Wedding Ideas|Wedding Planners|Coast to Country Weddings - Wedding Ideas | Wedding Planners | Coast to Country Weddings

How did you met?
We were introduced through a mutual friend and it turned out that we were living a street away from each other.

What was the theme & colour scheme of your wedding?
Birds with coral, blue and cream accents.

 How many guests did you have at your wedding?
73.

Why did you choose Caves House as your wedding venue
We wanted to have a wedding down south so that we could enjoy a weekend away with those nearest and dearest to us and we couldn't go past the beautiful grounds at Caves House, and there was plenty of accommodation for guests at the venue or close by.

Where did your bridal party and grooms party prepare for the wedding?
The bridal party got ready at Caves House and the grooms party got ready at a house just down the road that they rented out for the weekend.

Please share the details about your dress and your accessories:
My dress was an ivory satin gown with a fitted bodice and lace up back and a full gathered skirt with Swarovski crystal detailing on the bodice and in the gathering of the skirt. My veil had some small diamantes on the edging and a couple of teardrop crystals to weigh it down. My shoes were ivory satin heels with lace edging. I had some pearl and diamante earrings a diamante bracelet and we stuck some diamantes onto my parasol.

Details about your bridesmaid dresses:
I only found the bridesmaid dresses a couple of months before the wedding. I brought them off the rack having had only 2 of my bridesmaids in Perth to try them on and luckily they all fit! They were a coral colour, long with a flowy chiffon overlay with satin ribbon edging under the bust.

Details about the groom's attire:
Charcoal "Blake" suits from Penguins Formalwear, white shirt, ivory tie, black shoes.

When did you start looking for your wedding dress?
About 10 months before the wedding.

Was looking for your wedding dress hard or easy?
I found it pretty easy actually. I wanted a dress that I didn't have to be precious about, that I was comfortable in and could pick up and scrunch up without worrying about it wrinkling. I actually dropped sweet chilli sauce down the front of my dress after the ceremony and luckily it wiped straight off!

What time was your ceremony?
3pm

What did your guests do after your ceremony while you, your husband and bridal party went off and had wedding photos and how long did your wedding photographs go for till the reception?
We had quite a few photos with the guests on the grounds at Caves House and then as most of the guests were staying on the grounds (at Caves House or Seashells) they returned to their rooms to freshen up and then had canapés on the terrace at Caves House while the bridal party had photos on the beach. We had about 2 and a half hours of photos after the ceremony.

Tell me about the running of the day what time did you start preparing etc?
The hairdressers arrived at 9am followed by Jaquie from Bridal make-overs for our make-up at 10am. Pete from Real Image photographers arrived at 10 so he was able to capture the girls getting ready and to photograph all of our accessories. The boys on the other hand went out to a winery for lunch and started to get ready at about 1:30! Pete drove over to the boys house to capture them getting ready also. Our ceremony started at 3pm and went for about 30 mins. We then had a champagne toast, mingled with guests for about half an hour then had photos with the guests on the grounds. We then went down to the beach for more photos and guests had canapés on the terrace starting at 6 and then the guests were seated just before 7 and the bridal party joined the reception.

Did you have a budget for your wedding and stick to it?
We didn't exactly set a budget, but had an idea of what we thought was reasonable to spend on each item. It definitely pays to get a few different quotes and to prioritise what you're willing to spend extra money on and what you can do without. If we couldn't find an item for a price that we were happy with, then we tried to compromise or make alternative arrangements and to do what we could ourselves. For example, we opted for parasols for the bridesmaids which saved us a fortune on flowers.

Where did you get your pomander balls for your wedding ceremony?
Annie P Paperie.

The birdcages that were your table centerpieces you made yourself please share the details and did you do the whole centerpiece with the mirrors and candles as well?
We brought the birdcages from the Reject Shop and spray painted them white. We found the mirrors in a junk shop and sandpapered the edges of them. The candles came from Ikea and we bought a heaps of roses from a flower wholesaler and chopped the stems off so that they'd sit in the bottom of the cage. I made the table number cards and tied them to the top of the cages.

What other things did you make for your wedding?
We made the invites, gift bags for the bridesmaids, labels for the bombonieres and the seating chart. In the invites, we also wrote our own wishing well poem to make it a bit more personal.

What was the hardest part to plan for your wedding?
Deciding on just one theme!

Best moment of your wedding day?
Meeting each other at the altar.