The best of both worlds – a chapel wedding in the country, followed by gorgeous Noosa beach bridal party photos at Little Cove, and a marquee reception at a private Noosa residence. I have to say, that sounds really quite a perfect wedding day! 

Emma and Jacob planned a gorgeous affair from top to bottom, with stacks of DIY details and a country feel that we are just mad for. Raving mad to be precise. Their ceremony took place at AnnaBella, The Wedding Chapel, in Ilkley after a 12-month engagement, during which family and friends pitched in to help make invitations, decorations and anything else they could manage to help keeps costs down. 

Take a stroll through Emma and Jacob’s wedding album, you won’t be sorry! It features wedding photography brilliance of the Jennifer Oliphant variety. 

////

Wedding Secrets Revealed

Biggest splurge: Catering

Best money saver: Making everything ourselves!

Bridal gown: A bridal shop in Tasmania, and then I had it redesigned in America by Jill Andrews Gowns in Baltimore.

Accessories: Headpiece was handmade by my mum. 

Shoes: Famous Footwear

Bridesmaid dresses: Sugar and Spice 

Bridesmaids’ accessories: Louisa 

Groom’s suit and shoes: Boss suit and RM Williams boot and belt

Groomsmens’ suits and shoes: Tarocash suit and RM Williams boots and belt

DIY: Invitations and decorations

Honeymoon: 4WD trip around The Cape

Number of guests: 144

Emma’s sister and close friends were her bridesmaids in pretty pastels of various colours, which were all tied in nicely with the accents of colour in their bouquets. 

A-Listers

Photographer: Jennifer Oliphant Photographer

Ceremony Venue: Anna Bella, The Wedding Chapel

Makeup Artist: TF Makeup

Hair Stylist: Rolling Scissors

Videographer: Goliath productions / Florist: Jonquil Florist / Caterer: First Class Catering / Cake: All Celebrations Cake by Maureen / Celebrant: Glen Cochrane 

See all the photos from Emma and Jacob’s wedding album. 

The post Real Wedding: Emma and Jacob in Noosa and Ilkley appeared first on The Bride's Tree.

Before you look over these ahmayzing photos by Bonnie Jenkins from Joy and James’ wedding at Maleny Retreat, you simply must read the story of how James proposed in Joy’s own words… 

////

“It was just like a fairytale and I will treasure the memory my whole life.

James and I were on our way back to the UK for a friends wedding in Sept 2011. We decided to spend a couple of weeks driving through Northern Italy and France. James had asked if he could plan the last part of our holiday as a birthday surprise for me.

To my delight James had booked us into a gorgeous suit along the Champ Eylsees, Paris.
After a full morning of visiting all the beautiful sights the city could offer James surprised me when he said he had booked me into a day spa for an afternoon of pampering. After the spa we went back to the hotel to get ready and go out for a romantic dinner.

After dinner as James and I walked along the Seine River across from the Notre Dame Cathedral we came to bench with a lady sitting next to a huge bunch of beautiful flowers. As we got closer the lady noticed us, stood up and started playing Pachelbel’s Canon on her violin. At this stage I thought she was just another street busker. Little did I know that James had organised her to be at that very spot at 9pm. James sat me down on the bench and handed me the flowers and said ‘The flowers are for you. I also have a card for you’. I before I realised what was happening he gave me a beautiful post card of the Eiffel Tower on the front. I turned it over and read ‘Will you marry me? James xx. I gasped with surprise and delight and looked at James on bended knee with a gorgeous princess cut diamond ring. All he could manage was to mumble something close to the actual question but that didn’t matter because I was already happily nodding YES!

I remember thinking that it felt like we were the only two people in the world when I looked into James’ eyes at the moment. That was until we noticed everyone around us clapping and cheering. Nothing like an audience to snap you out of balling your eyes out!”

“No matter how organised you think you are, there will always be last minute things that need to be done. I recommend a wedding planner for all of those bits because as a bride there is only so much running around on the day that you can do before you have to sit back and have your hair and makeup done and walk down that aisle.”

“It started to shower when I was due to walk down the tree aisle but I was running a touch late (well maybe 20mins late) so it cleared by the time I was ready.”

“Having our two families and all our closest friends come together was the best thing about our wedding day. It is the best feeling when all the people you cherish are there to celebrate how much you love your partner.”

