WHERE:  Voyager Estate, Margaret River, Western Australia.  Berndt was born in Western Australia and we fell in love with the Voyager Estate venue during a visit over Christmas break 2008, shortly before becoming engaged in Paris. 

THEME:  Amor Eterno (eternal love).  Colors: Black and white with a touch of red.  My morbid flair was evident in our skeleton bride and groom cake topper and romantic Day of the Dead decorations I sourced from South America.  We gave each other wedding tattoos as gifts, and my husband got me an Amor Eterno tattoo on the back of my neck.

GUESTS:We shared our wedding day with 60 close friends and family, including a number of poets and artists. (includingformer Democrats leader Natasha Stott-Despoja, Julian Morrow from The Chaser, Sky News presenter Jacinta Tynan, Foxtel presenter Sarah Wilson and prominent Australian poets and writers, including Martin Harrison, Stuart Cooke, Andy Quan, Melinda Hutchings and Jack Heath.)  Nearly all of our guests traveled a long way to be with us, and it made the experience even more special.  We had three days of casual events – welcome drinks at the family home, wine tastings at the local vineyards, a beach party, etc, with the formal wedding taking place on the evening of the middle day.  Nine months later it is clear that a lot of new friendships were formed and existing friendships were strengthened by the time spent as a group in Western Australia.  Many of the guests had never been there before.  It felt very personal and special to us.  I couldn’t have asked for a more magical weekend. 

DRESS:  I wanted something different - something with vibrancy and color.   Red is my favorite color, and it represents passion, love and romance.  I wanted to be married in the rose garden, and I decided on a rose inspired dress.  Something that expressed my personality.  The gown was designed by my friend Alex Perry.

BRIDESMAIDS:  We decided against a bridal party in part because we could not narrow our dear friends down into a small group.  We instead had our parents take part in the first half of the ceremony.  They looked wonderful in their black, white and red, and it was great to have them stand up there with us.  I also did not want to be given away by a parent, so it was a nice alternative to include our family in a way that felt appropriate for us.

GROOMSMEN:  None. (as above)

RINGS:  We had our rings custom designed by our friend Nicola Cerrone, of Cerrone jewelers, and exchanged them in Paris when we proposed to each other.  We both had engagement rings, and those rings became our wedding rings when we got married.

STATIONERY/INVITATIONS: Designed by our friend Josh Murray of Josh Murray Design.  We are both writers (I am a novelist and my husband is a poet and philosopher), so our invites were small books with the front page reading ‘Poet meets Crime Authoress’.  Our personalities and the themes of the wedding came across in the mini-book invites – literature, love, travel, vintage images, Amor Eterno skeleton couples and our themes of black, red and white.  Josh did an incredible job.

FLOWERS:  Red roses, red rose petals, rose garden.  An opened bird cage full of roses.

CEREMONY DETAILS: We had a non-traditional ceremony, and incorporated a ring warming ceremony.  We took off our engagement rings and had them passed among our guests. (they then became our wedding rings)  We also incorporated a hand-fasting, using a length of antique French lace tied with various items with personal meaning for us.  Hand-fasting is the origin of the term ‘tie the knot’ and we liked the symbolism of the lace, which was both strong and delicate and could be broken if care was not taken.  I had my best friend do a whimsical reading from The Owl and the Pussycat, and the poet Martin Harrison wrote and read a poem for us.  We wrote and memorized our own vows, and the exchanging of those vows was my favorite moment of the ceremony. We also involved our parents in the ceremony (see Bridesmaids section above)

RECEPTION DETAILS:  We had our reception at the beautiful Cape Dutch style Voyager Estate, just a few meters from the reception in the rose garden. 

CAKE:  Topped with rose petals and a romantic South American Day of the Dead skeleton bride and groom, symbolizing ‘Amor Eterno’.

ENTERTAINMENT:  Magic, Rockabilly music and speeches in between.  The vintage photo booth was also an ongoing source of entertainment.

LITTLE EXTRAS:  Our magician friend and wedding guest Adam Mada performed some beautiful Victorian-style magic at the reception.

BEST ADVICE FOR PLANNING A WEDDING/TO BRIDES:

Make your wedding day as personal and individual as you can. 

TARA'S CONTACTS:

• PHOTOGRAPHY: Samm Blake
• BRIDE'S DRESS: Alex Perry

• BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES: N/A

• BRIDESMAIDS SHOES: N/A

• GROOMS FORMAL WEAR: Own Hugo Boss tuxedo, Armani shirt and Alexander McQueen skull bow tie.

• RINGS: Cerrone

• INVITATIONS: Josh Murray Design

• RECEPTION: Voyager Estate (rose garden, outside.)

• CEREMONY: Voyager Estate

• WEDDING PLANNER: N/A

• ENTERTAINMENT: Skiffle Billys, live rockabilly band.

• DECORATIONS: Second hand books, roses, candles, and Day of the Dead skeleton couples from South America.

• VIDEOGRAPHER: N/A

• OTHER: Magician. Adam Mada