An Elegant Country Wedding In Orange
An Elegant Country Wedding In Orange
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O L I V I A + M I T C H
Olivia and Mitch started their new life together in an elegant country wedding with sentimental touches.
F R O M T H E B R I D E . . .
We first met...In December 2010, we were both invited to a dress-up party in Glebe in Sydney's inner west. The concept was that each person who was invited had to bring 5 single friends. Before the day, each person received an email from the organiser telling them what they had to dress up as, but we were not told what anyone else's instructions were. Each person then had a matching dress up partner in the room. I was told to dress as a Julia Roberts from Pretty Woman and as fate would have it, Mitch was dressed as Richard Gere. The attraction was almost immediate and the matching dress ups gave us an easy excuse to find each other amongst the crowd. He stole his first kiss on the dance floor later that night and the following Friday night, we went on our first date. When I got in the cab, Mitch said he'd remembered my two favourite types of cuisine - seafood and Japanese - and he'd booked one of each so I could choose. The date was perfect and neither of us could believe how fast the time flew. The rest is history!
We knew it was love...After a few months of things going really well, we went out for a casual dinner on a cold April night. We were walking back to the car afterwards when Mitch said he had to do something. He popped into a pie shop and came out with a warm sausage roll and a hot cup of coffee. He then kneeled down to a homeless man on the corner of the street, asked how he was doing in the cold and then handed him the sausage roll and coffee to the man's grateful thanks. While watching this moment unfold, I realised that this handsome, down-to-earth, funny man had a heart of made of gold... it was love.
We are both from NSW but had been living and working in Melbourne for almost 3 years. In early May 2015, we made the difficult decision to move home to Sydney to be closer to our families. A few weeks before we left, our friends organised a camping trip but secretly Mitch told those friends we wouldn't be coming. On our way down to the camping spot, he wanted to take me for a surprise morning tour of Melbourne's CBD to re-visit all the spots that had significance for us. At each spot, Mitch read out a little poem about the significance of that place and gave me photos of what memories we had shared there, with friends, family or on our own. The poem then gave a clue to the location of the next spot. The final destination was the famous Hosier Lane where Mitch led me around an alleyway and up to a dead-end which was spray-painted with the message 'Will You Marry Me?' Mitch then got down on one knee and presented me with the most beautiful solitaire diamond ring which he had designed himself.
Pre-wedding celebrations...We had a Sunday afternoon engagement party with our friends and family at my parents' home in Newport on Sydney's Northern Beaches. We also held a pre-wedding lunch at Mitch's family farm for our friends and family who are based outside of Sydney.
T H E W E D D I N G . . .
Our dream wedding...We wanted a rustic wedding without being cliché 'country'. We knew we wanted our guests to feel relaxed and able to enjoy the beauty of the area. We also wanted everyone to be present in the joyous moments we knew we'd be creating on the day. Our colour theme was lots of green to represent the bush, burgundy and dusty pink as well as plenty of timber in the beams, tables and chairs of the reception. The day before the wedding, Mitch's family helped us collect about 10 buckets worth of foliage from around their family farm for decorations. Our florist, Belinda, used the foliage on the arbour and throughout the reception area.
Ceremony and reception location...Our ceremony was held on the grass in front of the vines at Highland Heritage Estate in Orange and our reception was held in their restaurant and function area.
The bridal party...We each had three bridesmaids and groomsmen. Mitch had his cousin, Josh, childhood friend who is still his best mate, Tom, and his school and university friend, Andrew. I had my childhood friend who is also still my best friend, Annika, and two university friends who I met at university and am still as close to all these years later, Nicola and Ivana.
They wore...The bridesmaids wore three different styles of the 'Core' range in Burgundy by Shona Joy with their own rose gold jewellery and neutral toned heels. The groomsmen wore camel pants, white shirt and navy jackets by MJ Bale. They also wore bow ties and dark brown leather suspenders found on Etsy and their own dark brown shoes.
Mitch wore camel pants and a statement blue jacket from MJ Bale with navy piping and a navy bow tie. He wore dark brown Acquila shoes.
The gown...My dress was from Grace Loves Lace in Mermaids Beach, Queensland. Mum and I did a girl's trip to the Gold Coast to visit Grace Loves Lace's showroom and took my aunt, Trace, who is a local Gold Coast resident. Their showroom is set in a beautiful rustic beach house which is exactly my style and we were greeted with champagne on arrival - I knew almost straight away I'd find my dress there. I'd earmarked their 'Alexandra' gown to try on because the photos on the website made it look effortlessly beautiful and perfect for the relaxed but chic style of our wedding. As soon as I tried it on, I knew it was 'the one' because it felt comfortable and flowy yet accentuated my figure in all the right places.
The bridal bouquet...We asked our florist, Belinda, to use the best in-season flowers that fitted with our rustic style and in burgundy and dusty pink colours. She nailed it!
We wanted to keep the reception area as natural as possible as we loved the bare timber of the beams, columns, tables and chairs and the big windows which look out at the vines. Belinda decorated the ceiling and tables with the foliage from Mitch's family farm, as well as the mixture of burgundy and dusty pink flowers. Fairy lights also adorned the columns and beams. We had name tags attached to our bonbonniere which sat on top of the menus designed by Natasha Dauner, Freelance Graphic Designer.
