When childhood sweethearts Chloe and Owen decided to ‘make it official’, they did it in warmhearted style! Their green and white country wedding has a fresh, modern look, great DIY entertainment ideas and lovely ways to involve family, including a daddy-daughter dance with their little girl.
The Planning Experience
“I enjoyed the styling and creating my vision the most. Our venue was amazing and had a vintage ballroom. I loved the garden, with overgrown vines creeping through the ballroom ceiling. It wasn’t hard to find inspiration for style with this setting!”
The Dress
“I found it really hard to find my dress. I’m a small size, so none of the samples fit. I found it hard to visualise what the dresses would look like adjusted and fitting correctly – it was noted that I seemed to find something not quite right about every dress I tried on! My friend suggested that perhaps I did know what I wanted and if we wrote all the points down, I could get it made exactly how I wanted it! I enlisted Kel-Leigh Couture to design and create my vision with the help of a photo I found on Pinterest for inspiration.”
Meaningful Songs
Processional: ‘Wonderwall II’, by Oasis, acoustic version.
First Dance: ‘The Girl’, by City and Colour. ”Owen randomly said one day, “This song would be so perfect as our wedding dance song, it reminds me of you.”
Reception Entrance: ‘Boom Boom Boom’, by the Out There Brothers, “It was fun and us and had every guest on their feet dancing and singing along as we ran in.”
Father Daughter Dance: ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ by Van Morrison. “I‘m my Dad’s only brown eyed girl and Harper has my brown eyes too, so dad danced with me and Owen danced with Harper – it was very sweet the four of us dancing together!”
Most Important
“That we had great photos of us with our daughter as special keepsakes. It was also important that all of our guests had a great time! Everyone had to travel to the venue upwards of 1.5 hours, so we wanted to create a fun weekend away. We had a dinner the night before and breakfast the morning after the wedding, with loads of entertainment the whole way through.”
Keeping It Simple
“We originally had all of our friends, fifteen people, as part of an unofficial bridal party. I found this stressful trying to organise so many, so we decided to scale back – I loved this decision as it was romantic with just the two of us up front and during the photos.”
Entertainment
“The whole wedding was structured around entertainment: a DIY Mimosa bar before and after the ceremony (choose your juice, champagne and fruit options); fun music with loads of dancing (our DJ had everyone dancing until the end of the night); canapes in the garden while playing lawn games; cupcakes for dessert so you could eat while socialising; Jenga for our ‘marriage advice’ and a photo booth and Polaroids for fun photo memories.”
Reception Styling
“We wanted a relaxed atmosphere and to make it feel like a giant family dinner. We all sat at two long tables, decorated with long floral runners and scattered candles. The colours were crisp white and green with touches of pale pink. Our family wedding pictures decorated the wall and we left the old piano in the corner, with the ceiling above covered in trailing ivy and chandeliers.”
DIY Projects
“Owen’s mum hand painted all of our signage and made plaster love hearts for the guest place settings. I created the gifts of seed packages and framed family wedding photos, put together a photo booth and props as well as a mimosa bar.”
Favourite Moments
“I loved dancing the night away with everyone and having our favourite wines and music played. I loved how small, intimate and meaningful the whole day was with only 65 people. Our two grandmas were flower girls with Harper. They walked arm in arm down the aisle and it was so special to have them there and a part of the day. They felt so loved and honoured to be included too – my grandma is 95! We also wrote our own vows, which were so meaningful to each of us.”
Best Advice
1. Don’t be afraid to step outside the box and do something that’s meaningful to you, no matter how weird it may seem to others. Our reception song was silly, but it was hilarious and it was important to Owen that the day not be too serious and formal.
2. If something is worrying or stressing you, change it. I was really worried about scrapping our bridal party plans a month before the wedding and afraid of hurting everyone’s feelings. At the end of the day it was about us and they understood that we came first and needed to be happy and relaxed.
3. Make the day your own. We added lots of little touches that really made the day special – by not having a cake cutting, having a standing entrée, share platter salads, yard games, etc.
Location: Southern Highlands, New South Wales | Photography: Kendell Tyne Photography | Venue: Summerlees Estate | Pastor: Peter Wakeley | Hire: Go Hire | Flowers: Merrin Grace Floral Design | Dress: Kel-Leigh Couture | Hair: Kelly McGowan | Makeup: Iris Skin and Beauty | Rings: GS Jewellers | Suit: Oxford | Music: Alan at Prodiscos | Catering: Sassy Catering | Cupcakes: It’s Homebaked