It is only fitting that our first blog post is our own wedding…. As we approach our first wedding anniversary here is how we got married on 3 March 2018!
Johnny & I had a relatively short engagement of 9 mths which meant that our wedding preparation was short and intense. We both knew that we wanted to have our ceremony and reception on my parent’s historical property, “Blackdown” just outside of Bathurst however besides that we were completely clueless. I had never been a “Pinterest” person but as soon as we had set our date it became my complete go to and before I knew it I had a mood board for everything! We decided what was important to us (short ceremony, maximum time in the garden and a great band) and went from there…..
Venue: My parent’s property, “Blackdown” 4km from Bathurst. We had our ceremony in the garden followed by drinks, stand up entrée, some speeches and music by Timmy Dean. We then made our way to the marquee for mains and final speeches followed by dancing on an outside dance floor with live music by the Baker Boys. We had 160 guests.
Style: With the assistance of my mother, Fran we decided that we loved the way India Hicks styles a party and drew a lot of inspiration from her British Colonial and Bahamas based style… think bamboo, blue and white china, tropical greenery all without the beach sand!
We quickly discovered that if we were going to achieve this style in country NSW we needed to hire the bulk from outside the area (such as Byron Bay or Sydney) or bite the bullet and purchase the items. So using our connections through our retail business, The White Place we decided to purchase key items.
We then started the mammoth task of buying bamboo chairs, crystal glasses, bamboo and white lanterns, blue and white china and vases, gold cutlery, linen napkins, Turkish urns, artificial tropical greenery… We absolutely loved sourcing all these new pieces that weren’t available to hire and quickly worked out we could start a business post-wedding offering these unique and boutique items to other people.
In addition, my now husband was given the huge task of building other key items for the wedding that I decided we “must have”… he built 3 x service bars, high top bars and a doughnut wall!!
The other key part of our style was the use of artificial greenery throughout - especially in our marquee. Also hydrangeas are my absolute favourite flower and were featured on our tables and in our bouquets.
Other key items that we did hire included a clear marquee, rustic tables and market umbrellas from JD Events and amazing toilet amenities (air-con and music!!) from En suites On Site from Sydney.
Standout vendors: We had so many amazing vendors that contributed to making our day so incredible but if I had to name a couple…
Our caterer, Felicity Thompson was a huge standout. She is always so easy and flexible to deal with and worked with us within the unique surroundings of the property. We had entrée standing in the garden which included a mobile oyster bar in a wheelbarrow. The food was amazing and I would highly recommend Felicity and her team of wait staff!
Our celebrant, Nick Windsor was fantastic – we wanted simple, short and sweet and he worked so easily with us to create a beautiful atmosphere. It was the hottest day, Johnny and I were sweating and crying and Nick worked the crowd perfectly.
The Baker Boys from Sydney were also a highlight. The music was important to us and they ensured we had a great mix of tunes to get everyone up and dancing. They were also accommodating in allowing us to have two songs as soon as we walked into the marquee prior to dinner to get everyone up dancing and having fun before we sat down.
Jess, my super clever sister in law did all our printing and design. She completely understood what we wanted and made it happen with absolute ease. Check her out via her graphic design business, Oh Dear Design.
Pip Poole (The Flour Pantry), who made our cake also was a standout. We knew we didn’t want a formal cake cutting but wanted something that looked good and would also be our dessert to minimize waste. Pip delivered the most incredible creation, everyone LOVED it!
Favourite details: The morning of our wedding my family and bridesmaids organized the start to a huge day… yoga for everyone in the garden led by my godfather and breakfast at "The Hub", it set the day up perfectly.
When my nephews walked down the aisle and said in front of everyone “welcome to the family Johnny Pilcher"
Donut Wall: it was such a random addition to the evening but our guests absolutely loved it, especially when two friends decided to make a game out of it and force people to eat doughnuts off the wall without using their hands.
Recovery: we had a massive pool party for anyone that could join us the next day. We had "Al Dente" cater for it and we were able to relax by the pool. It extended our wedding weekend perfectly.
Tips:
* Be organized!!! It seriously makes for an easy wedding week. We had everything ready by 4pm the day before the wedding which meant we could enjoy time with family and friends the night before and the morning of the wedding. Spend time each day/week organizing one part and it makes it so much easier. Also having a detailed run sheet (to the minute helps everyone involved) especially your MC.
* Having two photographers. We really enjoyed working with Little Image Co and felt it important to have two photographers on the day. It meant that we were able to get some beautiful pre-wedding pictures of both our families without feeling stressed throughout the day or compromising with time.
* Fake it! Use artificial greenery wherever you can. As mentioned previously, our wedding day was SO hot and while I absolutely love real flowers but there was no way they would have survived the heat. We used faux greenery wherever we could and it meant we could set up on Thursday and not need to worry about them dying beforehand.
* Involve family and friends as much as possible. Try and delegate jobs and responsibilities wherever possible so that they feel they are involved and contributing to your special day.
* Plan a great honeymoon and go straight after the wedding. Having spent so much time planning and setting up the wedding we needed a serious holiday! Our honeymoon was in Colorado skiing and Tulum, Mexico and it meant we didn't get “post-wedding blues”.
Regrets:
* Not having a videographer. We now look back and wish we had a video of our day, especially drone imagery of our venue.
* Not having enough market umbrellas....we had 10 but should have had 20!! It was such a hot day and having our ceremony outside meant that everyone was hot, especially Johnny & I. Lucky it wasn’t for long!
Vendors:
Celebrant: Nick Windsor
Caterer: Felicity Thompson
Marquee: JD Events
Photographer: Little Image Co
Music:
Timmy Dean in the garden
Baker Boys, Sydney
DJ: Julio DaSilva
Dress: Babushka Ballerina, Sydney
Suits: MJ Bale
Bouquets: Florabundance, Bathurst
Printing and design: Oh Dear Design
Cake: The Flour Pantry
Toilets: Ensuite On Site
Wedding Registry: Wedding List Co