Sydney Wedding from Madeline Druce Photography

There's such a warm and comforting feeling surrounding this next wedding that you really can't help but smile as you take in all the pretty images from Madeline Druce Photography. All sorts of love went into the planning and crafting of this big day and the bride, along with help from her mom, made hundreds of napkins, cookies in the shape of her native New Zealand, cake plates, you name it, they did it. Not only did it help in keeping the costs down, it made their day even more special and personalized. See it all right here.

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From the Bride... Julian and I had a fairly long engagement (two years) so we had plenty of time to figure what we wanted. I am a New Zealander and Julian is Australian, so we were originally thinking NZ for the wedding, but I decided it was a perfect opportunity to get all my family and friends over to see the beautiful place where we live. The wedding was at North Curl Curl beach and surf club which is about 40 minutes out of Sydney city and is where we live.

We tried to keep the costs down, so we didn't have a wedding planner. My mum and I made all the 100 napkins and I DIYed cake plates, decorations, advice cards, ring tins, chalkboards, etc. I also made 70 New Zealand-shaped cookies for the dessert table. The cake was made by a friend and was delicious! The beautiful bunting was borrowed from a friend and suited the surf club perfectly. We had a bit of a "working bee" the day before the wedding and got everything set up in a matter of hours! Instead of traditional invitations, we set up a wedding website for all the guests. There was so much information for guests, and it was the perfect way to make everyone feel involved. We emailed out invites with the link and updated the site as the day got closer. We also used the site after the wedding to share photos and a video from our photo booth. A huge cost saver was that I managed to get the ceremony decorators for free! They were based inland and hadn't done any beach weddings before, so in order to get some photos for their website they offered to set up free of charge — and they did an amazing job. Although it was a very windy day (it always is on Sydney beaches!), so the canopy blew over half way through the ceremony! This provided a bit of comic relief for the ceremony...

My dress was custom-made by Sarah Vincent in New Zealand. It was based on a dress I saw on the J.Crew website and I got Sarah to add pockets. Our photographer was our close friend Madeline Druce, who is based in Brisbane. Not long after we got engaged, Madeline completed a photography course with Spéos Paris Photographic Institute and offered to do our wedding. Madeline is only starting out in the world of wedding photography but is absolutely amazing. She was so organized and wanted to tell our story from the moment we got up until the end of the night. I love looking at our photos and remembering each part of the day.We had an absolute blast on our day and neither Julian nor I could stop smiling. It meant so much to have all of our friends and family around us. To us, celebrating with everyone was the most important part of the day! The wedding was definitely "us" — very relaxed and happy. :)



Wedding Photography: Madeline Druce Photography / Ceremon: North Curl Curl Beach / Reception: North Curl Curl Surf Club in North Curl Curl, New South Wales / Event Design + Planning: The Bride / Floral Design: Hills Flower Market /  Ceremony Decoration: Sabarbia / Officiant: Melinda Dunn / Catering: Stella Blu / Desserts: All Things Nice / Wedding Invitations: Designed by the Bride & Groom via WeddingWindow.com / Wedding Dress: Custom by Sarah Vincent / Bride's Shoes: Kmart / Hair: A Friend / Makeup: Memorable Makeup / Bridesmaids' Dresses: Max / Bride's + Bridesmaids' Earrings: Kingsway (The Bride)