This gorgeous Berkshires wedding is all about the florals. Arrangements which the ever-so-talented bride and her mom created with flowers meaningful to the couple and even representative of the groom’s native Australia! And with Meredith Perdue behind the lens, every.single.image from this Buckstreep Manor beauty is totally frame-worthy. The details continue in the full gallery!
From the Bride… Lachlan and I celebrated our seven-month wedding anniversary on August 20, 2012. Yes, that’s five days prior to our wedding at Bucksteep Manor in Washington, Massachusetts. Confused yet? Lachlan is an Australian citizen, and we met while I was in Australia on a year-long “working holiday” visa. My visa expired in late September 2011, and in the following month, he made his way to the U.S. (after five LONG weeks of us being apart.) In December 2012, he proposed. Because we couldn’t bear the thought of being apart again, on January 20th, 2012 we had a small ceremony on the (cold and snow-covered!) patio at my parents’ house, while his family watched via Skype. Our August wedding gave us the chance to celebrate with his family, my extended family and our closest of friends — and to have a slightly more traditional wedding.
We wanted to include bits and pieces of Australia in our wedding. The ANZAC biscuit (a popular Australian treat similar to a cookie, not like an American biscuit!) bombonieres, wax flowers (native to Australia) in the bouquets, boutonnieres and centerpieces, as well as a selection of Australian wines and beer, all gave a nod to Lachlan’s home country without becoming overly cheesy or theme party-esque. My mom and I created the centerpieces, bouquets and boutonnieres ourselves, even growing some of the flowers (zinnias) in my mom’s backyard garden. We attempted to grow another favorite, cosmos, but most had yet to bloom as of the date of our wedding. We were able to include a few in my mom’s bouquet though! The other flowers included the Australian native wax flower, New England asters and one of my personal favorites, the whimsical and romantic ranunculus. We wanted to incorporate a bird theme into our wedding too. Our escort card board was created out of old-fashioned looking wallpaper, in which birds appeared to hold the cards in their mouths. (It was an idea from Martha Stewart!) Our sign-in book was also adapted from a Martha Stewart creation – I ordered a very old book of bird photos/descriptions from a small bookstore in Connecticut, and we asked that guests leave a note anywhere they’d like. Lachlan built a wooden birdhouse, complete with a carved P + L heart, which served as our gift card box. Our cake topper also carried on the bird theme.
We decided on a BBQ buffet as the dinner offering, and it was amazing! Our cake, created by Susan Forest of Royal Icings, was PERFECT. I cannot say enough about how wonderful and kind Susan is, and the cakes she makes are not only beautiful to look at, but also delicious. Bucksteep Manor was the perfect choice for our wedding. The staff there was incredibly helpful and sweet, and Lachlan and I were able to stay there with our siblings and their significant others from the Wednesday before our wedding up until the Sunday after. The laid-back country atmosphere was exactly what we were looking for. My uncle Mark was our ceremony officiant and did an incredible job. We chose him hoping he’d offer a bit of humor but also some very sweet and sentimental moments, and he did just that.
Wedding Photography: Meredith Perdue / Wedding Venue: Bucksteep Manor in Washington, Massachusetts / Catering: Brennan’s Catering / Wedding Cake: Royal Icings / DJ: Josh Arakelian of Murray Hill Talent / Favors: Emu Bottom Biscuits / Wedding Dress: Tadashi Shoji / Hair + Makeup: Seven Salon Spa / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: LOFT