When Bri, a florist, married Nate, a race car engineer, they wanted to bring both of their passions into the day. The wedding was held at the bride’s childhood home, a farm which she now runs with her mother. Bri grew and arranged all the wedding flowers herself. “Our wedding inspiration was ‘garden party’ but more so it was about sharing our passions with our family and friends”, she said. “We wanted to combine both of our true loves. Which is each other, flowers and engineering.”

Together with their families, they built the celebration from the ground up. Nate’s dad made stump benches for the guests, and the couple created a stage among the wildflowers using oak stumps from Bri’s family land. Their immediate families helped set up the ceremony space and lay the aisle.

The bride walked barefoot down a flagstone aisle to Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol while Nate waited beneath a metal tree he had welded for their ceremony. Nate had made his entrance to the Formula 1 theme.

Bri’s dad officiated. Guests were asked to place a hand over their heart and make a wish for the couple, and he also arranged a musical moment inspired by one of their favourite films, Love Actually, complete with trumpets, clarinet and trombones. After exchanging personal vows, Bri and Nate headed back down the aisle to Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus.

During cocktail hour guests were invited to cut flowers from the garden and make their own arrangements in bud vases, which later became part of the reception table décor.

“The reception space was created by both us and our guests” Bri continued. “The centrepieces, sweetheart table and floral stained glass chandler were created by us and the seating assignments were F1 race track themed and the guests had to find their 3d printed race track at their table (we created all of these from scratch, Nate has a 3d printer he loves to use). We also had a F1 themed scavenger hut which asked the guests to complete tasks that would promote guest interactions.”

Bri and Nate entered the reception to I Will Follow You into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie and ended up dancing to it on the spot. It hadn’t been the plan for their first dance, but it was a song they always danced to in their kitchen at home.

Four years of planning gave Bri and Nate time to make the many details themselves, and Bri enjoyed every late-night conversation about them. Her advice to other couples taking on a DIY wedding? “Make the wedding day about you as a couple. The more personal it is, the more your guests will feel part of the experience.”