years. It was very special for us to have a venue that was both breathtakingly beautiful and intimately connected to our story.”
Cecily walked down the aisle to Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years”.
Cecily and Matthew note, “Our wedding was in every way a true celebration of us as a couple and a new family. We were so thrilled to be able to share the day with our dearest family and friends, many of whom had travelled internationally to attend.”
Of their photographer, Cecily tells, “After meeting Rose for our reconnaissance shoot we were captivated by her creativity, enthusiasm and dazzling personality but were upset to discover she was also getting married on our weekend and would not be able to shoot us. We could never have imagined that she was so excited to capture us that she would postpone her own wedding day. Rose’s photography, whilst brilliant, is only part of the amazing package that she provides – she so lovingly contributed support and much needed organisation, and it was simply so special to have our moments captured by her. What luck that we happened to jot down her number as it flashed past us in traffic!”
The bride Cecily, has her own styling business Handmade by Violet Brown – which came in handy for the wedding! Making most of the wedding elements herself, she tells, “All of the wedding was created around an intimate, homely, sustainable ethos. It began with recycled paper dyed with turmeric for our wedding stationery, decorated jars, hanging paper pompoms, festive fabric bunting, table cloths and runners, and all the floral decoration, bouquets and buttonholes made after a thrilling 4am market trip in the days prior to the wedding.”
Canapes and elderflower cocktails kept guests basking in the warm sunlight before they headed inside for the reception.
Paper pom poms were made from vintage dress patterns.
The couple’s wedding cake (three tiers named “Faith” “Hope” and “Charity)” was made by the groom’s aunty. Family photographs paid homage to much loved family members.
Guest enjoyed a three course wedding feast catered by Art Kitchen. The newlyweds remark, “The culinary direction, expertise and dependability of Art Kitchen director Fiona Pindar was amazing. She really understood our values and importantly produced an extremely tasty and novel three course family-sharing style feast – all our guests commenting it was the best wedding food they had experienced!”
Of their first dance, the newlyweds remember, “Our dance was a little bit of classic and a little bit of soul. We were fortunate to have two guests that were also very accomplished dancers and choreographers. Thanks to two lessons with them and a lot of laughs along the way we had a waltz that commenced to Elvis’ “can’t help falling in love” which broke into Bob Sinclair’s “love generation” and a little bit of robot, sprinkler improv.”
After a farewell with their guests, the newlyweds left for their life together on a boat, remembering, “The old naval bell chimed, signalling our departure and we left the merry glow of Cottage Point, dancing on the top deck of the best man’s fly bridge cruiser- lit up by a stunning moon.”
Congratulations on your marriage Cecily and Matthew! Thank you for sharing your story with us! Thank you also to Petal Photography for sharing today’s wedding with us!
The bridal hairstyle is so beautiful, I like it.
I am in love with her dress! So beautiful and simple!