Elegant Hunter Valley Wedding at Peppers Creek
You are going to need to sit down for this beauty, trust me. Because just when you think it can't get any prettier, it does. And then some. Captured beautifully by Studio Impressions Photography, this wedding is the definition of jaw-droppingly gorgeous. With gorgeous florals from Peonies Floral Designer and styling by Decorating Dreams, this gallery couldn't be prettier if it tried. See more here.
From Studio Impressions Photography ...Madeline and Matt were going for an ‘Elegant Vineyard Chic’ feel to the wedding and drew inspiration from a number of places, such as old Parisian manuscripts for the programs to the names of Lake Como towns (where we got engaged!) for our table names.
The bride designed and produced the programs, menus and bombonieres.
From the Bride...The girls and I stayed at a property onsite so there was never a feeling of rushing at all the whole day which made for a relaxed and enjoyable experience. I was given away by my mother who was a picture of perfection (and had intentionally coordinated her outfit to match my sash!) and we walked down the aisle to the string trio’s version of a “Thousand Years”. Exchanging vows in front of our nearest and dearest in the gorgeous sandstone Peppers Creek Chapel was literally everything I hoped for. A special touch for me, was a photo of my late father that was placed in a silver heart locket and attached to my bouquet – giving me the much needed feeling that he was still able to walk me down the aisle. They arrived to a string trio which really set the mood for the ceremony. Matt had put together "Our Story" that was printed and distributed as part of the program, in order to give guests something to read as they patiently waited.
We walked out of the chapel, showered in rose petals thrown by our guests to the tune of Natalie Cole’s Everlasting Love before being whisked away to our location shoot by our fabulous photographer, Marcus Bell. Marcus had found some really stunning places hidden within the Hunter and took vineyard wedding photography to a whole other level, taking advantage of the awesome dusk light. From the first meeting he was warm and easygoing and precisely who we wanted to cover our special day. He covered my requests for formal family portraits, as well as the amazing landscape shots, and then all the candids in between! I couldn’t even spot him during the reception, yet the shots he captured were just truly breathtaking.
During cocktail hour, the guests were kept busy with canapés, drinks, the photobooth and assorted lawn games before being ushered into the enchanting Peppers Creek Barrel Room for the reception. The Peonies team did an amazing job of bringing to realization the couple's vision with elegant mercury glass vases, romantic ivory flowers and the warmth of candlelight.
Midway through the mains, we played a twist on the Shoe Game and instead had given out to each guest 2 paddles, one with the Bride’s face on it and one with the Groom’s face on it. The awesome MC then asked everyone (including us!) a series of questions and everyone held up the paddle of who they thought best answered the question. Needless to say I believe most of the crowd got the answer wrong to “Who is the better driver”!? Haven’t laughed that hard in ages (and made for some hilarious candid shots!)." Each of the 240 game paddles were painstakingly made by the couple leading up to the wedding.
Our first dance came up which was something both of us were extremely nervous about. We are probably the world’s most uncoordinated couple, so we decided to start dance lessons 4 months prior to the wedding in order to give us both some much needed confidence. As if a dance wasn’t challenging enough, I had a moment of aberration and thought it would be a good idea to copy a routine from So You Think You Can Dance which involved the Viennese Waltz?! And although we missed a step or two (we were told no one noticed!), to have us overcome our shortcomings and have a go at this together was something I think all couples should do. There’s a feeling of accomplishment when you learn something together, invest time to get it right together, and sets a perfect example to dance through the rest of your lives together.
Music was very important to us, so after the first dance our awesome band Brown Sugar took over and really got the dance floor pumping. Our cake was a 3-layered masterpiece by I Do Wedding Cakes, consisting of a Caramel Drop, Red Velvet and Cherry Ripe layers.
The night ended with a sparkler sendoff by the guests and the groom’s MG getting a makeover from his groomsmen. The guests were driven home by various shuttles in order to ensure they could have a good night and not worry about driving afterwards and had personalized M&Ms (for Madeline & Matt) as bombonieres if they wanted another sweet bite for the ride home. The kids received activity packs at the reception (packaged in the same champagne ribbon as the bombonieres!)
Madeline's advice for a smooth wedding day:
1. Book your vendors ASAP – all the small details can come after, but to avoid disappointment hit all the big points of reception and ceremony venues, photographer and band first.
2. If it can be done BEFORE the actual day – DO IT. Leave the day of the wedding for the essentials - eat, hair & makeup, eat, and get dressed (did I mention eat?). The Morning Of is not the time to start steaming outfits or making bombonieres.
