OUR WEDDING
After planning our wedding not once, not twice but THREE times we FINALLY walked down the aisle (together) and it was truly the most BEAUTIFUL day.
Let me tell you all about it…
We did a lot for things a bit different to your typical wedding because we wanted the day to really feel like us!. We didn’t want it to be a cookie cutter wedding that we inserted ourselves into.
Also, when you plan your wedding three times over the course of three years there are things that are bound to change along the way.
Third time round we stuck to our guns and focused on our day being about us (and it was 100% worth it) because at the end of the day no one cares about your day as much as you do, so if I have one piece of advice, make yourselves and the things you want a priority.
Ok, so lets get to the good parts
Clancy and I were married here on our farm on a beautiful Spring day, Friday September 8th 2023.
The weather was so beautiful, Spring here in South east Queensland, Australia, can be a bit unpredictable, it could be cool and fine or it could be roasting hot!
Thankfully for us it was a beautiful, clear, fine day which was such a relief as our ceremony was planned to be alfresco in our creek-side courtyard.
THE DAY
So like I said we really wanted our day to feel like us, so we did things a bit different to most typical weddings. I didn’t think we went too crazy but my Uncle Willy said that it was the WEIRDEST but BEST wedding he had ever been to! Which to us, was a huge compliment.
so what did we do different:
WALKING DOWN THE AISLE- we walked down the aisle together, my dad passed when I was a young girl so this was always going to be a tricky thing to navigate. My FIL offered (he picked me up and drove me from Wee Tiny to the ceremony) but that didn’t feel right. I initially thought that I would walk down the aisle by myself because that felt symbolic to me but then when I actually started to think about it, I thought about how Clancy and I had been doing life together for the last eight years and I really wanted him by my side. I knew I would be nervous, so doing it together felt like the right decision and when it came to it, it absolutely was.
We chose to walk down the aisle to Artie Shaw’s version of “Moondance” and it was so perfect, you can listen here.
INTIMATE GUEST LIST- we kept things really intimate (family and a couple of friends each bought us to 33) and looking back it was the best decision. We DIYed almost everything and pulled off our wedding in a very short timeframe. So having less people made things a lot easier from invites, seating, favours, to actually getting to enjoy the day and not feeling pulled in every direction. Cost was also a BIG factor, we wanted our day to be really memorable and special but we didn’t want to go into debt for it. Catering was paid for back in 2020 when our guest numbers were around the 70 mark and it had more than doubled due to inflation. It was a challenge to cut numbers but it was the right thing to do for us.
FEASTING MENU- we chose an Italian feasting menu for our wedding instead of the typical alternate drop because WE BOTH LOVE FOOD and wanted the food at our wedding to be delicious and abundant. No trips through the Maccas drive thru necessary.
The other thing that we really wanted to enjoy was the cocktail hour but didn’t want our guests to be starving and bored stiff whilst waiting for us to have our photos so we served Italian gelato and then grazing boards while we had our photos. That way we could hold the canapés from being served until we had returned from our photos.
WE DIDN’T DO SPEECHES- we chose not to do speeches at our wedding, instead we did a traditional Scottish Quaich Ceremony which Uncle Willy performed.
Clancy also spoke briefly and thanked everyone for coming which was really lovely but that was it.
MUSIC- we catered to our own taste in music, there was no Nutbush City Limits or Macarena. We had a local Jazz band play our favourite tunes from eras gone by and then we made a playlist with all the greats, LOUIS, ELLA, BILLIE and so on. This might not have been to everyone else’s taste but it was another element that made our wedding feel uniquely us. Also if you didn’t already know Clancy & I met at swing dance classes so we danced the night away to our favourite tunes.
