N A O M I & S T E P H E N

F R O M T H E B R I D E ...

The Meeting...

We met as university students in our early 20's. Our first date was a Troy Casar-Daley concert in Brisbane. Steve bought me a bunch of flowers...it took off from there

The Proposal...

It all started when Steve got down on one knee, with the sunset as his witness, to propose. This was on a surprise night away at Spicers Peak Lodge. We loved the venue so much that we booked our wedding that weekend! The venue wowed us and we knew it would do the same for our family and friends.

Wedding Style...

We wanted a bit of an Australiana theme...something authentic and beautiful.

Wedding Venue...

Spicers Peak Lodge. The wedding venue was a 90 minute drive for most guests, so we made a CD for people to listen to during the car trip, to help them get in the mood for the celebrations.

Pre-wedding Celebrations...

Our family and the bridal party stayed the evening before the wedding and about 30 of us stayed for the night of the wedding also. This made for a weekend of celebrations.

The Dress...

New Yorker skirt, silk cami and veil from Johanna Johnson. I really wanted something special, but also something gorgeous I would be able to wear again. I have worn the cami a few times since the wedding. Would Johanna Johnson mind if the skirt is trimmed to tea length...?

The Flowers...

I love fresh colourful flowers. It was really important to incorporate native plants among the blooms. Our florist Roberta was amazing in helping us accommodate this idea. We agreed on no imported flowers and to use as many colourful natives as we could. What Roberta created was amazing, it was breathtaking really. Some of the blooms that featured were warratah, wattle, blushing bride, Australian protea and eucalyptus leaves.

The Ceremony...

We had a simple outside ceremony at 12 midday, overlooking the mountains. It rained, so we all relocated inside by the fire. We had a few readings during the ceremony, our favourite was a collection of quotes about love read by good friends who travelled from Nashville, Tennessee for the wedding.

During the ceremony our celebrant (who was my high school teacher and subsequently university lecturer and above all amazing mentor), pulled two names out of a hat to randomly choose our two witnesses. We couldn't decide who to ask. Everyone there was important, so we thought we should let them all have a chance. The first name out of the hat was 'Carmel, mother of the bride' and the second name was 'Vance, all round great guy'! This gave us all some laughs and some great photos too!

Wedding Styling...

Spicers Peak Lodge is a lovely venue. It really didn't need much more than flowers and music. The stunning country backdrop is something else. We are always inspired by our country's landscape and definitely wanted to feature the natural environment in our wedding. Choosing native flowers and foods was important. We had lots of colour, but no specific colour palette.

We enjoyed an extended lunch where everyone sat at one long table with share plates of food between them. This was a strategy to hopefully create a more social affair. Place cards were scrabble tiles glued together that double as fridge magnets!

On the Menu...

Doug Innes-Will, chef at Spicers Peak Lodge, helped us design an Australian native produce menu of:

• Salt bush beef
• Lillypilly roast pork
• Wild lemon stuffed whole roast chicken
• Bowls of pork crackling
• Bread and putter pudding
• Blood Orange Triffle
• Handmade ice cream

Wedding Cake...

Our wedding cake was made by Aunt Julie Trappel, inspired by Monet's florals.

Wedding Songs...

We had a 9 hour playlist made on Spotify which played from the end of the ceremony at 12:30pm until the 9:30pm finish.

Special songs included:

Islands In The Stream by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton

L.O.V.E by Nat King Cole

You Are So Beautiful by Joe Cocker

All You Need Is Love by the Beatles

Fever by Elvis Presley

You're the One That I Want from Grease

Sweet Thing by Keith Urban

Big, Big Love by Troy Casar-Daley

Treasure by Bruno Mars

You Give Me Something by Jamiroquai

Wedding Bomboniere...

We surprised our guests with a Caricaturist. During canapés and drinks, the Caricaturist created mini masterpieces of the wedding guests while they mingled. They each took home the drawing of themselves.

Memorable Moments...

Our double rainbow! It just wowed us! We all enjoyed a long lunch at a single long table. Everyone helped themselves to share plates of food in the centre of table. Soon the chatter was drowned out by a quick, but strong hail storm. Following dessert we were greeted by a double rainbow. We just couldn't believe our luck!

The afternoon flew by quicker than we had hoped for, but it was lovely to finish the evening with a quiet supper by the fire with those staying at the venue. Supper included soups, fresh bread and champagne, of course! We then shared breakfast together the following morning before we all had to say goodbye to Spicers Peak Lodge.

Photographer Jason Starr from StudioSixty Photography Venue Spicers Peak Lodge Bride's Dress Johanna Johnson Bride's Shoes Nine West Bridesmaids' Dresses Cue Hair and Makeup The Powder Room Suits Herringbone Groom's Shoes RM Williams Shirts, Bow Ties and Pocket Squares The Cloak Room Socks Happy Socks Flowers Roberta of Green and Bloom Celebrant Nicole Evans Caricaturist Wayne Fleming Wedding Cake Julie Trappel (bride's aunt) Dinner Plates Wheel and Barrow Glasses David Jones Tables Hodge Podge Hire Chairs Wedding Lighting

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