Chocolate2Chilli Archives | The Bride's Tree

Lauren loves Joe | Sunshine Beach Wedding

Sally Townsend — Wed, 20 May 2020 12:08:16 +0000

Beautifully styled in the most stunning beach location, Lauren and Joe’s wedding was a heartfelt dream of a day. The on-trend colour palette of peaches and warm neutral tones with pops of rust and peony coral were perfect for the beachside location of Sunshine Beach SLSC. The ceremony, styled by Simply Style Co., overlooked Sunshine Beach and guests didn’t have to travel far to the reception – in fact, it was right upstairs!

Bride, Lauren, kindly shared her wedding secrets with us below…

Why I married this man

Joe is unbelievably thoughtful and considerate. We both have strong family values, which is very important to me. He can always make me smile – no matter what mood I am in or how bad my day has been. He is one very attractive man! If you look up the word “gentleman” in the dictionary, I swear there would be a photo of Joe (right next to a photo of my Dad.)

Why he married me

Joe says, “Lauren is a kind soul who has strong family values. She makes me feel like I am important to her. She’s my rock – whenever I have a bad day, within two seconds of being around her, my troubles melt away.”

Biggest wedding-planning challenge

Our guest list – we are both from quite large, tight knit families, so even before we added any friends, our numbers were up there!

Images by Klee Photography

The Music

Walking down the aisle – Bloom by The Paper Kites

Signing #1 – Love Someone by Lukas Graham

Recessional (aisle exit): You Are The Best Thing by Ray LaMontagne

Bridal Party entrance: I’ll Be There For You (Theme From Friends) by The Rembrandts

Bride & Groom entrance: Sugar by Maroon 5

Cake cutting: Say You Won’t Let Go by James Arthur

First dance: Everything by Michael Buble

Father/daughter dance: My Girl by The Temptations

Mother/son dance: Two Hearts by Phil Collins

Wedding Secrets

Biggest splurge: My dress – I am not a very confident person and knew I wanted to feel beautiful yet comfortable on the most important day of my life to date!

Best money-saver: Asking for recommendations from locals for decorators and florists – a few of the ones we spoke to originally wanted to charge us per head, and we couldn’t understand why (given we weren’t having anything that was on a per person basis, such as chair covers or table settings) – but the ones we worked with (Rachelle from Simply Style Co. and Sandi from Willow Bud) were absolutely amazing, well priced and gave us a completely bespoke service.

Bride’s dress: Erin Clare Bridal

Bride’s shoes: Nine West

Groom’s attire: InStitchu

Groom’s watch: Tommy Hilfiger

Groom’s shoes: Florsheim

Bridesmaids’ dresses: They each ordered their own, and were all different brands – Alabaster the Label, ASOS, Flounce London, Bec + Bridge.

Bridesmaids’ earrings: Ruby & Sage

Bridesmaids’ shoes: Kmart

Groomsmen’s attire: Shirt and pants – Sportscraft, shoes – Betts Shoes

Honeymoon: We stayed on at Sunshine Beach/Noosa for a week after the wedding. We were planning on having a honeymoon later in the year to either New Zealand or Tasmania, but COVID-19 has thrown a bit of a spanner in the works there!

Number of guests: 130

Wedding budget: We didn’t set an overall budget – we knew what we wanted, found the right priced vendors, and saved accordingly.

Actual cost of wedding: $53,000

The post Lauren loves Joe | Sunshine Beach Wedding appeared first on The Bride's Tree.

Nat loves Tom | Super Fun Sunshine Coast Country Wedding

Sally Townsend — Wed, 14 Aug 2019 08:55:51 +0000

Sydney-siders Nat and Tom had one main priority for their wedding – fun! They wanted to laugh all day, and I think looking at their images we can all agree – mission accomplished! I had a lot of fun just looking through their wedding album by Alan Hughes Photography, especially seeing no opportunity to show off a few Dirty Dancing-style lifts go wasted!

About their decision to marry on the Sunshine Coast, Nat said, “I wanted our wedding day to actually feel like a fairytale and you can’t do that when your office is three blocks away. The Sunshine Coast is simply calm and charming.”

Nat generously shared more of their wedding planning details and sage advice for future brides below…

The Proposal

“I’d been travelling for work all year so Tom came to me and said he wanted to spend Christmas Eve just us. The night before he was frantically packing a picnic and whispering with my roommates but I just assumed it was about my Christmas present! Tom took me up to Luke’s Bluff at O’Reilly’s and we set up the picnic. I started pouring the tea without realising that my mug changed with the heat to say “I want to have tea with you for the rest of our lives. Will you marry me?”. Before I knew it both our mums and our best friends came barreling down the hill to celebrate with us!”

Standout Suppliers

“Alan and Harry our photographer and videographer were just so much fun. Their work speaks for itself! Cannot thank them enough for the memories we now get to keep! Sandi from Willow Bud did not have an easy task! My brief was that I literally don’t like flowers. She absolutely NAILED it on the day. I was walking down the aisle with a bouquet with the most divine mix of dried natives and what actually looked like angel wings.”

Most Emotional Moment

“We lost Tom’s mum only two months before the wedding. She was such a big part of our lives and of organising the whole day and we all wanted her to be there so badly. Her absence was painful but our families were all there for us. Walking down the aisle was a really emotional moment for the both of us, it’s such an overwhelming feeling and we’ll never forget it.”

The One Thing We Would Do Differently

“We’d probably try and be more relaxed after the ceremony, we were so hyped after it that it would have been good to take a beat and just take it all in. As for all our vendors I wouldn’t have changed a thing!”

Wedding Secrets

Biggest splurge: The dress! I couldn’t find anything else like it!

Best money-saver: We restricted our floral and decorations budget to a minimum and let the gorgeous barn at Yandina Station speak for itself, being particular in our choices of floral and decorative set ups to highlight the rustic appeal rather than going all out on flowers and decorative items that would take away from the venue. Also, it’s crazy how al the small things add up so DIY and Ali Express was a BIG cost saver!

Greatest inspiration: The Bride’s Tree, Instagram and Pinterest

Bride’s dress: Darb Bridal Couture

Bride’s shoes: RM Williams

Groom’s suit: Custom made in Thailand

Groom’s shoes: RM Williams

Bridesmaids’ dresses: Ali Express! The dresses were a bargain!

Bridesmaids’ shoes: Wittner

Flowergirl’s dress: Princessly

DIY: The arbour, menus, bombonnieres, name tags, seating chart and the welcome sign. Ali Express was the HERO for all things DIY; couldn’t recommend it enough!

Honeymoon: South America and New York

Number of guests: 85

Wedding budget: $60,000

Actual cost of wedding: $55,000

Unforgettable Moment

“Our dance was a little wild and very us. We threw in a few of our favourite acro flips and it made it so fun for us and our guests. From there the band really brought the dance floor to life, everybody was up on their feet dancing like maniacs!”

Advice for Future Brides

“Please stick to your guns! It’s your day, people will get over disagreements but it’s your day to remember forever! Take everything as it is on the day, even mishaps can end up being your favourite memory of all!”

Our Next Big Adventure

“Tom and I have a wacky dream of moving back to Queensland in the next 2 years to open a barn styled cafe on the Sunshine Coast… stay tuned!”

The post Nat loves Tom | Super Fun Sunshine Coast Country Wedding appeared first on The Bride's Tree.