Brad and Ellie's wedding was always going to be something beautiful and a little unconventional. They are both architects and spent a lot of time preparing both the little and big details of their day.

Held on Brad's family's property, about 1 hour outside of Melbourne they wanted a wedding celebration that encompassed all of the things they loved - good style, good friends and plenty of good music.

Ellie The Bride: I'm not really your typical girl when it comes to shopping - going in and out of shop after shop is something I find quite boring and frustrating! So I approached looking for the dress and accessories by doing a lot of internet research to help lock down the kind of 'look' I liked. Also had to be something that was appropriate for the type of wedding we were having - relaxed garden wedding. I came across Anna Campbell and just fell in love with her designs. Luckily Anna Campbell's shop is about a 5 min drive from my house. I think I tried on about 10 dresses, could have easily been happy with any of them really but loved the detail of the bodice on the Carolina Dress. The headband was also from Anna Campbell.

Brad didn't take too long to realise that the cut of the Paul Smith suit was for him! He's always been a bowtie man so it made sense to have some made especially for the day. We had the pattern we'd designed for part of the invitation custom printed onto satin and then had local designer, Lolicu, make them for us. Paolo, of Lolicu, is a lovely guy and helped us work out the kind of style we wanted.

We were very lucky that Brad's Mum and Dad allowed us to have our wedding on their property. It's a magical spot and so sentimental to both of us. It's been the place of the family gatherings over the years - 18th and 21st Birthdays, Christmas, baby showers. We held the Ceremony down in a fern gully at the bottom of a hill. There was a rather steep walk down the aisle - luckily there were no falls / injuries! There was a marquee reception overlooking the dam in the evening, with games set up in the grounds (Klop, Bocce, Giant Jenga and Horseshoes) for guests to play in between times.

This style of the wedding was very DIY. Both being architects, we enjoy designing and making things. We did a lot of research on the net (wedding blogs, decorating sites etc) and wedding magazines to brain storm some ideas. In keeping with the garden theme and to tie the ceremony décor in with the marquee - we made a wedding arch out of tree limbs we collected around the property. We also used the tree limbs to make twig pendants to hang from the marquee. Brad made the timber platters on the tables from a tree that was cut down on the property and his brother, Chris, made the bar. We made the badges for the guests, the message post board (guest book), spray painted tins for the flowers and put together the confetti parcels.

Melanie and her team at Viva La Fleur did an amazing job of the flowers. They did the bouquets, bridesmaid circlets, flowers for the wedding arch and ceremony aisle as well as all the flowers on the tables. We wanted to go with predominantly Baby's Breath flowers as that's the look we liked and some highlight flowers for the marquee.

As we had four bridesmaids who each have different tastes and body shapes (Julia was four months pregnant for example!) we thought the best approach for the girls would be to have a similar style, but different dresses and slightly different colours. They wore circlets in their hair to tie in with my headband.
The groomsman each wore navy pants, a white shirt and shoes that they already own. We gave them leather suspenders, Happy Socks and the bowties to tie them together. Brad made their feather boutonnieres.

The priest, Father Gerry, was the parish priest at Ellie's Primary School and a good friend of the family. His dinky-die Aussie humour and calm attitude, gave the ceremony a relaxed feel. The first reading was a Traditional Irish Blessing - May the Road Rise Up To Meet You as a call back to Ellie's family Irish heritage and was read by her Brother, Ruairi. The second reading was read by Ashley, Brad's Sister and was the lyrics to one of our favourite songs: Thrown Right At Me by The Tallest Man on Earth. The Gospel was the Gospel according to Matthew 5:1-12a.

My Sister and Brad's Brother performed a song... They had performed a song at our engagement party and brought the house down then so we had to have an encore at the wedding. It was wonderful. There was a string trio at the ceremony and The Minpins performed at the reception. We'd seen The Minpins play at a local restaurant near our house and we love their music. Great musicians and lovely people. Cookes catered our canapés, entrees and main meal. Brad's cousin, Lynda Nicholson, made our wedding cake and we bought the cakes on the dessert table from our favourite local bakery (Sugardough: http://www.sugardough.com.au/)

This was the menu:

CANAPES

• GRILLED GOATS CHEESE BRUSCHETTA'S WITH SALSA VERDE AND FRESH LEMON CHEEKS (V)
• ASPARAGUS SPEARS WRAPPED IN PROSCIUTTO AND ROASTED IN THE GRILL (GF)
• SAUTÉED LOCAL PRAWNS WITH TARRAGON AIOLI (GF)
• SWEET POTATO BLINIS WITH ROAST CHICKEN AND WALNUT SALAD - TOPPED WITH CHOPPED CHIVES

SHARED ENTRÉE

• PADRON PEPPERS FILLED WITH SMOKED MOZZARELLA AND PANCETTA - SERVED WITH WILD
  HERB SALAD (GF)
• HEIRLOOM TOMATO TARTS WITH GOATS CURD AND BASIL - SERVED ON WOODEN BOARDS (V)
• SEARED RARE TUNA WITH WILD ROCKET AND CLASSIC AIOLI (GF)

MAIN COURSE

A SELECTION OF HOUSE MADE WOOD FIRED PIZZAS;

• QUATTRO FORMAGGI - MOZZARELLA, GORGONZOLA, BOCCONCINI & PARMESAN
• ZUCCHINI - GRILLED ZUCCHINI, MINT & GOATS CHEESE
• ZUCCA - PUMPKIN, GOATS CHEESE, PINE NUTS & ROCKET
• SALSICCE - SPICY PORK SAUSAGE, MOZZARELLA, ROAST PEPPERS, CAREMALISED ONION
• PROSCIUTTO & ROCKET - PROSCIUTTO, ROCKET, MOZZARELLA & LEMON JUICE
• SALAMI - SALAMI, TOMATO & MOZZARELLA

SIDES

• SELECTION OF ORGANIC DINNER ROLLS SERVED WITH BUTTER AND SEA SALT
• ROASTED GARLIC AND ROSEMARY POTATOES (GF) (V)
• GRILLED MEXICAN STYLE SWEET CORN WITH CHIPOTLE AIOLI AND RICOTTA SALATA (GF) (V)

The fabulous Lakshal Perera (Lucky) was our photographer. Other than being the nicest guy going around, he takes some pretty special photos. He has the ability to put very stressed people (wedding people!) at absolute ease, to bring out the best in them and capture moments and memories to last a life time. Lucky was the first person we wanted to lock down for our wedding - his availabilities set our wedding date! We were blessed to have him and Suzie (Lovely Day Films) along on our day. They're the dream team!

I met Suzie our videographer at a wedding fair in 2013. Her fly on the wall, unobtrusive style was exactly what Brad and I were after. I think her films speak for themselves, we watch ours over and over because we feel like she captured the day so brilliantly. Through the video, we can experience new parts of the day we weren't physical there for because we were off having photos taken, mingling etc.

A word of advice - take a week off work before your wedding! We wouldn't have been able to pull everything together that week without the time we had and the amazing help from family and friends. Delegate as much as you can and on the day, whatever happens, happens. Don't feel like you have to follow a wedding protocol either - if we didn't like something, we didn't do it. It's your day and should be a reflection of you as a couple. Most of all, remember on the day, to sit back and enjoy all the work and effort you've put towards your day. It was truly the best day of our lives to date - what's better that all the people you love, together, having a drink and a dance?!

Photography by Lakshal Perera
Gown Anna Campbell | Shoes Rachel Simpson | Veil Anna Campbell | Florist Viva La Fleur | Catering Cookes | Maids Zimmermann | Jazz Band The Minpinns | Film Lovely Day Films