3. Confirm orders with vendors a month before, and then a week before. Trust me. (Better to be annoying, than be left with no chairs at the reception!)
4. Finally, if you can’t change it, don’t stress it – there’s no point getting worked up over something that cannot be changed. So identify the issue, find a substitution/resolution and move on.
The bride designed and produced the programs, menus and bombonieres.
From the Bride...The girls and I stayed at a property onsite so there was never a feeling of rushing at all the whole day which made for a relaxed and enjoyable experience. I was given away by my mother who was a picture of perfection (and had intentionally coordinated her outfit to match my sash!) and we walked down the aisle to the string trio’s version of a “Thousand Years”. Exchanging vows in front of our nearest and dearest in the gorgeous sandstone Peppers Creek Chapel was literally everything I hoped for. A special touch for me, was a photo of my late father that was placed in a silver heart locket and attached to my bouquet – giving me the much needed feeling that he was still able to walk me down the aisle. They arrived to a string trio which really set the mood for the ceremony. Matt had put together "Our Story" that was printed and distributed as part of the program, in order to give guests something to read as they patiently waited.
We walked out of the chapel, showered in rose petals thrown by our guests to the tune of Natalie Cole’s Everlasting Love before being whisked away to our location shoot by our fabulous photographer, Marcus Bell. Marcus had found some really stunning places hidden within the Hunter and took vineyard wedding photography to a whole other level, taking advantage of the awesome dusk light. From the first meeting he was warm and easygoing and precisely who we wanted to cover our special day. He covered my requests for formal family portraits, as well as the amazing landscape shots, and then all the candids in between! I couldn’t even spot him during the reception, yet the shots he captured were just truly breathtaking.
During cocktail hour, the guests were kept busy with canapés, drinks, the photobooth and assorted lawn games before being ushered into the enchanting Peppers Creek Barrel Room for the reception. The Peonies team did an amazing job of bringing to realization the couple's vision with elegant mercury glass vases, romantic ivory flowers and the warmth of candlelight.
Midway through the mains, we played a twist on the Shoe Game and instead had given out to each guest 2 paddles, one with the Bride’s face on it and one with the Groom’s face on it. The awesome MC then asked everyone (including us!) a series of questions and everyone held up the paddle of who they thought best answered the question. Needless to say I believe most of the crowd got the answer wrong to “Who is the better driver”!? Haven’t laughed that hard in ages (and made for some hilarious candid shots!)." Each of the 240 game paddles were painstakingly made by the couple leading up to the wedding.
Our first dance came up which was something both of us were extremely nervous about. We are probably the world’s most uncoordinated couple, so we decided to start dance lessons 4 months prior to the wedding in order to give us both some much needed confidence. As if a dance wasn’t challenging enough, I had a moment of aberration and thought it would be a good idea to copy a routine from So You Think You Can Dance which involved the Viennese Waltz?! And although we missed a step or two (we were told no one noticed!), to have us overcome our shortcomings and have a go at this together was something I think all couples should do. There’s a feeling of accomplishment when you learn something together, invest time to get it right together, and sets a perfect example to dance through the rest of your lives together.
Music was very important to us, so after the first dance our awesome band Brown Sugar took over and really got the dance floor pumping. Our cake was a 3-layered masterpiece by I Do Wedding Cakes, consisting of a Caramel Drop, Red Velvet and Cherry Ripe layers.
The night ended with a sparkler sendoff by the guests and the groom’s MG getting a makeover from his groomsmen. The guests were driven home by various shuttles in order to ensure they could have a good night and not worry about driving afterwards and had personalized M&Ms (for Madeline & Matt) as bombonieres if they wanted another sweet bite for the ride home. The kids received activity packs at the reception (packaged in the same champagne ribbon as the bombonieres!)
Madeline's advice for a smooth wedding day:
1. Book your vendors ASAP – all the small details can come after, but to avoid disappointment hit all the big points of reception and ceremony venues, photographer and band first.
2. If it can be done BEFORE the actual day – DO IT. Leave the day of the wedding for the essentials - eat, hair & makeup, eat, and get dressed (did I mention eat?). The Morning Of is not the time to start steaming outfits or making bombonieres.
3. Confirm orders with vendors a month before, and then a week before. Trust me. (Better to be annoying, than be left with no chairs at the reception!)
4. Finally, if you can’t change it, don’t stress it – there’s no point getting worked up over something that cannot be changed. So identify the issue, find a substitution/resolution and move on.