Tiffany & Matthew

if you could pick any day for your garden wedding, I am pretty sure cyclonic weather in the middle of a drought would not be it, however for Tiffany and Matthew? It somehow worked out perfectly. Their beautiful garden day, a mass of Spring blooms. and stunning photos by Salt Media only sparkling and shining more with the grey misty skies. The rain holding off just long enough for a garden ceremony, before an umbrella was popped for an afternoon tea of hot dogs, hot coffee and a cookie wedding cake baked by the bride herself. If it sounds utterly charming, it is, and it’s just the kind of people these two are. This is a story we can’t wait to share.

Matthew popped the question by the sea, Tiffany reminiscing shares the story. “Matthew is an officer with the Royal Australian Navy, he had been posted away in Darwin for the better part of six months. He was able to come home for a weekend, and we went on one of our favourite walks around long reef to watch the sunset. Off the beach there are some rocks that jut out into the ocean, standing there hand in hand with only the sound of waves around us he asked me to be his forever. I said yes.”

The day kicked off with blue stationery designed by Miss Prue.

The bride added fresh flowers to her hair, which she styled herself. ” I love vintage hairstyles and took a class a month or so before the wedding, I just kept practising until I was confident I could pull it off on the day.”

The bride found her beautiful lace gown at Oleg Cassini Australia. She tells “My wedding dress was perfect, I have always wanted lace details and tiny little buttons down the back, The girls at Oleg Cassini were amazing. They listened to me talk about my dream dress and helped me find the one. I ended up getting a gorgeous champagne/blush coloured dress with the prettiest lace detailing across the back.”

The bride walked down the aisle with her mother to her favourite song “Bloom” by The Paper Kites. “Having my mum walk me down the aisle was so so special, she raised me on her own after taking me in at three months old. She is the most special lady and I feel too proud to have her as my mum.”

The happy couple chose Brendan Anning to make it official, sharing “The ceremony for us was the most important part of our day. We wanted an intimate ceremony surrounded by our most cherished friends and family. We wanted the ceremony to have a romantic feel, to be a little dreamy and to be uniquely us and a bit different to the norm. We prepared our own vows to one another and had our guests surrounding us in the orchard, just a few seats for family. I am a flower lover so the orchard was an absolutely perfect location to marry the love of my life. Just the week before the wedding there were no flowers in bloom, and then as if by magic a few days before they all appeared the timing was perfection.”

The couple married under a stunning fresh flora arch styled by Unveiling Poppy. Tiffany gushing “Amy from Unveiling Poppy was an absolute stand out to me. She was so thoughtful and really listened to me to help bring my dreams to reality. I can’t put into words how wonderful her work was for our wedding. When she arrived at the cottage to bring my bouquet I burst into happy tears – I could believe how amazing it was. And when I was walking down the hill to the orchard I was overwhelmed with how beautiful the arbour was. Little did I know then just how long it had taken her to create such a beautiful piece – it had poured with rain in the hours leading up to the ceremony.”

The couple chose the beautiful garden setting of Jasmin Organics for their big day, planning it all from Sydney. Tiffany explains “Finding the perfect venue wasn’t easy for us, we live in Sydney as we were posted here for Matt’s work with the Navy, but all of our family and friends are up in Queensland. So after many trips back and forth and a few tears I found Jasmin Organics on Mt Tamborine I fell in love, it was exactly what I was looking for, rows of flowing lavender, gorgeous rose gardens, giant trees and a plum tree orchard surrounded by a pretty hedge. The grounds were big enough for us to have our ceremony and afternoon celebratory reception at the one location.”

The couple worked with floral designer Unveiling Poppy to create beautiful arrangements for the day. “My flowers were really special,” notes Tiffany. “I wanted a soft dreamy bouquet with touches of light french blue this was my theme colour for the wedding, in my bouquet I had gorgeous David Austin roses, ranunculus, delphinium, tiny spray roses – the jasmine vines were extra special because as a child we had jasmine growing up the front stairs of our home the smell is so comforting to me. I cried happy tears when my Florist Amy brought my bouquet in that morning.”

“The day before the wedding I stood in the Plum Tree orchard surrounded by millions of beautiful blossoms listening to the buzzing bees and knew this was the perfect place to say my vows” Tiffany shares.

Instead of a traditional sit-down reception, guests enjoyed an afternoon tea in the garden – with a grazing table, hot dogs from food truck Wiener Haus and drinks from Gathering Events despite the rain! “We wanted a more casual celebration with our guests after our ceremony so we hired the Weiner Haus Food truck who specialises in gourmet hot-dogs, which were sensational. We also had a giant grazing board prepared by our dear friends Sofia and Hector. For beverages, we had a little bar and a cool coffee cart from Gathering Events, our guests enjoyed a nice hot barista made coffee on our rainy wedding day.”

A table of decadent desserts? Thanks to the bride who made a cookie wedding cake herself! She explains “I love to bake and wanted to do something special for the wedding so I baked a cookie wedding cake, I baked the giant cookies and then on the morning of the wedding I iced them and layered them into a cake, We also had a doughnut tower laced with flowers.”

The rain bucketed down, just adding to the charm of the day. The bride remembering “I know they say its good luck for it to rain on your wedding day, well we have that in spades now. It didn’t just rain the heavens opened up on us multiple times, but you know what – it just made the day more memorable and special. I’m glad we had the forethought to get some clear umbrellas for our guests and Frank from Tents 4 Events set up some marquees for us the morning of the wedding as well. One of my favourite moments was standing in the torrential rain in the middle of the reception, all my guests under the marquees or in groups under brollies and I just stood there taking it all in, that was a special moment for me I just married my best friend muddy shoes and damp hair I was the happiest girl in the world.”

The newlyweds drank from vintage champagne goblets, gifted to them by the bride’s mother and used for her own wedding day fifty years ago.

Of their photographer, the bride remarks “Our Photographer was exceptional, even with the weather she captured the most incredible moments of our wedding. Sophie and Michelle from Salt were absolutely amazing. We had such fun getting ready for the wedding we even jumped on the bed. My husband doesn’t love getting his photo taken but Sophie really went above and beyond to make sure he was comfortable during our portrait session. I can’t express just how grateful I am to have had the team form Salt photograph our wedding.”

Tells the bride “The plum tree orchard was especially precious to me. As a child my fondest memories were playing with my cousins in their yard under a big plum tree and a mulberry tree.”

And we end the tale, with the most romantic photos, narrated by the bride herself. “My favourite photo of the day is one of my husband and I surrounded by blossoms – he is dipping me for a kiss.
Before the wedding as most couples do we practised the kiss, I jokingly said he should dip me on the day we laughed it off but then on the day in the perfect location he did dip me and my wonderful photographer captured it so beautifully.”

A big congratulations to you both Tiffany & Matthew! Thank you for sharing the stories of your day with us. Thank you also to Salt Media for sharing today’s celebration.