Romantic Garden Wedding

Dawn Strong
April 24, 2014
Categories: Real Weddings, Romantic, Rustic

Say the word “wedding” and I immediately picture a gorgeous garden soiree. Maybe that’s the uber-romantic in me, or just the fact that I’ve been wanting to have a garden-centric wedding since before I could speak. So this beautiful Hunter Valley affair? It’s basically my everything, with lush blooms and decor from Peonies Floral Designer and a whole lot of magic captured by Candice Campbell. See it here.

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Romantic Rustic

From the Bride… We wanted an outdoor garden wedding from the beginning and when we found Robert’s Restaurant by accident, we immediately fell in love with the raw rustic styling of the restaurant, made even more amazing by the beautiful garden it was set in. With wooden log clad walls and high vaulted wooden ceilings, exposed beams and large cast iron chandeliers, the rustic charm and history filled the air.

We wanted a simple, intimate and carefree wedding that reflected who were are and what we love. Our theme was Rustic Romance with pastel colours of blush and peach with hints of lemon yellow and ivory. Our ceremony was in the late afternoon at 5pm, beneath a handmade gumleaf arch at the end of an aisle of thick full green foliage with 70 guests of our closest friends and family. We were blessed with gorgeous hot summer weather which continued on into the night.

Our Celebrant Kim Oakhill made our ceremony truly special, with her unique take on ceremony presentation, it was fun and full of good laughs, my sister read my favourite poem – ‘As long as your eyes are Blue’ by A.B Patterson.

My wedding dress was an Allure gown in champagne with a lace bodice and a big ruffled organza skirt. The groom wore a grey suit with a slight sheen and a navy and white checked shirt and navy tie. My two bridesmaids wore peach and blush pink knee length chiffon Donna Morgan ‘Morgan’ dresses and the groomsmen wore lighter grey suits with matching navy and white checked shirts and navy ties. Our makeup was courtesy of the fabulous miss Trista Jayne Rogers, and our hair was don’t by Melanie Sterjovski both local to Newcastle NSW.

I had always wanted to be married in a garden under an arch, Robert’s had everything I dreamed, except for the arch, and so that was my job… to make an arch. I began the arch the day before the wedding, I had collected bunches of eucalypt branches filled with fresh green gum leaves and gum nuts and created my arch. I had collected meters and meters of pastel satin ribbon in various shades matching or colour theme to hang in the archway. Peonies Floral Designer completed the rest, adding gorgeous flowers, the ribbons and some vine to the complete the look.

Peonies Floral Designer created all of the floral and styling of our bouquets, buttonholes, the venue and ceremony styling, including completing the floral styling of my DIY arch and my flower crown… My most favourite thing I wore that day! Darlene from Peonies floral Designer absolutely blew me away with her vision for the flower crown and for every detail of our venue and ceremony styling.

Candice Campbell Photography captured all of our special moments. We chose Candice for her love for sun flare and effortlessly natural style and of course her beautiful personality which made us feel so comfortable. We visited Peppers Convent, the Robert’s Restaurant gardens and vineyard and a local field to capture our photographs all within five minutes of our ceremony and reception location.

Guests enjoyed a three-course sit down meal by executive chef George Fancisco, of pork belly, three-cheese stuffed zucchini flowers, dukah crusted chicken breast, beef sirloin, lavender honey panacotta and triple chocolate silk cake with raspberry peppercorn sauce.

Our wedding cake was made by a friend Nikki Adams, it was a two-tiered ruffled chocolate mud cake and it was delicious! She also made a four-tier caramel mud slab cake and a white chocolate, coconut and raspberry mud cake for our desert/candy bar. Sharna Hunter my sister in law created our pastel themed candy bar.

We enjoyed a night full of fun and dancing to our favourite country music on an outdoor undercover dance floor draped with fairy lights. Our night was finished off by walking out with our guests through a shower of sparklers, and a short walk to Peppers Convent that shared the property with Roberts Restaurant, where we had reserved all of the rooms for our guests. We spent the next morning having a delicious cooked full breakfast with our guests in the Peppers Convent dining room.

It was the most amazing weekend we have spent with our closest friends and family that has given us the most special memories.