On the menu...The reception was a sit-down meal at long tables. There was no bridal table and we sat in the middle of our all our guests so that we could mingle as much as possible. The entrée was an alternate drop of macadamia prawns with mango salsa, chilli & lime aioli or handmade cannelloni filled with spinach, ricotta & tomato ragu. The mains were shared platters of pan seared crispy skinned far north Queensland barramundi and grilled rib eye fillet on the bone sourced from Blayney, NSW. This was accompanied by a medley of roasted mediterranean vegetables, oven roasted potatoes with estate grown rosemary & Murray River pink salt and butter glazed green beans with mint. Dessert was a semi-naked wedding cake from The Old Mill Bakery in Milthorpe with berry compote & cream as well as cheese platters prepared by the mother-of-the-bride, Kim.
Yes, my parents' friends have a soap manufacturing business and donated beautiful coco-lime scented soaps which were lovingly hand-wrapped by Kim, her best friend, Kay, and the grandmother-of-the-bride, Mary.
Memorable moments...We have two favourite moments:
The first was a sand and earth ceremony during the wedding ceremony, where Mitch and I and our parents mixed earth from Mitch's family farm with sand from the beach near where I grew up in glass jars sourced from the local area by the mother-of-the-groom, Anne. The sand and earth ceremony was special to us because it signified the coming together of the two families through the combination of the natural beauty of what connects us to home in our respective upbringings: the bush and the beach.
The other favourite moment was when I surprised Mitch at the end of my speech with a very amateur rendition of 'Halo' by Beyoncé which I had secretly practiced with the band, Smith & Jones in the few weeks leading up to the wedding! This (might I say - petrifying) act signified the fact that Mitch encourages me to step outside my comfort zone because I have his unwavering love and support, even if I fail miserably. Mitch has already encouraged me in so many things - from learning to build a fence, herd cattle, and get into cycling. So to sing in front of all our guests was a tribute to the sense of fearlessness and courage he instills in me.
Wedding soundtrack...I walked down the aisle to 'Georgia' by Vance Joy played on acoustic guitars by our band, Smith & Jones. While we signed the registry, our friends Matthew McDonald and Will Deane-Butcher played 'Better Together' by Jack Johnson on their guitars. We entered our reception to 'Summer' by Calvin Harris and had our first dance (a hip hop dance choreographed by Mitch's younger sister, Bridget) to a mix of 'Uptown Funk' by Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars and 'This is How We Do It' by Montell Jordan.
We chose to get married in Orange because Mitch grew up in NSW's Central West, on a cattle farm outside of Bathurst. We wanted to support as many local vendors as possible so started our search for a photographer. Our wedding venue gave us Danni Evans' card and we looked her up online. Her ability to capture the natural raw beauty of the Central West area, as well as the love between her subjects, had us hooked from the beginning. She was also really easy to deal with - prompt in her contact with us, friendly and bubbly, very down-to-earth and more than happy to adapt to our style and vision for the day. We love our wedding photos because they perfectly capture our connection to each other and the world around us. We asked Danni to capture us and our bridal party in the cattle yards at the edge of the winery and these are our favourite photos because of the connection to Mitch's family and upbringing.
M A R R I E D L I F E . . .
The honeymoon...We honeymooned by island hopping around the beautiful Philippines for 2 weeks. Instead of the usual registry, we had a honeymoon registry through Envelope Registry where many of our guests contributed to a part of our honeymoon experience from massages to snorkelling to scooter hire. So a BIG thank you to all our guests for their contributions!
Plans for the future?About two months before our wedding we bought our first home, an apartment in Manly Vale on the Northern Beaches. We are now 32 weeks pregnant and due in late March 2017 so the future looks bright (and busy)!
In 40 years you hope to...Be enjoying a life full laughter and love with our children and hopefully grandchildren!
W E D D I N G W I S D O M . . .
Advice for enjoying the engagement...Take the time to remember that this is such a special chapter in your lives and there are important people on the journey with you, particularly your family and close friends/bridal party. Making them feel part of the excitement and lead up to the big day is important to acknowledge the special part they play in having formed you as individuals and how your relationship has grown and developed to the point of you committing to each other for life.
Planning tips...Keeping track of your budget is important if you don't want it to blow out, especially in the final weeks before the wedding day. Make sure you regularly update what you have paid for and what is outstanding, so that you have the funds ready when you need them and don't end up with a big credit card debt at the end! Also make sure you choose vendors who you find easy to deal with because there are enough things to think about without having to chase up a vendor to respond to your query or concern.
Tips for enjoying the wedding day...Don't sweat the small stuff! You put so much into planning the day that when it finally arrives, even the smallest things that will inevitably go wrong won't phase you because the reason for it all is right in front of you - celebrating your love for each other!
Photography Danni Evans Photography Flowers Belinda Wincote Stationery Natasha Dauner Ceremony and reception venue Highland Heritage Estate Cake The Old Mill Bakery, Millthorpe Table numbers & signage The Brides Collection Wedding favours family & friends Prop hire JD Events, Bathurst Entertainment Smith & Jones & Utter Entertainment Celebrant Ebonee Egan Rings Natalie Marie Jewellery Transport Cooks Bus Service Bridal gown Grace Loves Lace Hair piece Mimco Robes Le Rose Shoes Wittner Earrings Tiffany & Co. & Bracelets Samantha Wills Hair Atelier Hair Makeup Utopia Bridesmaid dresses Shona Joy Groom & groomsmen MJ Bale Groom's Socks Rock my Socks through The Little Boxy Co.