SERIOUSLY, it was such a BEAUTIFUL DAY
LET’S TALK ABOUT THE DETAILS
VENUE: Ceremony in our courtyard, reception in our shed, honeymoon at Wee Tiny
THE FLOWERS: Cottage garden florals- white, blue with a pop of pale yellow consisting of, Delphinium, Carnations, Queen Anne’s Lace, Giant Poppies, Stock, Matricaria White Button, Tea Roses
THE DECOR: Vintage Farm Romance
Vintage pew seating for ceremony, romantic florals and antiques, dried hydrangea confetti, gingham linen table cloths & napkins, coupe champagne glasses, mismatched vintage china crockery & cutlery
THE FOOD: Italian Feasting Menu
Canapés- Calamari, Italian Meatballs, Truffle and Mushroom Arancini, Smoked Salmon & Dill Crostini
Mains- Woodfired Pizzas various flavours ,Truffle & Mushroom Gnocchi, Pumpkin Blue cheese & walnut gnocchi, Pasta Beef Ragu, Pear Parmasan & Rocket Salad
THE CAKE: Two Tier Buttercream delight adorned with fresh flowers
Tier one- Passionfruit & Vanilla Buttercream
Tier two- Raspberry & Lemon Curd with Vanilla Butteream
THE CARS:
I was driven in our 1957 model Morris Minor by Clancy’s dad Barry
Then Clancy & I drove to our portrait shoot in our 1938 model Morris 8 Ute adorned with tin cans & a hand painted “JUST MARRIED” sign Clancy had made
WHAT DID WE DIYed?
FLORALS: we DIYed all our florals including the bridal bouquet (made at midnight the night before), boutonniere , ceremony urns, receptions centrepieces, flowers sourced from GCWHOLESALE and THELOVEGARDEN.
STYLING: green gingham linen tablecloths (I purchase 280cm wide fabric so they came to the floor and completely covered the tables), black and white gingham napkins, mismatched china crockery that we had collected over the years, various antique furniture and curios to make the space feel eclectically us
GELATO CART: this was actually one of our favourite features.
FAVOURS: jars of honey from our hives with gingham toppers.
SIGNS: hand painted signs at the start of our street and every 1km or so that read,
Clancy loves Fiona
FOREVER, & EVER
& EVER
plus
JUST MARRIED & tin cans for the car
(All of these signs were made by Clancy as a surprise for me).
THE DRESS, OR I SHOULD SAY DRESSES: so I designed and made not one, but two wedding dresses with less than three weeks to go.
I self drafted the design based off original dresses I own from the 1940s (my favourite era).
I really wanted to wear an original vintage dress but I never found the ONE. So I decided to draft and make it myself.
Being that I was so short of time because our lives literarily went bonkers the day we set the date (for the third time) and it was off more times than if was on, I had to be practical.
I was set on having two dresses, a full length for the ceremony and a shorter dress for the reception (so I could dance the night away). Me being practical decided to make the same dress twice, one long, one short. I had to do a mock-up to begin with so technically I made three dresses and after making the mock-up I also realised it had to be fully lined.
So I designed and made both of my actual wedding dresses, both fully lined in a bit over a week, two weeks before our wedding and I was so happy with how they turned out. I could go on and on about the process of making my wedding dresses, so let me know if that interests you and perhaps I will do a dedicated blog post on them.
HAIR & MAKEUP- I have a very specific style of hair and makeup so chose to do it myself. I set my hair in rollers and did my makeup as per usual and it turned out perfect.
Two days beforehand I cut Clancy’s hair and gave his beard a trim.
CLANCYS LOOK- vintage Harris Tweed jacket found at an op shop years ago, a tailored white shirt, vintage style Tweed tie from OTTA, pocket handkerchief made from an offcut of my dress, classic charcoal pants from PETERJACKSON, vintage brown leather boots, BRIXTON hat.
So, we hope that if anything, this has perhaps given you some inspiration to do WHATEVER you like for your wedding and make it a uniquely you moment!
Special mentions:
To our amazing photographer Amy and videographer Tamara, thank you for capturing our day so perfectly.
A big, HUGE Thank you to Ashley for coordinating our day, we would not have been able to relax and enjoy ourselves if it wasn’t for you and your amazing attention to detail.
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