I was head over heels for today’s utterly lovely wedding from the very first image. From the bright and beautiful native Australian blooms, to the romantic ceremony under a giant oak tree, and the unique backdrop of an inner city farm trimmed with bunting and twinkly string lights; it is the perfect mix of vintage glamour and rustic charm…..

I will let lovely bride Amy tell you all about it….. “We would describe our wedding as country meets the city. Aaron grew up on a farm in Northern Victoria and Amy in metropolitan Melbourne and we wanted a wedding that reflected who were are as a couple and the bringing together of our lives. The Collingwood Children’s Farm suited this perfectly – a little country oasis just on the outskirts of Melbourne’s CBD. From our venue through to our invites, styling and decor, a rustic theme with pops of colour (such as our bunting and the native Australian flowers) came through.  

We have a diverse group of very close friends which lead us to have a bridal party of 14 🙂 But each played an important part of our day and it was so wonderful to surrounded by all the people in the world who are important to us.”

“One of our groomsmen made a personalised directions sign for the entrance of the venue which pointed to the ceremony, and reception!”

“Our florist was Ame from Raven and the Rose, who we discovered through our photographer. The brief we gave her was Australian natives with a pop of colour, and unstructured bouquets with a feature of King Proteas…… She absolutely nailed it!”

“Our ceremony was held outdoors, under the big oak tree along the Yarra River path near the Collingwood Children’s Farm. The feel we wanted for our ceremony was a relaxed vibe. The Collingwood Children’s farm decorated the area with rustic/vintage feel including native flowers in glass jars, registary table with white lace table cloth and a pop-up bar including drinks iced in an old wheelbarrow.”

“My dress was by Justin Alexander, style 8792. I sourced it from Fairytales Bridal in Moonee Ponds. It was elegant and gorgeous and I loved that it wasn’t pure white!

It was the first one I tried on and I purchased it that same day after only trying on 2 others! Before I went shopping I didn’t really know what I was looking for, all I knew was that I didn’t want strapless.”

“We chose our celebrant, Julia Doevan, for her warm and bubbly personality – we felt as though a great fit the both of us. She made the experience unique, interjecting our personal story along with the formalities required. We were also really lucky that she let us have one of our groomsmen announce us as husband and wife!”

” I went for a bit of a vintage look for my hair, and kept my make up natural and feminine.”

“We had 7 bridesmaids!!! Who we allowed to chose their own dresses – Wwe wanted them to be comfortable and really enjoy what they were wearing. Our only specifications were no maxi lengths and no strapless. “

“Our reception was held in the Collingwood Children’s Farm Barn. This is a working barn during the day and was transformed for our event with 10 long harvester style tables, decorated with Australian natives. We kept the decorations quite simple for the rest of the barn, with the bunting being the main feature.”

“We had a rustic ladder with names as our table planner.”

“We wanted to promote socialising and a relaxed feel as much as possible, so we had both the entree and the dessert served in Jars so people could pick one up and still move around, rather than being restricted to their tables. The mains were served on share plates in the middle of the table, again to promote a relaxed environment that was easy to socialise in.  We’re both big foodies and we absolutely loved the decadent spread that the farm put on for us – no one was going hungry!”

“The maid of honour made our cake, which was incredibly special. She and her husband flew to Australia (they live in England) and she made the cake in the week leading up to the reception (she has a blog and business called Dessert First )

The cake was a ‘naked’ cake, topped with blooms by Raven and the Rose to match our bouquets. It was lemon and raspberry flavoured – lemon sponge with raspberry cheesecake layers with lemon buttercream, finished with a white chocolate ganache drip.”

“We selected to have a 5-piece ensemble from Lark Music, who felt the mood and played different sets depending on what stage we were up to for the evening.  We had seen lark at a friends wedding and knew they were the band for us – upbeat, and funky, not to mention great at the classics!

We had two of the members of our bridal party choreograph our first dance to the song ‘ love is in the air’ and we had so much fun performing it for everyone!  After this everyone danced the night away!”

Pearls of wedding wisdom from the bride…

“Try to keep perspective – it’s so easy to get caught up in the hype! We remembered it is our day, and we tried not to get too caught up in the little details as the most important thing was that we got to share this special day with not just each other, but all of the people who are really important to us.

To help create your perfect day whilst sticking to your budget, pick the details you can’t imagine your day without and go for them, but also decide upon those things that you are willing to compromise on. For us, we really wanted beautiful food, a live band and a great photographer, and we spent extra money on all of these things. We were able to afford these things as we were willing to sacrifice favors, wedding cars and an immediate honeymoon overseas.”

“Instead of a guest book, we had a finger print tree which we loved! and its now framed and hung in our lounge room.”

Tell us a little bit about your photographer…

“Our photographer was Pierre Curry and he was AMAZING! He takes beautiful candid shots and you hardly even realise he’s there. He was also instrumental in creating the wedding. After the venue, Pierre was the next vendor we chose, and he and his wife Lucie provided lots of suggestions helping us find other vendors, particularly our florist – Ame of Raven and the Rose.”

VIEW THE GALLERY

I just love that last picture – the glamour against the rustic background is just so cool! Hugs and huge congratulations to beautiful bride Amy and her dapper hubby Aaron. Plus big thanks to them, and to their wonderful photographer Pierre Curry who captured their charming day so perfectly and allowed me to share it with you here on Chic Vintage Brides. Do pop across to Pierre’e website www.pierrecurry.com to see more of his work, and follow him on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.

For more bright and beautiful weddings you might want to take a peek at this Winter woodland beauty and you won’t want to miss the glamorous rustic affair of bridal designer Anna Campbell! Or for more barn wedding receptions pop across to this elegant and opulent vision of loveliness and this 1920s stunner. You will find all of these and more here.

Amy

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Credits

Photography – Pierre Curry // Wedding Dress – Justin Alexander // Bridal Boutique – Fairytales Bridal // Bridal Shoes – Dianna Ferrari // Bridesmaid’s Dresses – Modcloth, ASOS // Bridesmaids Shoes – Bonbons // Groom’s Attire – Oscar Hunt // Accessories – Samantha Wills // Hair – Sassy Boss Hair // Ceremony Venue – Collingwood Children’s Farm // Celebrant – Julia Doevan // Floral Design – Raven and the Rose // Catering – Farm Cafe // Wedding Cake – Dessert First // Stationery – Paper Dainty // Men’s Grooming – Men + Co // Bunting – A Few Of My Favourite Strings // Acoustic Music – Luke Meeking // Band – 5 Piece Ensemble from Lark Music