If there are two things that embody my wedding “happy place” they are lavender and a wicked good floral design. Lucky for me, today’s wedding boasts that plus stunning backdrops, a beautiful couple, and a love so sweet you can feel it right though Jen Corish’s photographs. With Wanaka Wedding Flowers on the flowers, it’s no wonder this stunning soiree has captured my heart and has no plans on giving it back.
I bought my dress from Brides Selection, a Bridal Boutique in Ledderville, Perth. I love the strapless, A-line Paris chiffon gown with elegant train which was tied up after the ceremony. My bridesmaids were quite an international bunch, one came from Sydney, one from Vancouver and another from Toronto. With me in Australia and the bridesmaids elsewhere, organising the gowns proved to be the most challenging aspect of the wedding. They wore, dusty lavender full length dresses, which could be tied differently depending on each girl’s preference. These were bought from “Bridesmaids Only”, in Sydney. The dresses where very flattering on all the girls, including my Maid of Honour, who was seven months pregnant at the time. The boys, including Hamish wore matching charcoal slim-fitting suits from Tarocash.
Janine Joseph, a local make-up artist did a beautiful job with the make-up and Ashleigh Johnston of Zaibatsu Hair Art (Dunedin) travelled to Wanaka to work her magic on our hair.
Hamish and I met prior to our ceremony, so we could relax, and spend more of our wedding day together. We chose Penrith Beach for our meeting spot as it was quiet, secluded and a favourite swimming place of our Labrador, “Coco”. We had some photos with Lake Wanaka in the background before moving to a second rural location, recommended by our amazing photographer Jen, from Alpine Image Co. She was fantastic, made all of us feel at ease and relaxed while she captured the essence of the day. I met Jen at my friend’s wedding in 2013 and instantly knew she was the photographer for us.
Shirley from Wanaka Wedding Flowers was recommended to me by a friend and she was so great to deal with. She was full of helpful advice and ideas for the flowers. In the end we decided on roses, dahlias, stock, alstomeria, lisianthus, freesias in soft pastel colours for the bridesmaids and similar flowers in neutrals for the bridal bouquet.
Edgewater resort was the perfect location for the ceremony and reception. It has a beautiful outlook over the lake, plenty of options for outdoor ceremony location options and an indoor option. Our ceremony was held overlooking Lake Wanaka. Glennys Harris Logan was our celebrant. She did a truly superb job at helping us plan the ceremony (all of which was done via email, while we were in Australia). My nine year old Nephew wrote a heart-felt poem that he read during the ceremony, which brought me and several of our guests to tears.
LA Social Club from Queenstown played an acoustic set during the cocktail hour, during this time Hamish and I could catch up with our friends and family, instead of rushing off for more photos.
Jude Taylor of “Taylor Made Cake” from Gore, hand crafted a spectacular cake. I was inspired by a photo I found on line, emailed it to Jude and she produced a stunningly rich chocolate cake, iced to perfection. Shirley (our florist), outdid herself again with her table decorations. She used similar flowers to those in the bouquets, and placed a mixture in small glass bottles, 3 per table. It was so simple yet so effective. Also on the tables were antique tea cups and saucers that once belonged to both of my Grandmothers, with tea light candles placed inside. Our tables were named after our favourite part of the farm on which we live or have visited in Western Australia.
Hamish’s very talented sister, and graphic designer, Jocelyn, designed and made all the stationery. We included a water mark of wheat sprigs on the stationery to represent the crop farm where Hamish works.
The dinner at Edgewater was delicious. We had a buffet with an excellent variety of dishes and the service from the wait stuff was faultless. Our first dance was a slightly nerve-racking affair for Hamish as dancing is not one of his strong points, but after a lot of practicing in our dining room, we impressed the crowd with a few well-rehearsed steps to “Ho Hey” by The Lumineers. LA social club then got the party started and later Hamish wowed the crowd again. He is a very good drummer so Hamish’s groomsman covertly organised with the band for Hamish to take the place of their drummer for a song. He had our guests stunned with his talent, even the band members were impressed.
Our day was filled with fun and lots of laughter, all thanks to our wonderful guests. Weddings can happen anywhere and at any time but it can only be a true celebration when all the people you love are there to share it with you.
Photography: Alpine Image Company | Floral Design: Wanaka Wedding Flowers | Cake: Jude Taylor | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Bridesmaids Only | Make-up: Janine Joseph | Men's Attire: Tarocash | Celebrant: Glennys Harris Logan | Wedding Venue: Edgewater Resort | Hair Dresser: Ziabatsu Hair Art | Music: L.A. Social | Wedding Dress Boutique: Brides Selection