La Sigh. I am so in love with today’s real wedding! With gorgeous understated dark berry tones and an antique style, lace wedding gown, this wedding sure is utterly dreamy. What really stands out for me are the absolutely stunning Australian native flowers used to decorate the day, and Kim’s incredibly romantic wedding gown of course!
Totally in love with the natural beauty of their chosen wedding venue, it became the natural inspiration for their nature inspired wedding day. On a budget, Kim, Chris and their families handmade many of the wedding details, choosing to splash the cash on fine foods wine and live entertainment. This is such a beautiful wedding, I can’t wait to share!
Words by Kim. Beautiful images by Aparat Photography.
Keep it natural, simple and romantic was my mantra throughout all of the decisions and planning.
We wanted to get married in a place that reflected our love for the natural environment and Australian countryside. As soon as we saw the amazing views of the Yarra Valley from Sutherland Estate we decided that it was the perfect venue.
To be surrounded by such beauty on our wedding day made the occasion so much more special.
Chris and I did as much ourselves as we could, with the support of our family and friends. We didn’t mind if it wasn’t a perfectly orchestrated wanted the whole day to have a personal touch and ‘home made’ feel.
My mum made the bridesmaids dresses from a beautiful silk fabric with Australian native flowers printed on it. I didn’t want the girls to look identical, so they chose their own style dresses.
I wanted an antique style dress with lace that was easy to dance in, and I definitely didn’t want white! I loved this dress the moment I saw it.
We used my Dad’s Citron 2CV for our wedding car.
My head piece and veil were made by my sister who is a very talented milliner – Her Halo Millinery.
I walked down the aisle to Nick Cave’s ‘Into My Arms’, but it was played acoustically on the harp and sung in a soprano voice by a good friend of ours Claire Patti. Clair sung and played all of the music during the ceremony.
Chris arranged for us to make our own wedding bands which I was so surprised about. We spent a whole day in the workshop learning how to turn a tiny block of gold into a perfect wedding band.
It was such fun and brought so much more emotional attachment to the words ‘with this ring, I thee wed’ when you have actually made the ring yourself (with a lot of help from an expert jeweller!)
The venue is stunning as it is. There are huge glass widows framing views of the Yarra Valley that we didn’t want to detract from so we didn’t do a lot of styling inside.
To add a personal touch we placed framed photos around the room of Chris and I spending time together doing the things we love such as travelling, hiking, skiing and mountain biking.
We wanted a relaxed wedding with a connection to the natural environment. Australian natives are so unique, and using them blended the outdoors, the ceremony and the reception together perfectly.
We loved our wedding photos! Zosia and Jakub of Aparat Photography really captured the emotion of each moment and had great attention to detail. They had a really relaxed approach which is exactly what we were wanting on the day.
My most memorable wedding moment? Listening to Chris’ speech (that brought down the house) was so special, and doing our wedding dance together.
If I could impart any words of wisdom for future brides..
It was tough sticking to a rather small budget so we had to prioritise things and do a lot ourselves, which was fun! One of the most important things to us was that everyone had a great time. We also wanted high quality live music, something we are both passionate about.
Choosing a fantastic band and live ceremony music really created a great atmosphere for everyone. Also, choosing a venue with high quality food and wine meant everyone had a fantastic celebration. A wedding is not just about you two as a couple, it’s about all of your guests having a great time as well, so we made decisions that were going to help achieve that.
Ohhh. I’m still sighing!!! I absolutely adore this wedding and all its natural beauty, aren’t those Australian native flowers (more commonly known as Protea) AMAZING?! Loving the handmade, floral printed bridesmaid dresses too.
Huge congrats to the lovely Kim & Chris and a massive thanks to Aparat Photography for sharing this perfectly captured day with the Want That Wedding Blog. This wedding is totally understated and totally perfect don’t you think?
wedding credits / photography: aparat photography / venue: sunderland estate, yarra valley, austrailia / headpiece and veil: her halo millinary / florist: sugarbeeflowers / entertainment: harpist, claire patti swing band, the shuffle club / hair & makeup: living dolls / wedding rings: larsen jewellery
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This is so amazing! What a feature :)
Very nice photos in the country. I think my wife and I should of taken this option too and not go with the traditional city based photos.
Love it! Absolutely gorgeous!