WHERE: On a Private property on the Belmore River, Northern NSW

THEME: Vintage, Country chic. Poppies! Went with an apricot/peachy colour theming.

GUESTS: 140

DRESS: Vintage Chantilly lace and French tulle Vera Wang dress in ivory. Was finely detailed with shimmering pearl like beads and fluttery delicate frills. It was accessorised with matching velvet belt with French tulle and Chantilly lace floral piece. I originally fell in love with the dress when I saw it in a magazine.  I was able to try it on at Helen Rodrigues in Sydney however I couldn’t resist buying the dress from Vera Wang’s only flagship store located on Madison Ave New York.

BRIDESMAIDS: Made by a friend. They were made form 100% silk and collaborated well with my theme of vintage chic and peach in colour. The girl’s make-up was inspired by 1940 pin up girls and wore their hair back in a low side bun. They each wore an ivory lace flower in their hair and finished their look with cream pearl earrings and necklace.

GROOMSMEN: Continued with the ‘old school’ vintage theme for the boys. Tom wanted that preppy schoolboy look but with more retro than prep. His ideal inspiration was The Beatles when they were in their prime. They all wore skinny leg pants with fitted white shirts and skinny black ties. Instead of jackets they wore matching cardigans. They finished their look off with shiny paten leather pointy black shoes. 

HAIR: Pulled back off my face and placed in a low side bun. Was accompanied by my Vera Wang headpiece, which was made with the same tulle and lace to match my dress.

MAKEUP: I wanted quite simple and reasonably plain makeup. Nothing too over the top. I choose Smokey eyes and considered red lips for a while but thankfully stuck with nude. 

RINGS: Tom had bought my diamond from a diamond merchant in London prior to proposing. I ended up choosing a setting from Cerrone Jewelers who were fantastic to deal with. Tom’s wedding band is a thick white gold band which is hand stamped with my name made by George Plionis in Sydney.

INVITATIONS: Kanna. The most amazing invitations ever! Accompanied with a vintage newsletter and hand drawn map. They were made using brown kraft paper and were printed in cream and apricot tones. We also had poppies printed on the invites, which matched my flower of choice for the wedding.

FLOWERS: Poppies were my theme from the moment I got engaged. Tom and I both love poppies and they have a special meaning to Tom’s family. Thankfully when we got married in August poppies were in full bloom (they only are in bloom for like 2 months of the year). Poppies also come in the most amazing shades of colours that matched perfectly with my theme of apricot tones. My bouquet was made up of cream and peach, pale yellow and pale pink poppies. There were also a few ranunculuses in there to help bulk it up. My florist did the most amazing job with my bouquet. As poppies are not the easiest flower to work with every poppy had to be individually hand wired. We also had buckets upon buckets of poppies placed in and around our ceremony and reception areas. 

CEREMONY: Took place on Tom’s parent’s property that is situated on the Belmore River on the Mid North Coast of NSW. We had the ceremony outdoors on their acreage amongst the cows, chickens and other farm life. It was so green and luscious; we couldn’t have chosen a better venue. It meant a lot to the both of us to have it at Tom’s parents farm and made it truly sentimental and even more meaningful. 

RECEPTION: The reception was held in a working barn on the property next door to where the ceremony was held. We were so thankful when the neighbours said we could use their barn to hold our reception. It took almost a week of straight labor to get the barn cleaned out and debugged! We found one snake in there when clearing it out! Once cleaned it made the most amazing venue filled with character and romance. The walls were raw corrugated iron and we left the floor as red dirt. It had no electricity so we had to hook up all the power and bring in everything we would be requiring including porta-loos. 

CAKE: I found an amazing cake in a Martha Stewart magazine. I didn’t have much choice for finding someone up there to make my cake…thankfully all my searching paid off and I found Trish. I gave her my picture that I had found and organized everything over emails with her. It was the biggest gamble and I had no idea what it would turn out like let alone how it would taste. She liaised with my florist and together they produced the most amazing wedding cake that I could have asked…of course adorned with piles of fresh poppies on the top. It also tasted delicious.

ENTERTAINMENT: We had some of Tom’s dad’s mates who were in a local band come and play while our canapés were taking place. They played the banjo and guitar on top of an old working hay trailer. It just added to the whole ambiance and theme of the day.

FOOD & BEVERAGES: Tom’s parents had also heard of a local lady who ran a catering company. I organized a meeting with her and we automatically just clicked. She was such a lovely lady who ended up cooking the most delicious food I have ever had at a wedding! Sounds bias I know, but I even had most of our guests come tell me that her lamb shanks were sensational. She cooked lots of home made rustic food that filled everyone up! We had homemade cobs of bread, piles of fresh vegetables, lamb shanks and pruscuitto wrapped chicken breast….oh and sticky date pudding and apple rhubarb crumble for desserts. 

LITTLE EXTRAS: As a favor I decided to have cute little jam jars made up for everyone. My great friend Lilly from Lilly’s Jams and Pickles in Sydney made the best orange and lime marmalade, which also matched my apricot colour theming. To finish the jars off I placed a small square of fabric around the lid and secured with a ribbon. I also added a little wooden spoon on the front as an extra detail. 

BEST ADVICE FOR PLANNING A WEDDING/TO BRIDES: My best advice would be to try and find someone to help you if you can. Organising a wedding on your own can be such an overwhelming, emotional and tiring job. Hiring professional help is definitely the way to go. 

Also spend money on getting an amazing photographer. Tim Pascoe from Sydney was ours and he did the most incredible job ever. I cannot rate him highly enough! He was so easy to deal with and just blew us both away when we saw the shots that he had taken from the day. Try and find a wedding photographer who is not just a stock standard wedding photographer. If you look at all of their work it all looks the same and all do the same tacky poses. Tim was so creative and thought outside the box. He captured people’s true emotions and all the special details of the day that other photographers all tend to miss. He is truly amazing photographer. 

YOLANDA'S CONTACTS:

• Photography: Tim Pascoe Photography www.timpascoe.com.au
• Bride's Dress & Veil: Vera Wang NY www.verawangonweddings.com
• Bridesmaids dresses: Made by a friend
• Grooms formal wear: Elsom Suit for Groom www.elsom.com.au and licorice all sorts of brands put together for groomsmen.
• Rings: Cerrone Jewelers www.cerrone.com.au (bride) George Plionis www.georgeplionis.com.au
• Hair: Denise Sutcliffe from Sydney
• Makeup: Julie Jamieson from Port Macquarie
• Invitations: Flowers: Jacqui from Glasshouse Flowers in Port Macquarie Ph: (02) 6584- 2242 
• Reception: Food by Kathy’s Catering and Beverages thanks to Peroni Beer and Yulumba Wines
• Decorations: Hire equipment came from Crossroads Hire in Coffs Harbour www.crossroadshire.com.au
• Videographer: Anja Taylor from Sydney.