“We stayed at Maleny Retreat because there are so many beautiful views and areas to take photos and we wanted to stay close to our guests. It was so handy having the golf carts to zip around the large venue. “

Our Dream Team

Ceremony and reception location: Maleny Retreat

Photographer: Bonnie Jenkins

Wedding planner: CL Weddings and Events

Florist: Ginger Lily & Rose Floral Studio

Caterer: First Class Functions

Transport: Highland Connexion

Makeup Artist: Joy and Rachelle Barrett

Hair Stylist: Paige Schubring and Nicole Pihl

Decorations and Rentals: CL Weddings and Events

Entertainment: 16 Strings

Stationery: Kerrieanne

Dance instruction: Dance Romance

Celebrant: Lesley Forest

Wedding night accommodation: Honeymoon suite, Maleny Retreat

“We always wanted the ceremony to feel elegant and quite formal but then have a fun festival vibe to the reception so everyone could let their hair down. We wanted to avoid that ‘boring’ time between the ceremony and reception so we added fun elements like the jumping castle and giant garden games for everyone while the canapés and drinks were served.”

“We didn’t really have a theme in mind right from the start but we both really wanted our guests to enjoy themselves and have a fun and memorable time right from the minute they arrived.”

“We loved having our wedding over a whole weekend. At Maleny Retreat there was room for 54 of our guest and more with their own tents to stay a couple of nights. It meant that we got to spend more time with all our guests that had come from interstate and the UK.”

Our Wedding Secrets Revealed

Biggest splurge: Our Honeymoon. A three-month round-the-world trip to Asia, Europe and the USA

Best bargain: My dress! I saved $1000 by ordering it from a bridal boutique in the UK. I found my dream dress here in Brisbane and after doing some research I found I could get the same dress cheaper. I was lucky I had my sister-in- laws, who both live in the UK, to pick it up and send it over to me.

Bridal gown: Maggie Sottero

Accessories: Necklace from MYER

Shoes: ZU

Bridesmaid dresses: Forever New

Bridesmaids’ accessories: Lovisa and Forever New

Groom’s suit and shoes: Elio Moda Brisbane

Groomsmens’ suits and shoes: Tony Barlow, Brisbane

Rings: Xennox Diamond World and Anthony’s

Bombonieres: 

DIY: My sister and bridesmaids made metres and metres of gorgeous bunting to match my invite colours. That was my favourite small detail of the wedding. I also made the mock festival VIP lanyards for place names. James built a wooden gazebo for our guests to sit under and he also made me a giant LOVE sign. A friend made our seating plan for us to look like a music festival poster, instead of table numbers we had stage names!

“We hot and cold canapés for between the ceremony and reception and chose a banquet style for the dinner. We liked the idea of four main and sides being served on platters at different times so everyone could share and interact like a ‘family style’ meal.”

“We had so many wonderful friends and family with amazing talents help us with everything from our cake, photography, DJ, celebrant, jumping castle, setting up and decorating. We couldn’t have done it without everyone’s help.”

“We had already planned to go back to England to visit James’ parents who were unfortunately unable to make it over to Australia for the wedding. So James’s mother and sisters planned a gorgeous small church blessing and high tea reception to celebrate our marriage for all the friends and relatives that missed out on our Wedding in Australia. So we decided to get round-the-world flights and visit Singapore, Thailand, Switzerland, Greece, Italy, UK and USA over three months.”

Maleny Retreat is having an Open Day this weekend! This is a must-see venue. Details here. 

The post Real Wedding: Joy and James in a Marquee in Maleny appeared first on The Bride's Tree.

Weddings of all sizes and styles can find themselves happily held in one of Perry’s marquees, which can be hired in a number of sizes and styles. The marquees also have lighting and silk lining, and also options for flooring, room division, and installation of a bar. Don’t all of the possibilities sound simply delicious! Get some more inspiration from their full marquee hire gallery of images here. 

The post Gallery: Marquee Weddings appeared first on The Bride's Tree.

Their beduoin marquee wedding was held in perfect seclusion on a private property in the Mooloolah Valley in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. It was a relaxed, no fuss affair with 80 of the couple’s family and friends and their gorgeous little baby. 

Enjoy these stunning images below by talented Sunshine Coast wedding phtoographer, Bonnie Jenkins.

Some beautiful words from Kari, the wonderful celebrant of Kari Celebrations, who always takes the time to get to know her couples intimately in order to present a very personalised ceremony.

“The beginning of Sarah and Flynn’s wedding seemed to be drawn out of Middle Earth…with a modern twist. To the strains of Mumford and sons playing Winter Winds, Flynn, the groom and his best man almost skipped down a path from inside an extensive hillside bamboo grove. We could glimpse them between the giant bamboo stems.  On arrival they handed a flower to each guest from a basket of hand-picked garden. 

The music changed to La Valse de Amelie, the mood became more feminine, and through the bamboo we saw a father and daughter strolling casually through the bamboo grove, she on his arm, and with baby Aoife in Granddad’s arms dressed in nymph green.

