DIY Jarrahdale Wedding from Lumens Photography
It goes without saying that I am a sucker for details. But what really gets me when I am looking through a wedding is love. The way a couple looks at each other, the hugs from family - those little moments in between the big moments always make me swoon. So when I come across a wedding like this one from Lumens Photography I feel like I've hit the jackpot, because it's filled to the brim with both. See it all here.
From the Bride...Our wedding was set against the backdrop of beautiful historical town Jarrahdale - which wove right in with rustic theme we embraced. Alot of our wedding was planned while we were still apart - so I would take photos of churches and table decorations and send them to Ivan for him to OK! My top priorty was to have a beautiful, relaxed, fun day surrounded by our closest family and friends. It was a true DIY wedding day - with hundreds of glass jars which we decorated with string and lace (I had had eveyone collecting jars for a year prior!), heart shaped confetti (cut from the pages of my favourite book 'Pride and Prejudice') hand stitched hessian table runners, mini blackboard place cards, and as the key decorative feature - 70 metres of handmade navy and white bunting hanging from the reception hall ceiling. I loved the idea of working the bunting in as a main decoration - and it was reflected also in the way we strung photos from our visits to each other in our time apart on lengths of string, and in the mini bunting strands my sister and mum made to go around the bridal and gifts tables. I also sourced old photo frames from op shops, had them painted white and filled them with photos and words that told our story and journey to our wedding day.
I found the church in Jarrahdale by accident, but as soon as I saw it I knew it was the place. I had wanted to be married in a place much like the country wedding in "Dr Quinn Medicine Woman" - an old tv show - and this was it. And the best bit was - the church has it's own bell! Which my little brothers gleefully rang as we left the church. It was a real family oriented ceremony - my father officiated, Ivan's father was his best man, and both our mothers prayed over us which was all very special. We had afternoon tea in the parkland surrounding the church following the ceremony, with all the food been made by family and church friends.
Whilst we originally intended to have our wedding in Summer, it was so important to us that Ivan's family be able to make it over from South Africa for the day - so we decided on a Winter day, and it turned out to be perfect. In light of the season, I decided to have the bridesmaids carry lanterns with candles, which gave a warm glow to the ceremony. Also, although we had a beautiful sunny day, it had been raining the day before so I wore gumboots with big red roses on them to our photoshoot! My mum also gave us the blanket she had as a little girl, and which we often used as a picnic blanket as a wedding gift. It had several holes in it, so she had my grandmother mend it with patches saying "Ivan loves Anna" - and we also used this in alot of our photos and it was very special!
My dress I had designed myself, and I had originally intended to have it made by my Great Aunt, who was coming over from New Zealand for the wedding. However, her husband had a heart bypass and although he was thankfully okay he couldn't travel so they sadly couldn't make it. I then tried ordering a dress online, which didn't work out either. So despite having started planning almost a year prior to the wedding day, my dress begun been constructed less than two months prior to the big day! In the end it ended up perfect though - with all the lace having to be stitched on and appliqued by hand to the dress it was a job of many hours work for the family friend who amazingly did the job!
My Great Aunt had also intended to be the caterer - which threw a bit of a spanner in the works of the plans! Thankfully, we found some amazing caterers and even though it was a cold winters evening outside, we had a cozy spit roasted dinner with the people we loved. The transformation that took place in our reception venue was astounding. It was a Horse and Pony Club Hall, which although it has lovely rammed earth and jarrah wood structure was stark and empty when we arrived. With a team of family and friends helping the day before our wedding it was transformed into a cozy party with meters upon meters of bunting, fairy lights, jars filled with tealights and gysophila flowers, hessian accents, a quirky photo corner and lots of photos telling guests of Ivan and I's story of love. Even the speeches were fun filled with my sister and maid of honor's speech taking the form of a song she had written about us accompanied by a surprise flash mob of our friends! From the warmth, love and fun inside you wouldn't even know it was a freezing night in the hills outdoors! I couldn't have imagined a day more perfect!
