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Sarah & Luke

I love the sunshine vibe of Sarah and Luke’s relaxed Summer wedding. But I think the part I love most, is the sweet picnic they took with their bridal party overlooking the wide open fields, with champagne and cheese as they enjoyed the moments of their wedding day together. They chose (the groom’s brother!) Daniel Milligan Photography to capture their wedding day.

Sarah tells the story of how she and Luke came to be. “We met at 18, through friends of friends. We went to school with each other, but never actually spoke, it wasn’t until after school that we actually accidentally met at a big gathering of friends. We cracked jokes to each other, and that was how it all started.”

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We love a bit of creativity here at Polka Dot Bride and can you believe Sarah made her own wedding dress? She explains, “I decided I wanted to make my wedding dress. I looked, but couldn’t find anything I particularly liked in any shops. I just did a lot of standing around in my knickers, taking it off and putting it on again, pinning, pinning and pinning – as I didn’t use a pattern. It was so exciting to wear something I made on the biggest day of my life – even if some of the buttons were being re-sewn on when the cars arrived… ”

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Sarah and Luke married at The Briars Homestead. Sarah explains, “It was close to where both our families live and we really wanted to have as much of our wedding outside as we could. Our wonderful family and friends set up an arch, chairs and a Luke’s mum did an amazing job making sweets for afternoon nibbles on the day.”

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Sarah walked down the aisle to ‘You Are My Vision’ by Rend Collective.

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“After the ceremony, the bridal party went for a picnic at RJ Hamer Arboretum. The sun setting as we sat and had a picnic and got our photos taken. It was so nice to sit still and enjoy some quiet company with each other and special friends before heading off to party.”

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Of their photographer the newlyweds explain, “Our photographer was Luke’s brother, Daniel Milligan Photography. It was the absolute best having someone we adore capture our wedding, it made our day so much more special. He’s such a fun and loving guy, and we were so blessed to have him capture our special day.”

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Sarah and Luke chose Ferny Creek Hall for their reception, remarking, “It’s a lovely big old heritage hall and we loved that we also got a large outside section too. We DIY’d as much as we could, and Sarah would have done more if she wasn’t studying law and working more than full time hours in the lead up to the wedding.”

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Being coffee lovers, the couple hired a coffee cart to greet their guests, remarking “We had a coffee cart from Slater Street Bench. Having great specialty coffee was a must for two coffee loving Melburnians.”

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“We ordered flowers from a wholesaler and Sarah’s Aunt and mother put together table decorations, bouquets and the arch for the ceremony just how we wanted. We were also able to source a lot of things we needed pretty cheap, off places like Bunnings, Gumtree and eBay, like fairy lights, white tablecloths, a garden arch which we spray painted gold, paper fans for the ceremony, a wooden pallet we made into a wishing well.

We also had so much help from friends and family in setting up and setting down that we just couldn’t have done, and are so thankful for. We had to set up the hall the day before, and had a team of family and friends give their time.”

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The first dance was a retro hit, Sarah tells, “We danced to ‘Dream Lover’ by Bobby Darin. We both love 50’s and 60’s pop/doo-wop music and we had sneakily danced to this song together on more than a few occasions in the kitchen when no one was watching.”

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With a love of old and new music, Blackwater Riff was the perfect fit for the dance floor. The bride remarks, “The band we chose played a mix of old and new classic songs that everyone knew, they set the tone of the night really well.”

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“We wanted our wedding to be a celebration rather than a rigid formal event, so we wanted everyone to have as much fun as we were having. Everyone danced long after we left!”

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This divine wedding was beautifully captured by Thomas Terlaak!

Congratulations Sarah and Luke! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us! Thank you also to Daniel Milligan Photography for sharing today’s wedding with us!