Flynn and Sarah met way back in about the year 1485 AD. But it wasn’t until 1710 that Flynn managed to ask her out!  You may be confused by the dates here.  But the bride is not as old as you may think!!

In explanation, Sarah and Flynn were the only two students in a University tutorial class about British History 1485 – 1710.  So you can see it took Flynn a a few hundred years of history and only after the final exams, to realise that he had to do something if he was going to guarantee seeing Sarah again. He managed to invite her on a date.

Amongst other things Flynn inspired by the great poets promised to “swim across the milky way and enjoy the infinite array of stars and planets and horsehead nebula……Everything I am and everything I have is yours, for history AND eternity.”

“My tip to other brides – don’t wear a strapless gown if you are carrying a baby around.”

“I wanted a vintage, country theme but we were planning it after moving to Victoria so it soon became what can we find on the internet“

Wedding Secrets Revealed

Biggest splurge: The marquee. I didn’t want a big tent and I saw the bedouin type tents on the internet and was sold.

Best bargain: Probably my wedding dress I was about 6 months pregnant and freaking out that I wouldn’t have time to look after the baby was born so I bought one online through etsy.

Bridal gown: Etsy, I paid around $500 including postage from America

Accessories: Etsy

Shoes: Wittner, $60

Bridesmaid dress and accessories: It was a dress Bec already had, same for the accessories

Groom and best man’s suits and shoes: Vest from Country Road, hats, jeans and shoes from stores in Smith Street, Melbourne.

DIY: I made the invitations, place cards, thank you notes, and did my own makeup. Flynn’s mum did the huge flower displays and bali flags (as well as organising everything).

Photographer: Bonnie Jenkins

Celebrant: Kari Celebrations

Number of guests: 80

Wedding budget: $13,000

Everyone helped out setting up the decorations, picking up and setting up the cake. Lots of Flynn’s mum’s friends lent items that we used as decorations“

The post Beduoin Marquee Wedding in Mooloolah Valley appeared first on The Bride's Tree.

Today, my lovely little Sunshine Coast brides, I'm going to answer this question for you all. We have made the most wonderful discoveries in hinterland-based wedding designers and planners, specialising in marquee weddings. I am of course speaking of none other than the amazing duo, Elisabeth and Kay, from Red Letter Studio (formerly known as Weddings in the Wild).

Red Letter Studio have access to both an amazing selection of every which kind of marquee you could hope to find, and the properties and venues appropriate for hosting such affairs. Aha! Perfect! Now, when we say "marquee weddings", we are not referring to a bang-together tent-type situation. Oh no, we are talking amazing, lavish, fully styled and decorated down to the very last detail. Think beautiful lounges, cocktail bars, chandeliers, and everything in-between.

Marquee weddings can be planned for 10 up to 200 guests and there is a lot of variations in the set up available, even with the ability to create separate rooms within the marquee. This works beautifully if you are wanting to create a chilled out lounge area for one and dance area for another, while keeping your dining area separate. You can be creative as you like with this, or if you're not so up with the creativity, worry not because the Red Letter Studio team have oodles to go around.

Aside from the marquees themselves, Elisabeth and Kay take care of absolutely everything to do with your wedding planning, and with 17 years local area knowledge and relationships with suppliers in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, they are definitely the gals in the know. From the first consultation, where they find out exactly what makes you tick as a couple and what you envision for your wedding day, down to the very last detail with fitting out your marquee beautifully, the girls have got you covered.

We have some fantastic news for you all! If you like what you read about Red Letter Studio (pfft – if! Yeah right, we know there's no question!), then you have the opportunity to meet the lovely Elisabeth and Kay themselves this Sunday, July 22 at the free expo in Montville! We will be there too, and we would love for you to come and say hi while you're checking out a bunch of awesome Sunshine Coast hinterland wedding suppliers.

A MONTVILLE WEDDING HINTERLAND BRIDAL EXPO

Date: Sunday, July 22

Time: 10:00am – 4:00pm

Where: Montville Village Hall, Main Street, Montville

Cost: FREE!

Prizes: There will be two amazing packages, both valued at over $1300 up for grabs. They include lots of lovely things, like engagement photo shoots, dinners, massages, nights away and heaps more. In addition, many of the wedding professionals holding stalls on the day will be offering special deals, discounts and giveaways to those who attend the expo.

For more information, visit the A Montville Wedding website here.

Please note that Red Letter Studio are no longer servicing Sunshine Coast weddings.  For all marquee wedding enquiries please contact Perry's Sunshine Coast Event Hire.

The post Marquee Weddings appeared first on The Bride's Tree.