Photography: Lumens Photography | Floral Design: Tessa Chapman of Tickled Pink Posies | Caterers: WA Spit Roast | 'Forever' Cake bunting: Amy Gibbs | Bunting (at Reception): Amy Gibbs, Val Roberts, Elsie Kinney | Hessian Table Runners: Val Roberts (friend) | Blackboard Place Cards: Keith and Elsie Kinney (grandparents) | Wooden Signs: Andrew Hadfield, (uncle) | Makeup: Amanda Cass Makeup Artistry (amanda.cass@westnet.com.au) | Bridesmaids Lanterns: Target | Bridesmaids Shoes: Big W | Bridesmaid Dresses: Topshop London | Brides Dress + Flower Girls Dress: Susan McLachlan | Brides Shoes: Betts | Brides Hairpiece: Alannah Hill
I found the church in Jarrahdale by accident, but as soon as I saw it I knew it was the place. I had wanted to be married in a place much like the country wedding in "Dr Quinn Medicine Woman" - an old tv show - and this was it. And the best bit was - the church has it's own bell! Which my little brothers gleefully rang as we left the church. It was a real family oriented ceremony - my father officiated, Ivan's father was his best man, and both our mothers prayed over us which was all very special. We had afternoon tea in the parkland surrounding the church following the ceremony, with all the food been made by family and church friends.
Whilst we originally intended to have our wedding in Summer, it was so important to us that Ivan's family be able to make it over from South Africa for the day - so we decided on a Winter day, and it turned out to be perfect. In light of the season, I decided to have the bridesmaids carry lanterns with candles, which gave a warm glow to the ceremony. Also, although we had a beautiful sunny day, it had been raining the day before so I wore gumboots with big red roses on them to our photoshoot! My mum also gave us the blanket she had as a little girl, and which we often used as a picnic blanket as a wedding gift. It had several holes in it, so she had my grandmother mend it with patches saying "Ivan loves Anna" - and we also used this in alot of our photos and it was very special!
My dress I had designed myself, and I had originally intended to have it made by my Great Aunt, who was coming over from New Zealand for the wedding. However, her husband had a heart bypass and although he was thankfully okay he couldn't travel so they sadly couldn't make it. I then tried ordering a dress online, which didn't work out either. So despite having started planning almost a year prior to the wedding day, my dress begun been constructed less than two months prior to the big day! In the end it ended up perfect though - with all the lace having to be stitched on and appliqued by hand to the dress it was a job of many hours work for the family friend who amazingly did the job!
My Great Aunt had also intended to be the caterer - which threw a bit of a spanner in the works of the plans! Thankfully, we found some amazing caterers and even though it was a cold winters evening outside, we had a cozy spit roasted dinner with the people we loved. The transformation that took place in our reception venue was astounding. It was a Horse and Pony Club Hall, which although it has lovely rammed earth and jarrah wood structure was stark and empty when we arrived. With a team of family and friends helping the day before our wedding it was transformed into a cozy party with meters upon meters of bunting, fairy lights, jars filled with tealights and gysophila flowers, hessian accents, a quirky photo corner and lots of photos telling guests of Ivan and I's story of love. Even the speeches were fun filled with my sister and maid of honor's speech taking the form of a song she had written about us accompanied by a surprise flash mob of our friends! From the warmth, love and fun inside you wouldn't even know it was a freezing night in the hills outdoors! I couldn't have imagined a day more perfect!
Photography: Lumens Photography | Floral Design: Tessa Chapman of Tickled Pink Posies | Caterers: WA Spit Roast | 'Forever' Cake bunting: Amy Gibbs | Bunting (at Reception): Amy Gibbs, Val Roberts, Elsie Kinney | Hessian Table Runners: Val Roberts (friend) | Blackboard Place Cards: Keith and Elsie Kinney (grandparents) | Wooden Signs: Andrew Hadfield, (uncle) | Makeup: Amanda Cass Makeup Artistry (amanda.cass@westnet.com.au) | Bridesmaids Lanterns: Target | Bridesmaids Shoes: Big W | Bridesmaid Dresses: Topshop London | Brides Dress + Flower Girls Dress: Susan McLachlan | Brides Shoes: Betts | Brides Hairpiece: Alannah Hill