Sharna & Matt

The bride’s hometown of Mudgee provided the perfect place for a relaxed country wedding! With a vintage kombi van for transport, canapes by the rose garden and space for the kids to run around the gorgeous surrounds, the celebrations were enjoyed by all! The day was beautifully captured by Erin Latimore.

First meeting at the age of 16, the now couple then didn’t see each other for a further 13 years. The bride remembers, ”When our paths crossed again as fate had it, we were inseparable and it did not take us long to realise we had something very special.” Matt proposed while they were in Bali on holiday, turning a series of disasters into happily ever after. Sharna shares, ”We were suppose to have a massage and then dinner but the hotel confused the booking and we ended up with no massage and seated not where Matt had asked. Matt has planned the meal only to have them mess that up as well and give us all seafood that I unfortunately don’t eat. Matt pushed on though and he started to try to play our song through a Bluetooth speaker but the WiFi was too poor and it kept stopping. Admitting defeat Matt got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I of course said yes, it was perfect!”

Set in the gardens at Evenslea Mudgee, the weather was perfect for an outdoor ceremony. The bride tells, ”We wanted the ceremony to reflect not only our love but the love we have for our family. We did a sand ceremony that represented all of us coming together as a family and my step daughter Sibella read a cute reading called ‘The Loveliest Dinosaur.’ Throughout the ceremony you could hear our daughter Willow laughing and yelling ‘Yay!’, clearly she was happy with her parents finally saying ‘I do’!” The bride walked down the aisle with her father and step father to ‘No Other Love’ by Heart.

Eucalyptus and garden roses in peach and pale pink hung abundantly from the macrame ceremony background, with the bride and bridesmaid carrying the same blooms in bouquets. Sharna tells, ”Honestly I just trusted Mudgee Monkey with the flowers – she was amazing and created something to go with my dress. The work she did on the arbor was just stunning.”

The country location held sentimental value for the bride, and she tells of the heart behind their relaxed wedding, sharing, ”Growing up in Mudgee most of the people that helped the wedding come to life I actually knew growing up. It was special for me to have them celebrate the life that we have created and love that Matt and I have. In a crazy world with four kids Matt and I had the opportunity to celebrate the world we had already created together but also what the future would hold.”

Adding an extra element of fun to the day, the bride and groom toured the countryside in a Kombi van! They share, ”Boho Limo Event Hire was absolutely amazing! Not only was the Kombi an amazing addition to the day but the drivers made us feel so special and welcomed. They helped a nervous bride have a laugh and also celebrated our day with us. Erin Latimore was amazing, she made two people who don’t love being photographed so comfortable and caught our relationship perfectly. Erin was also so wonderful and patient with our kids, understanding that they were excited on the day. She was able to capture ‘moments’ in our day that we will forever treasure.”

Relaxed and fun for the kids, Sharna and Matt wanted a location that would suit the whole family. The bride tells, ”I grew up in Mudgee and when we decided to marry it was important for me to have it there. Evenslea Mudgee felt like a place that was made for us. The venue is filled with beautiful gardens, ponds and trees. It also backed into a river that I use to fish in with my brother and our kids were able to enjoy the whole venue as we stayed on site. The kids went fishing and caught yabbies at the location before the wedding, on the day I was so proud to see them running around enjoying the outdoors like their father and I do. We were even shocked that the venue had a willow tree just behind where we married (our daughter is Willow).”

Enjoying every aspect of the venue, the couple were married under a tree outdoors, served canapes in the rose garden and set up the reception marquee with open walls. The couple also crafted DIY seed kits for favours for their guests. They tell, ”We wanted to ensure the kids were included within the day, so our caterer ensured the kids had their own food bags filled with everything that they love to eat. Also our cake maker was amazing, the cake turned out better then we could have imagined as a boho theme. Rosie Make Me A Cake was just as excited about our vision as we were and made it come to life.”

Thank you to our lovely bride and groom for sharing your magnificent wedding day, and congratulations! Thank you also to Erin Latimore for your stunning photographs!