Edwina & Charlie

It’s easy to look at a wedding and miss the beauty in the details, but that’s exactly what’s good in Edwina and Charlie’s sweet Wollombi country wedding. The couple’s four legged friend making an appearance, the special family toast, the nod to the bride’s parent’s wedding in the groom’s attire, a special song as the bride walked down the aisle. When people comment on a focus on details, I ask them to look again. Because these details in Edwina and Charlie’s day is what makes it theirs. And that results in a truly special story, beautifully captured by Alex Winner Photography.

It was on the dance floor that these two first laid eyes on one another, Edwina sharing “We met in our final year of university both completing a dance component for our sport and Exercise Science Degree. We were assigned as ballroom dancing partners and had to perform on camera for our assessment. Neither of us is a dancer but we both had a blast practising the jive and have been together ever since!” The resulting proposal? Simple, romantic and very “them!” “It was a Wednesday after work and we went for a walk to a beautiful headland overlooking Dee Why and Curl Curl beach with our dog, Billie. I had no idea he had been planning to propose as I was in workout gear and we were doing what we would normally do together after work! It was a beautiful surprise!!”

To kick off a day filled with relaxed style, the bride chose an off the shoulder lace gown designed by Karen Willis Holmes.  She shares “When researching dresses, I fell in love with The Wild Hearts Collection by KWH. I knew I wanted something fitted, relaxed, elegant yet a little bohemian! Tabitha fit my criteria perfectly!! It was an absolute dream to try on. It fit my body shape perfectly, had such a nice stretchy feel to it and suited my style so well! My experience with KWH was so easy and fun. Everyone that works there is so happy for you to try on as many dresses as you like and is really helpful and honest with what looks good and suitable to your body type and taste.”

Funnily enough, the bride’s parents own wedding played a sentimental role in the couple’s day, Edwina revealing “My grandmother kept the material for the bridesmaids’ dresses from my Mum and Dad’s wedding! Funnily enough, it was a very similar colour to the bridesmaid’s dresses I chose. I decided to turn this material into a few pocket squares to give to important males at the wedding – Charlie, my Dad, my Brother and father in law. It was even more special because my mother in law sewed them all for me and they looked great!”

A version of a Johnny Cash favourite serenaded the bride down the aisle, she tells “My father walked me down the aisle to an acoustic version of ‘I walk the line’ by Johnny Cash. We chose this because we both love listening to Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen when on roadtrips to go camping.”

A hidden spot on the property was just the ticket for Edwina and Charlie’s gorgeous country ceremony, performed by Nuptials by Nuala. “Our ceremony was outside at a gorgeous hidden location on the Mulla Villa property known as the ‘Picnic Area’,” tells Edwina. “It was below the level of the road surrounded by trees and overlooking a stream. We must credit our amazing celebrant Nuala from ‘Nuptials by Nuala’ for helping us design our own ceremony. She was totally open to having it individualised to our taste and personality. We did not want it to be too long but wanted it to be meaningful and genuine. We wrote our own vows and were surprised by them on the day – such a special moment hearing your vows for the first time during the ceremony! We also included a Welsh family poem read out by Charlie’s Aunty and Uncle. Chuck’s background is Scottish and Welsh.”

It was all about the country vibes for these two, who married at country venue Mulla Villa. ‘”It provided us with a beautiful picnic location for the ceremony, a cow shed for our reception and B&B rooms for our wedding party and close family.”

The bride worked with Hunter Valley Bouquets to create bouquets full of Australian natives. “I absolutely love Australian Natives and unstructured looking bouquets. I wanted to have really natural colours and textures complementing my gown and bridesmaid’s dresses. My bouquet had white king Proteas, Queen Anne’s lace, Thrip, Tea Tree, Stirlingia, Blushing Bride and paper daisies with gum foliage.”

Edwina and Charlie wanted their day to be all about relaxed Australian country glamour, the bride explaining “Our wedding was relaxed, genuine and rustic. Our style was inspired by our love of the country Life and outdoors! Tables were decorated with eucalyptus, gum leaves and candles and my bouquet was a gorgeous unstructured bunch of Australian wildflowers and natives.”

One of their favourite decisions? Their photographer! “Alex Winner is everything you could ever hope for in a photographer, and more! Alex was professional, friendly and enthusiastic every single step of the way. He delivered some epic shots that captured the emotion of our day so well. He is very candid and natural in his approach and made a group of people who have no clue what to do in front of a camera look incredible! So many thought he was a close friend of ours with the way he so easily fit in with the bridal party, friends and family.”

Four-legged friends? High priority for Edwina and Charlie! The photo with their favourite, their photo of the day! Edwina explaining “Our favourite photo would have to be of us two walking to the reception after having our photos taken in the field with Billie in the foreground. We were relaxed and finally married after a big morning of preparation. Neither of us had really seen our dog Billie (who was a massive stress head on the day because everything was not normal routine (she likes routine) and we whistled her to come from about 200m away. She then bolted to see us from the reception and she could FINALLY say hello! We absolutely love this photo.”

The venue’s cowshed welcomed guests for dinner. “We DIY’d our signs; welcome sign, seating chart, ceremony sign etc. We used a similar format to our invitations and framed them using second-hand frames from Vinnies!” tells Edwina. “We also DIY’d our decorations in the Reception – Charlie’s older brother and his wife were married eight months before us and had a tonne of jars, candles and greenery that we borrowed.”

Guests gathered for a sit down reception, kicking off the night with a special family tradition. “Charlie’s dad did a “Roberts family toast” that is always said at any family event ‘Here’s to us, all of us, including those not present’ everyone must then place their drink above their head and yell ‘weeeeeeeeee’.”

It was family and friends that made this day truly special for Edwina and Charlie, Edwina remarking “We had family members on Charlie’s side come out from England for our wedding for the SECOND time that year. It was also so special to have my grandmother, June. I am so grateful she was able to attend when no other grandparent could.”

It was all about retro turns when Edwina and Charlie hit the dance floor for their first dance, the bride remembering “We went with an Elvis Presley theme for our first dance. We started out slow dancing to “Can’t help falling in love” and the music then cut to “Hound dog” and we jived for a bit (the same dance we learned at university) and then invited the wedding party to boogie with us.”

A big congratulations to you both Edwina and Charlie! Thank you for sharing your beautiful stories with us. Thank you also to Alex Winner Photography for sharing today’s beautiful images!