Karen and Josh

An Australian country wedding never fails to make my heart sing and today’s is a beautiful one! Karen and Josh, our newlyweds wanted to be married somewhere where they could spend a weekend with their guests. The couple met at worked, clicked and have been best friends ever since!

The couple chose a country wedding so that their friends and family could escape the city and spend the entire weekend together. “Everyone in Scone was so helpful during the months leading up to the wedding. It was wonderful that most of the vendors already had great working relationships and I think it really showed in the end. Everything came together perfectly and it was all very relaxed.”

Ben Adams is today’s photographer, who has magically captured each shot bathed in a beautiful light- golden to be exact! I love the shots Ben has captured and the vivid colours that he picks up!

Camilla Wylie at Stem – The Art of Flowers arranged the flowers for the wedding.  Karen’s  bouquet and the cake decorations were a mix of white, cream, pink and peach toned roses, including David Austins and wild roses. They were highlighted with freesias and magnolia leaves. Karen wore cream shoes from Zu Shoes and simple, beautiful gown from Peter Trends.

Karen got ready with her parents and brother at Canter House, the accommodation beside the restaurant where the reception was held. The night before the wedding, she stayed with Josh at INN Scone. “We stayed in the most beautiful furnished apartment, furnished with items from the adjoining gift and home ware store, Plain English. We broke tradition and spent the night before the wedding together. It was good to spend some time together, talking excitedly about the next day and relaxing rather than worrying about the details. It really was a perfect weekend away!”

Karen says ” The ceremony was at The Church of St Luke’s The Evangelist in Scone. It was an old church with lovely stained glass windows and the Autumn leaves in the grounds were just perfect. After a week of rain everything was beautiful and green and we were so lucky to have a gorgeous, sunny day for the wedding!”

Karen’s favourite moment happened as she walked down the aisle to Josh ” Trumpet Voluntary – the same music that my Mum and Dad walked down the aisle to when they were married. It was definitely the most emotional moment of the day. Even though it had been five months of planning, nothing could prepare me for how special I felt walking into the church on my proud Dad’s arm and seeing Josh waiting at the end of the aisle.”

Karen made the invitations, order of service booklets, place cards and menus with help from Josh, her brother, Ian and Mum, Pat. Josh’s Mum, Kim, decorated a beautiful basket for the order of service booklets.

The amazing sunset provided the perfect backdrop for some beautiful post wedding photos. Karen loved them too! “We had the perfect sunset as Ben photographed us in paddocks, shearing sheds and climbing on fences! Josh and I had so much fun just enjoying each others’ company while we had some time to ourselves. We had plenty of laughs dodging mud and other paddock obstacles! I also had some fun trying to walk in sky high heels over the grated floor of the shearing shed.. it was quite hysterical! I gave up when it came to climbing over a fence in my dress and heels but we managed to get some amazing shots as the light faded.”

Karen and Josh wanted an intimate feel for their reception. ” We had the reception at Canter Restaurant – it was the first wedding they had held there. We wanted a very small wedding and decided that a restaurant would be a much more intimate setting and offer more flexibility. We wanted everyone to feel at home. When we first saw the restaurant we loved the atmosphere and the sophisticated country feel.. it was perfect! The rooms looked fantastic with a mix of blooms put together by Camilla Wylie”

Karen’s Mum, Patricia, made a  caramel mud cake with white chocolate edging and white chocolate ganache, decorated with fresh flowers.

The speeches are highlighted in Karen’s memory. “We had many emotional moments while reading the emails from far away friends and family. We didn’t plan any speeches which made our Fathers’ words much more meaningful on the night. We also had a number of friends send the modern version of a telegram – an email read from an iphone. It was the sentiments of overseas family that brought a tear to a few eyes, and it was very special to know that they were thinking of us.”

Tables were decorated with mismatched glass vases and groups of brightly coloured flowers. “My Dad, Denton, and I spent hours scouring local second and antique stores for the perfect vases for the table settings. .  Fuchsia roses, purple and burnt orange tulips and white freesia highlights were arranged in vases, “new” antique silver pots and mismatched carafes.

Guests created impromptu horse races. “As our wedding was only a few weeks after Scone’s famous Horse Week, there was an abundance of wind up horse toys that entertained young and old, and we even staged an official wedding race with odds and all.”

The couple’s first dance led everyone onto the dance floor “Our first dance was to I’m Yours by Jason Mraz.. A great way to start the dancing for the night. It took some encouragement, but Josh and I managed to coax even the most reluctant of dancers onto the floor.”

Congratulations Karen & Josh on your beautiful wedding & marriage! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us! A big thank you also to Ben Adams for sharing today’s photographs with us!