Whimsical Carnival Wedding: Rachel & Ryan

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Rachel and Ryan wanted a beautiful but fun wedding so they decided on a subtle vintage carnival theme. They didn’t want it to be cheesy or too overly done, and “No clowns” was top of their list of requirements. “We wanted it to feel like a beautiful whimsical wedding at a carnival and not have it be a cheesy carnival wedding,”  began Rachel. ”We also wanted people to have a good time. We didn’t want people saying ‘that was nice’ we wanted them to shout ‘that was fun!’ The ceremony was heartfelt enough to make you cry, but funny enough to make you laugh with quirky remarks and personal heartfelt vows. From the start we asked people on the invitations to wear bow ties and suspenders. Everyone loved the dress code and looked straight out of the 50s as the music blared.”

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“We splurged on candy and prizes for the games and décor”, she continued. “We wanted people to have lots of fun and yummy stuff to take home and make the wedding a better carnival experience. Guests enjoyed playing carnival games during cocktail hour and munched of classic carnival snacks like popcorn, cotton candy and snow cones. Tables for the BBQ style lunch were covered in all different old fashioned candy for guests to take home and people sipped from mason jars that had their names on them.”

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Vintage Wedding with a Subtle Film Theme: Beth & Drew

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Beth and Drew met at university where they were both in the film society club. They wanted the theme of their March wedding to reflect the way they met but not in a really obvious way. They inserted subtle film references such as the readings, their photo booth, their music choices and the table numbers. They then seamlessly integrated these in to an overall vintage theme.

“We didn’t follow any traditions that we didn’t want to”, began the bride. “Things that were not important to us were chopped straight away. It meant that we were both looking forward to all of the day. Drew is not a fan of dancing in-front of lots of people, so we went for a more chilled atmosphere and added in a movie music quiz, like a round from a pub quiz. Drew secretly made a playlist of music featured in films, and in table teams Beth and the guests had to work out which film each song came from. It was a nice interlude between courses and gave us all a good giggle.”

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“Our biggest expense was the reception venue including food, drink and cake”, Beth continued, “bu it was well worth it. The Larder really looked after us and we can’t thank them enough. If we where giving advice to other couples we would strongly suggest looking into venues who don’t already have set wedding packages. We chose all the food and personalised so many things which would have been impossible in a lot of other venues.”

“For us the day was about our guests as well as us and we wanted to give them a great day”, she concluded. “We chose a city centre venue to allow people to choose their own hotel and make travel plans easily. We wanted people to be well fed and entertained, but we did not want to spend lots of time distracting everyone from having a good old natter at our special get together. It is not surprising to us how long we entertained ourselves with good food, good wine and great company.”

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Mad Hatter’s Afternoon Tea Party: Claire & Iain

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Claire and Iain were married in May at Maunsel House in Somerset. Their quirky Alice in Wonderland theme was beautifully incorporated throughout, from the stationery and paper goods to the high tea style catering and even the bride’s two fabulous mini top hats! The ceremony and afternoon tea both took place outside which made for some utterly stunning photographs from their photographer Emma Case.

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“Choosing our venue was the hardest part of the process, we wanted somewhere were all our friends could descend for the weekend and also wanted as much of the day to be outside as possible”, began the bride. “We fell in love with Maunsel at first site, gasping like children, as we were shown round each room but the outdoor pagoda seating area clinched the deal.”

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Plumbing & Pee Wee Herman Wedding: Tracy & Michael

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As someone who gets to see a lot of weddings on a daily basis, it takes a lot to surprise me, and even more to show me something I’ve never seen before. But I think I can safely say that I’ve never seen a plumbing themed wedding before… or a Pee Wee Herman groom for that matter! Obviously I was keen to hear more about it and so wanted to speak to the gorgeous Tracy who married Michael in The Plumbing Museum in Boston (of course!) about their day as soon as possible.

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“We got married amongst a wide variety of antique toilets!” Tracy chuckled. “I’m probably the first bride to be told, ‘We’ll move these urinals out of the way the day of your wedding.’ I initially chose the Plumbing Museum as a joke, but when we actually toured the space we completely fell in love with it. The museum coordinator, Linda, was a complete doll and an absolute joy to work with. We were also quite casual, frankly, I didn’t want to deal with who hates who, so we had open seating. It actually worked out perfectly since it led to an eclectic mix of people at every table.”

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Apple Themed Rock Music Wedding: Jo & Tristen

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Jo and Tristen met through their love of music and so it was only right that their wedding reflected this. “We are both DJs and I run a small festival annually in an inner suburban Melbourne backyard”, began the bride. “We met through our love of music and after six years together Tristen proposed to me during one of these festivals just as one of my all time favourite bands finished playing one of my favourite songs. It was fairly loud so although he says he whispered “marry me?” gently into my ear, it was more like he shouted it. Needless to say, I said yes and the planning began.”

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The ceremony was held at The Tote, a pub with musical heritage. “Ever since I first began frequenting The Tote, I have wanted to get hitched there. I spent so much time from my teens until now. This pub means so much to the Melbourne music community that in 2010, when it was set to shut its doors, everyone kicked up such a fuss and had a march of about 20,000 through the streets of Melbourne to protest the reasons for the closure. When I was told about the venue’s imminent closure, I was inconsolable, not just because of it’s importance to Melbourne’s live music scene but because my future wedding plans (we were not even engaged at this stage), had been ruined. Luckily, months later, the pub was sold and bought by another live music loving combo and reopened to the great happiness of me and everyone I know.”

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Vintage Rockabilly New Zealand Wedding: Kathryn & Tim

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Kathryn & Tim were married in the small historic village of Puhoi, New Zealand. Their ceremony was held in the tiny local church and their reception at Puhoi Centennial Hall. The day had quintessential Rock n Roll elements including the bride’s 50s/ 60s inspired wedding dress, her rockabilly hair do and the dancing late into the night. “We practiced Rock n Roll dancing for a few months before the wedding and had heaps of fun performing our routine to Big Hunk O’ Love”, Kathryn explained. “Afterwards our dance instructors Clint and Christine took to the floor to show everyone how it’s really done before doing a ‘snow-ball’ and bringing the guests up onto the dance floor. It was great seeing our crazy families dancing like lunatics with all our friends. I swapped my killer heels for some white bowling shoes and lace-topped bobby socks for the dance.”

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The reception space was decorated by the couple themselves. “We’re known for hosting games nights so we made sure the wedding reception had the same sense of fun”, the bride continued. “Neither of us had been to many weddings but we figured that with a diverse bunch of guests we’d need some ice-breakers. I used to put on music shows and promote them with hand-drawn zines, so I brushed up my skills to make an activity book with a word search, maze, ‘dress the bride’, dingbats and other activities. We also turned the tables into quiz teams to give the guests something to do as they waited for their tables to be called up to the delicious Cajun buffet. Other activities included a raffle and ‘guess the lollies in the milk bottles’.”

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