Backyard Sydney Wedding by Milk and Honey Photography
The best part of every wedding truly is friends and family coming together for one reason. This bride and groom's family and friends moved the ceremony setup and the pretty Potteround Floral Design flowers from the patio outside to the living room of the bride's family home as thunder clapped while she finished getting ready to create a surprise indoor ceremony. Luckily the bride's ethereal Karen Willis Holmes dress is both garden wedding gorgeous and living room ceremony lovely. Milk and Honey Photography shot it all as the rain fell outside the windows, including The Ortolan at Bayswater french bistro themed reception and we have it all here to show you what it's really all about.
From the Bride... We met four years ago on Darling Street in Balmain. I worked in the local bookstore and Hamish worked in the video store across the road. Our ceremony was at my family home in Gladesville. It was a backyard wedding in a pretty garden (and living room) overlooking the Parramatta River. The reception was dinner at Bistro Ortolan, a French restaurant. It was quite a small wedding (36 people), so we filled the top floor of a terrace house for a French spring feast.
There are some wonderful women in my life, so rather than have many bridesmaids, I had wrist corsages for them to wear on the day as a thank you gift and symbol of their significance to me. My mum had a cool '60s bouquet of white daisies at her wedding, so I included some big daisies in with my ranunculus and hyacinth. We also wrapped a string of seed pearls from my mum’s wedding dress around my bridal bouquet. Hamish’s little sister flew out from England to be his "best woman." Our three nieces and two nephews were flower girls and ring bearers. They threw rose petals whenever it took their fancy and were a delight to talk to as I was getting ready before the ceremony.
The garden was full of flowers and set up for our ceremony. As I was about to walk downstairs, the thunder clapped and it began to rain. I didn’t know it at the time, but all our friends and family helped pick up the chairs and vases that were set up and ferry them into the living room. We had a beautiful indoor ceremony while the rain fell outside. I think we both had such a great day because each part involved the people we love, we didn’t do anything we didn’t want to do, just a whole bunch of things we did.
Wedding Photography: Milk and Honey Photography / Ceremony: The Bride’s Parents' Home in Sydney, New South Wales / Reception: The Ortolan at Bayswater (Formerly Bistro Ortolan) in Sydney, New South Wales / Floral Design: Potteround Floral Design / Wedding Planning: DIY by the Bride & Groom / Wedding Cake: Greg Burge, A Friend of the Bride / Wedding Stationery: Inky Livie / Music: Philippa Vaughan, A Friend of the Bride, of Confetti Music + Jasmine Strings / Transportation: The Bride's Parents' Cars / Wedding Dress: Karen Willis Holmes "Lauren" / Bride's Shoes: Panache Bridal Shoes / Bride's Sapphire Engagement Ring: Vintage via Vintage Times / Bride's Earrings: Karen Willis Holmes / Bride's Hair Pins: Etsy / Bridesmaids' Dresses: Karen Willis Holmes + Chic Collections / Hair + Makeup: Melanie Price / Flower Girls' Dresses: DIY by a Bridesmaid's Mother / Men's Suits: Skin Deep / Groom's Shoes: Loake Shoemakers
There are some wonderful women in my life, so rather than have many bridesmaids, I had wrist corsages for them to wear on the day as a thank you gift and symbol of their significance to me. My mum had a cool '60s bouquet of white daisies at her wedding, so I included some big daisies in with my ranunculus and hyacinth. We also wrapped a string of seed pearls from my mum’s wedding dress around my bridal bouquet. Hamish’s little sister flew out from England to be his "best woman." Our three nieces and two nephews were flower girls and ring bearers. They threw rose petals whenever it took their fancy and were a delight to talk to as I was getting ready before the ceremony.
The garden was full of flowers and set up for our ceremony. As I was about to walk downstairs, the thunder clapped and it began to rain. I didn’t know it at the time, but all our friends and family helped pick up the chairs and vases that were set up and ferry them into the living room. We had a beautiful indoor ceremony while the rain fell outside. I think we both had such a great day because each part involved the people we love, we didn’t do anything we didn’t want to do, just a whole bunch of things we did.
Wedding Photography: Milk and Honey Photography / Ceremony: The Bride’s Parents' Home in Sydney, New South Wales / Reception: The Ortolan at Bayswater (Formerly Bistro Ortolan) in Sydney, New South Wales / Floral Design: Potteround Floral Design / Wedding Planning: DIY by the Bride & Groom / Wedding Cake: Greg Burge, A Friend of the Bride / Wedding Stationery: Inky Livie / Music: Philippa Vaughan, A Friend of the Bride, of Confetti Music + Jasmine Strings / Transportation: The Bride's Parents' Cars / Wedding Dress: Karen Willis Holmes "Lauren" / Bride's Shoes: Panache Bridal Shoes / Bride's Sapphire Engagement Ring: Vintage via Vintage Times / Bride's Earrings: Karen Willis Holmes / Bride's Hair Pins: Etsy / Bridesmaids' Dresses: Karen Willis Holmes + Chic Collections / Hair + Makeup: Melanie Price / Flower Girls' Dresses: DIY by a Bridesmaid's Mother / Men's Suits: Skin Deep / Groom's Shoes: Loake Shoemakers