How beautifully sunny is today’s wedding? Just the thing for a cold July day! I love how Claire and Chris spent the day together – makes for an intimate and relaxed feeling!

The ceremony and reception were held in the Lavender Courtyard of the Canberra Hyatt Hotel. Claire says “We wanted to have a gourmet BBQ/garden party reception and the venue was perfect.  We wanted relaxed, good food and good company.  The courtyard enabled us to set the ceremony up in one quadrant, had bocce setup in the other and the reception/dance floor and band in the other two quadrants.”

Claire and Chris walked down the aisle together to “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol. Guests were given handmade rose petal cones, made by Claire and filled with rose petals from Simply Rose Petals to scatter down the aisle in memory of Claire’s late mother, it also was a touch of Claire’s mother bringing them down the aisle.

The ceremony was conducted by Graeme Hush From Heartlands ([email protected]) and included handwritten vows – a suggestions of Claire’s aunt. During the registry signing, Claire’s sister sang “Bubbly” and “Kiss Me”. They newlyweds walked back up the aisle to “Steal My Kisses”.

Tables were decorated with white tablecloths, mirrors, old jars collected by friends tied with ribbon and plenty of pink and green blooms. In lieu of traditional placecards, Claire and Chris used chalkboard place mats. At each table were two extra places for the bride and groom, who in lieu of a head table, mingled with guests and joined each table for a different course!

The couple did away with a lot of traditions- including wedding cake and the first dance. Clare says “Chris and I are a bit shy when it comes to dancing, we did not have a first dance, we did spend some time on the dance floor (hired from Barlens) though, just not while everyone’s eyes were on us only.”

Providing a fun atmosphere for their barbecue reception was important to Claire & Chris, Claire says “We just wanted the wedding to be a party and a celebration.  We wanted it to be a continuation of our relationship rather than the beginning.” Some of the fun touches included leaving chalk on the tables for guests to use on their personal chalkboards, setup a lolly bar in pinks, browns and greens (even featuring customised M&Ms with their faces) and setting up a “crazy station” filled with props for guests to take some fun photos together!

Thank you Claire & Chris for sharing your gorgeous wedding day with us on Polka Dot Bride! Thank you also to Robeccer of Adori Studios for sharing with us today’s photographs!