I absolutely adore reading about where the inspiration comes from for each and every single wedding we feature but reading the bride's description below of her Brisbane wedding truly just made my day. I love that they took inspiration from things they love - buttons (she makes jewelry out of them!) and books. Even their color palette - navy and yellow - was chosen with great care. It's the little touches like these that truly make every wedding we feature totally awesome and unique. Angela Ferro Photography captured each and every exquisite detail in the dreamiest of ways. See it all in the full gallery!
Backyard Brisbane Wedding by Angela Ferro Photography
Click here for the FULL wedding!
From the Bride... Tavis and I met during graduate school at Rutgers University — it was my home state, but Tavis had moved from Australia. After graduation, our engagement and a move to Madison, Wisconsin, we started to plan our wedding. The first choice was whether to have the event in Wisconsin, New Jersey or Australia. After considering the relative merits of each, we decided on a small celebration in Australia before heading off to our honeymoon on the Great Barrier Reef. The theme and styling of the wedding was derived from two of our personal interests: books and buttons. I make jewelry with buttons as the inspiration and main material, so the save-the-dates, invitations, cake, jewelry, decor and centerpieces all included buttons in one form or another. We incorporated our love of books into the decor and table centerpieces — for example, the dinner menu was held inside beloved childhood books, and the centerpieces were copies of some of our favorite classic books. Last, we decided on a deliberately high-contrast color palette because of Tavis' red-green colorblindness — we both like navy and yellow, and Tavis can see them! The ceremony paid tribute to Tavis' Scottish heritage and was a simplified Celtic handfasting ceremony with Anderson Modern tartan. The processional and recessional were led by bagpipers from Tavis' high-school.
Planning a wedding from another country was surprisingly easy because my now mother- and sister-in-law were fantastic help! Tavis' mother is extraordinarily creative and handmade the dinner place settings and bunting. She and my bridesmaid Hilary searched through countless second-hand book stores in Brisbane to track down our favorite childhood books, and they also cleared out stores of every single button for other decorations. Further, Tavis' parents replanted their entire garden with flowers that matched the wedding colors. The initial plan involved yard games (e.g., bocce, finska, kubb) during the cocktail hour, followed by dinner under the stars in the gardens, but unfortunately, it rained solidly for the entire day! Fortunately, we had back-up locations and plans. We spent an enjoyable hour or two with our wonderful photographer, Angela Ferro, generating some photographic memories of the day, followed by a delightful "Australian BBQ" dinner with friends and family. Finally, Tavis' father memorialized the event with a handmade native Australian wood guestbook in the shape of a tree in New Zealand that the entire family used to picnic under when visiting their grandmother!
Wedding Photography: Angela Ferro Photography / Wedding Venue: The Groom's Parents' Home in Brisbane, Queensland / Floral Design: Brisbane Bouquets / Wedding Invitations: Keg Design / Catering: Wine & Dine'm / Wedding Cake: Josie Staines / Bagpipers: Brisbane Boys College / Wedding Dress: LoveJune / Bride's Shoes: Seychelles / Bride's Jewelry: Land & Laboratory (Owned by the Bride) / Bride's Hair Clip: Ban.do / Hair: Jackie Trout Hair Design / Rings: Tiffany & Co. / Bridesmaid's Dress: Andrew Marc / Bridesmaid's Shoes: Stuart Weitzman / Men's Suits: Bill Paul Ltd. / Groom's Shirt: Sebastien Gray Clothiers / Groom's Shoes: Dr. Martens