Beautiful Country Wedding
There's a very special place in my heart that I reserve for Australian weddings. It's a place that celebrates all things rustic with a dash of whimsy + elegance thrown in for seriously good measure. Think crazy cool outdoor ceremonies followed up by awesome barn parties with mason jars, lawn games and cute pups in attendance. Feast your eyes on all of the beauty captured by I Heart Weddings right here.
From I Heart Weddings... Autumn is a magical time of year in South West Australia. Sure the days get a little shorter and the nights are chillier but we have an abundance of big, beautiful, blue skies which are perfect for a country wedding.
Fred and Marisa met at a Christmas party where they were plus ones for mutual friends. Fred’s first words to Marisa were “I like your fringe” (bangs for our friends in the States) and the rest, as they say, is history.
Fred and Marisa were wed at heritage-listed Alverstoke Homestead just out of Marisa’s hometown of Bunbury. “In the early stages of wedding planning, my parents casually mentioned that some friends of theirs have a lovely farm property with a barn called Alverstoke. Barn... did someone just say barn? It was our ultimate wedding venue, an old timber barn, but they are a rare commodity to find in Australia let alone as a wedding venue,” says Marisa. “We soon discovered that there was more to the property than just a barn. Alverstoke has a magical sense of place that is so encapsulating. We instantly fell in love with the property's charm and beauty; the many rustic farm buildings immersed within a beautiful agricultural setting really appealed to us as a complete wedding venue. It provided the perfect setting for a relaxed outdoor ceremony under a big 'knarly' tree. The beautiful lawns and gardens were ideal for afternoon drinks and lawn games after the ceremony (or in our case a spontanuous 'Aussies versus Poms' cricket match!). And that old barn certainly didn't disappoint either; we loved the idea of having an intimate dinner party for the evening reception and the barn was a fabulous backdrop for our vision, as well as satisfying my architectural side.”
When asked to try and pinpoint her favorite part of the day (a very hard task) Marisa says that she would re-live the ceremony over and over again.
“I know it sounds corny but holding my future hubby’s hands (very tightly mind you!) and exchanging vows in front of our nearest and dearest is probably my most precious moment. I was so incredibly happy, and it was such a fun and relaxed ceremony. I think it helped that a lot of our guests had taken advantage of the Pimm’s Bar beforehand so everyone was as happy as me! Not to mention our dog Marmalade, who was our ring bearer, 'woofing' at very opportunistic moments throughout our ceremony... priceless!”
From the Bride... Fred spent a lot of his younger years snowboarding the Mont Blanc in the French Alps. Contrary to my knowledge, he had once said to his best mate that if he ever found the right girl to marry he would propose on the summit of Aiguille Du Midi, one of the mountains. In the European summer of 2012 we arranged a touring holiday of France, and he insisted on staying in Chamonix, the village in the valley of the Mont Blanc. He insists he hadn't planned to propose that trip, and only bought a proposal ring the day before off a French jeweller who insisted he should take me out for dinner and ply me with Champagne instead of taking me up to the top of a mountain! Lucky Fred stuck to his original plan... well sort of! Chamonix, even though its famous for being a ski resort, is tremendously busy in the summer time and the viewing platform at the summit was already packed with tourists at 9am. So he changed tactics and proposed about halfway down the mountain on a secluded rocky outcrop... it ended up being the perfect setting. And for the record, we did have some celebratory champagnes!
Fred and Marisa met at a Christmas party where they were plus ones for mutual friends. Fred’s first words to Marisa were “I like your fringe” (bangs for our friends in the States) and the rest, as they say, is history.
Fred and Marisa were wed at heritage-listed Alverstoke Homestead just out of Marisa’s hometown of Bunbury. “In the early stages of wedding planning, my parents casually mentioned that some friends of theirs have a lovely farm property with a barn called Alverstoke. Barn... did someone just say barn? It was our ultimate wedding venue, an old timber barn, but they are a rare commodity to find in Australia let alone as a wedding venue,” says Marisa. “We soon discovered that there was more to the property than just a barn. Alverstoke has a magical sense of place that is so encapsulating. We instantly fell in love with the property's charm and beauty; the many rustic farm buildings immersed within a beautiful agricultural setting really appealed to us as a complete wedding venue. It provided the perfect setting for a relaxed outdoor ceremony under a big 'knarly' tree. The beautiful lawns and gardens were ideal for afternoon drinks and lawn games after the ceremony (or in our case a spontanuous 'Aussies versus Poms' cricket match!). And that old barn certainly didn't disappoint either; we loved the idea of having an intimate dinner party for the evening reception and the barn was a fabulous backdrop for our vision, as well as satisfying my architectural side.”
When asked to try and pinpoint her favorite part of the day (a very hard task) Marisa says that she would re-live the ceremony over and over again.
“I know it sounds corny but holding my future hubby’s hands (very tightly mind you!) and exchanging vows in front of our nearest and dearest is probably my most precious moment. I was so incredibly happy, and it was such a fun and relaxed ceremony. I think it helped that a lot of our guests had taken advantage of the Pimm’s Bar beforehand so everyone was as happy as me! Not to mention our dog Marmalade, who was our ring bearer, 'woofing' at very opportunistic moments throughout our ceremony... priceless!”
From the Bride... Fred spent a lot of his younger years snowboarding the Mont Blanc in the French Alps. Contrary to my knowledge, he had once said to his best mate that if he ever found the right girl to marry he would propose on the summit of Aiguille Du Midi, one of the mountains. In the European summer of 2012 we arranged a touring holiday of France, and he insisted on staying in Chamonix, the village in the valley of the Mont Blanc. He insists he hadn't planned to propose that trip, and only bought a proposal ring the day before off a French jeweller who insisted he should take me out for dinner and ply me with Champagne instead of taking me up to the top of a mountain! Lucky Fred stuck to his original plan... well sort of! Chamonix, even though its famous for being a ski resort, is tremendously busy in the summer time and the viewing platform at the summit was already packed with tourists at 9am. So he changed tactics and proposed about halfway down the mountain on a secluded rocky outcrop... it ended up being the perfect setting. And for the record, we did have some celebratory champagnes!